The Los Angeles Angels have designated infielder Nicky Lopez for assignment. In a corresponding move, the Angels activated infielder Zach Neto (shoulder) off the injured list. Lopez has appeared in five games this season and did not tally a hit across six plate appearances. If Lopez is not claimed on waivers, the 30-year-old will report to Triple-A Salt Lake. Last season, Lopez held a .241/.312/.294 slash line with just 12 doubles and one long ball across 124 contests with the Chicago White Sox. Under the hood, Lopez generated a low .288 xSLG and a .268 xwOBA, which were both well below the average marks. If Lopez returns to Triple-A Salt Lake, he may eventually earn the call back to the majors later in the summer as a depth infielder.

Free-agent infielder Nicky Lopez has signed an undisclosed major-league deal with the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday and will be on the team's Opening Day roster. The Chicago Cubs cut Lopez despite the fact that he went 9-for-20 (.450) with two doubles and three runs scored in nine Cactus League games in spring training. The 30-year-old veteran will provide the Angels with veteran infield depth as they navigate injuries to shortstop Zach Neto (shoulder) and third basemen Yoan Moncada (thumb) and Anthony Rendon (hip) to begin the 2025 regular season. The former fifth-round pick by the Kansas City Royals in 2016 out of Creighton University has six years of big-league experience but has been a below-average hitter with very little power (seven homers). At best, Lopez could be worth a look in AL-only leagues for his speed (47 career steals) for infield depth.

Chicago Cubs infielder Nicky Lopez was part of a handful of cuts made by the organization this weekend. The most shocking was probably Lopez who was expected to make the 28-man roster for the season-opener in Japan. Lopez signed a minor-league deal with the Cubs and was competing for a utility infielder spot on the roster. Unfortunately, Lopez wasn't able to beat out Gage Workman or Vidal Brujan for one of those final spots on the roster. The expectation is that Lopez is going to be released, so that he could attempt to catch on elsewhere.

According to Jesse Rogers of ESPN, the Chicago Cubs have signed infielder Nicky Lopez to a minor league contract. Lopez spent the 2024 campaign on the Southside of Chicago and will now move up to the Northside for the 2025 season. Across 124 games, Lopez held a .241/.312/.294 line. He tallied 12 doubles, three triples, and five stolen bases. He showed a strong eye at the plate with a 15.1 percent strikeout rate and a solid 8.3 percent walk rate. However, he struggled to generate any power as he posted a .288 xSLG and a 1.5 percent barrel rate, both within the first percentile among qualified hitters. Fantasy managers should expect the 29-year-old to compete for a depth spot in the infield during spring training.

The Chicago White Sox announced on Tuesday that infielder Nicky Lopez and left-hander Sammy Peralta both cleared waivers and elected free agency instead of accepting their outright assignments to the minor leagues. In his first season with the last-place White Sox in 2024, Lopez was the team's primary second baseman and finished with a .241/.312/.294 slash line, weak .606 OPS, only one home run, 21 RBI, five stolen bases and 40 runs scored in 445 trips to the plate over 124 games played. The 29-year-old will most likely be searching for a minor-league deal on the open market as a utility infielder. In his six big-league seasons since debuting in 2019 with the Kansas City Royals, Lopez has a .248/.312/.314 slash line with only seven homers, 152 RBI and 47 stolen bases in 668 games. Lopez isn't going to be on the fantasy radar in 2025.

Chicago White Sox second baseman Nicky Lopez drove in a pair of runs during a two-hit performance in Monday's 8-6 loss to the Minnesota Twins. Lopez had an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth before hitting a game-tying double in the bottom of the eighth that helped force the game to extra innings. He also added his fourth stolen base along with a run scored. Lopez is slashing .250/.309/.298 with 14 RBI and 23 runs scored. He only has 11 extra-base hits (no home runs) and has been caught stealing five times, which are two reasons why fantasy managers have ignored Lopez's production. Despite Monday's solid performance, the 29-year-old is mainly an option in AL-Only or deep-league formats.

Atlanta Braves infielder Nicky Lopez will take a seat on the bench for the first game of a series against the New York Mets on Monday with a left-hander on the mound. Vaughn Grissom will get the start at the keystone and will hit ninth in the batting order against Mets left-hander David Peterson. Lopez has essentially taken over starting duties at second base since Ozzie Albies (hamstring) landed on the injured list, and he's gone 9-for-23 (.391) with a homer, a double, eight RBI, a stolen base and five runs scored in nine games (seven starts) since being acquired from the Kansas City Royals at the trade deadline in early August. The 28-year-old is only hitting .235 (43-for-183) on the year, though, with just a homer and five stolen bases.

Kansas City Royals infielder Nicky Lopez has been traded to the Atlanta Braves in exchange for left-hander Taylor Hearn. This move makes sense considering the Royals have younger infielders that they want to give a chance on their rebuilding roster. Lopez is a skill defender, but has struggled with the bat this season. He's slashing .212/.323/.281 with 13 RBI and four stolen bases in 51 games. He'll provide depth and versatility to the Braves roster. Hearn was acquired by the Braves from the Texas Rangers last week. He hasn't pitched much in the majors this season, but threw over 100 innings with the Rangers during each of the last two seasons. He's a decent swingman option and is expected to head to the Royals bullpen.

Kansas City Royals infielder Nicky Lopez (hand) was hit in the hand by a pitch during Wednesday's 14-1 blowout loss to the Cleveland Guardians. He was removed from the game, but he underwent X-rays after the contest, which came back negative, according to Anne Rogers of MLB.com. Consider Lopez day-to-day for now. Since 2021 when he hit .300, the 28-year-old has done almost nothing offensively and is batting just .206 with no home runs, 11 runs, seven RBI, and three steals over 48 games. Fantasy managers should leave Lopez on the waiver wire in all formats with that kind of production.

Kansas City Royals second baseman Nicky Lopez (abdomen) has been activated from the 10-day injured list on Monday. The 28-year-old has been sidelined since late April after undergoing an appendectomy procedure. Before that, Lopez was slashing .200/.323//.291 with seven RBI and two stolen bases in 18 games. The expectation is that he's going to heat up with the bat, so fantasy managers should monitor his performance. He'll bat seventh and play second base versus right-hander Michael Lorenzen on Monday.

Kansas City Royals infielder Nicky Lopez (abdomen) is expected to begin a rehab assignment in the next week. The 28-year-old has been out since the end of April after undergoing an appendectomy, so he continues to work his way back. Lopez hasn't played the best this season, batting .200 with 11 hits, five runs, and seven RBI in 55 at-bats, meaning there aren't many fantasy managers eagerly awaiting his return.

The Kansas City Royals are calling up shortstop Maikel Garcia, the team's No. 3 prospect per MLB Pipeline, on Tuesday, according to a source. In a corresponding move, infielder Nicky Lopez (appendix) is going on the injured list with appendicitis. There's a good chance that Garcia will play regularly for the Royals while he's in the big leagues, possibly at third base, where he's mostly been playing for Triple-A Omaha. The 23-year-old was hitting just .242 (23-for-95) with seven doubles, a homer, 17 RBI and four steals in 24 games for Omaha, but he hit .285 with 34 doubles, 11 homers, 61 RBI and 39 thefts in 118 games with Omaha and Double-A Northwest Arkansas in 2022. Garcia is more of a contact-oriented hitter that stays in the gaps, and his plus speed is worth taking a chance on in deeper leagues.

Kansas City Royals outfielder Franmil Reyes and infielder Nicky Lopez are not in the team's starting lineup on Friday against right-hander Pablo Lopez and the Minnesota Twins. Reyes went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts on Thursday and is hitting just .200 (11-for-55) with two home runs, seven RBI and 22 strikeouts in 61 plate appearances through the first 18 games in 2023. He's hitless in his last 13 at-bats. Vinnie Pasquantino is serving as the designated hitter and batting second, while Hunter Dozier is starting at the hot corner and batting eighth in the lineup against Lopez on Friday. Recently recalled Nick Pratto is getting the start at first base and is hitting sixth.

The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported Tuesday that the Chicago White Sox have expressed interest in trading for Kansas City Royals second baseman/shortstop Nicky Lopez. However, the Royals are not eager to move Lopez, as they view him as an important depth player. The team's plan is to start Bobby Witt Jr. at shortstop, Michael Massey at second base, and use Lopez in a utility role. The 27-year-old slashed .227/.281/.273 with no home runs, 51 runs scored, 20 RBI, and 13 stolen bases in 480 plate appearances in 2022. Lopez's fantasy value is already limited to stolen bases in roto leagues as is, and any dent in his playing time would further limit that.

The Kansas City Royals and middle infielder Nicky Lopez avoided salary arbitration on Friday by agreeing to a one-year, $3.7 million deal. Lopez went from hitting .300 in 151 games with the Royals in 2021 to slashing .227/.281/.273 with a .554 OPS in 480 plate appearances and 141 games in 2022. He added no homers, 20 RBI, 51 runs scored and 13 stolen bases. The 27-year-old has never been much of a threat with the lumber, but he's stuck around because of his excellent defensive skills up the middle. He can play second, third and shortstop and will be competing with Michael Massey at the keystone in spring training this year. Lopez isn't very attractive in fantasy for anything other than his modest speed.

Kansas City Royals infielder Nicky Lopez was in the lineup for both games of Tuesday's twin bill against the Chicago White Sox, and he came through with four hits in seven at-bats with a double and a walk. Lopez has been a mainstay at the bottom of the Kansas City lineup, but he's managed to slash just .215/.306/.252 with no homers, 11 runs scored, three RBI, and two steals in 118 plate appearances. With little to no output in any fantasy categories, Lopez should be far from rosters. He may improve enough in batting average and stolen bases to warrant an add later on, but he's simply not productive enough to hold for now.

Kansas City Royals shortstop Nicky Lopez helped lead the team to a 10-7 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday. He went 3-for-5 with a stolen base, an RBI and a run scored. Lopez has really come alive over the past few months. He slashed .317/.366/.375 and recorded 10 stolen bases in August. He's been even better at the plate so far in September. He already has eight multi-hit games this month to go along with 10 runs scored and a .375/.407/.482 slash line. He's cemented into the No. 2 spot in the team's lineup, which should allow for him to continue to score a good amount of runs while also helping fantasy managers in stolen bases and batting average.

Kansas City Royals shortstop Nicky Lopez was a single-hitting machine in the team's four-game series against the Seattle Mariners. In Sunday's series finale, he went 3-for-4 with three singles and a run scored. It was his third consecutive game with exactly three singles. He went 10-for-17 overall in the series with all 10 of his hits being singles. Lopez is slashing .292/.361/.362 on the season. He has 18 stolen bases on the year, 10 of which have come this month. He's cemented into the No. 2 spot in the team's batting order, so he should continue to produce runs and stolen bases going forward as long as he can keep hitting. Just don't expect any power production as he has only one home run over 119 games on the year.

It only took 109 games, but Nicky Lopez has finally lifted a ball over the fences. The Kansas City Royals shortstop went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run in the team's 6-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday. Lopez has had a solid year overall. Through his 109 games on the year, he's slashing .277/.347/.354 with 15 stolen bases, 30 RBI and 49 runs. He's been seeing more time near the top of the lineup lately, and it's resulted in more trips to the plate and more trips to the base paths. Seven of his 15 stolen bases on the year have come this month. Lopez's complete lack of power limits his fantasy appeal, but anyone looking for a boost in stolen bases can consider rostering him.

Kansas City Royals shortstop Nicky Lopez (jaw) was hit in the jaw by a ground ball off the bat of New York Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner in the 11th inning of Monday's game. He initially remained in the game, but was removed for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the 11th. He should be considered day-to-day for now. Lopez had a strong day at the plate on Monday, going 2-for-5 with a stolen base, an RBI and a run scored. He's hit second in the lineup in three of the team's past four games. If he sticks in that position, he could have some sneaky fantasy upside in runs, stolen bases and batting average. However, his complete lack of power (zero home runs over 100 games this year) gives him a pretty low ceiling.