Junior Lake

Junior Osvaldo Lake (born March 27, 1990) is a Dominican professional baseball outfielder for El Águila de Veracruz of the Mexican League. He signed as an international free agent with the Chicago Cubs in 2007 and made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut with them in 2013. He has also played for the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays.

For the lake located on Vancouver Island, see Junior Lake (Vancouver Island).
Junior Lake
Lake with the Baltimore Orioles in 2015
El Águila de Veracruz – No. 22
Outfielder
Born: (1990-03-27) March 27, 1990
San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
MLB debut
July 19, 2013, for the Chicago Cubs
MLB statistics
(through 2016 season)
Batting average.235
Hits155
Home runs17
Runs batted in48
Teams

Professional career

Chicago Cubs

On February 13, 2007, he was signed as an international free agent. He started playing for the DSL Cubs at the age of 17 batting .274 with 3 home runs. He then played for the Arizona League Cubs batting .286 with 2 home runs. In 2009, he went to the Peoria Chiefs batting .248 with 7 home runs. Lake was added to the Cubs 40-man roster on November 18, 2011.[1]

Lake batting for the Chicago Cubs in 2014

Lake suffered a stress fracture in a rib in spring training in 2013.[2][3] He began the season in the minors. The Cubs promoted him to the major leagues on July 19 after Brian Bogusevic was injured and he was batting .295.[4] Lake went 3-for-4 with a double and a stolen base in his debut. In his first seven games, Lake had 15 hits, tied for the third most by any major league player since 1900. He batted .484 with 2 home runs and 5 runs batted in over this stretch. With the return of David DeJesus on July 24 and the departure of Alfonso Soriano, Lake assumed the starting role of left field. On August 1, 2013, Lake had the first multi-homer game of his career when he hit two solo home runs in a 6-4 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers at Wrigley Field. On September 6, 2013, he hit the first grand slam of his career in the first inning off Kyle Lohse of the Milwaukee Brewers. Lake finished the 2013 campaign batting .284 in 64 games with 6 homers, 16 RBIs, and 4 stolen bases.

Lake started at left field on Opening Day in 2014. He hit his 7th and 8th home runs of the season in a game against the Miami Marlins on June 7, it was his second career multi-homerun game. After hitting just .216 with 9 home runs for the Cubs in 2014, Lake was optioned back to the Triple-A Iowa Cubs on August 16.[5]

Lake spent the majority of the 2015 season in Triple-A for the Cubs. He was called up and played in 21 games for the Cubs due to numerous injuries in the outfield.

Baltimore Orioles

On July 31, 2015, Lake was traded to the Baltimore Orioles for Tommy Hunter.[6][7] Lake appeared in 8 games for the Orioles, batting .136. On December 10, Lake was designated for assignment.

Toronto Blue Jays

On December 18, 2015, Lake was claimed off waivers by the Toronto Blue Jays.[8] Lake was added to their active roster on June 24, 2016.[9] He was designated for assignment on July 25 after José Bautista returned from the disabled list.[10] He cleared waivers, and was outrighted to the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons on July 31.[11] Lake was brought up to the Blue Jays on August 10 when Bautista was once again placed on the disabled list.[12] On August 16, Lake was designated for assignment after the Blue Jays activated Ezequiel Carrera.[13] Lake played in 22 games for the Blue Jays in 2016, hitting .200 with one home run and two RBI.[14]

Boston Red Sox

On December 9, 2016, Lake signed a minor league contract with the Boston Red Sox.[15] He was released on May 1, 2017.[16]

Bravos de León

On June 20, 2017, Lake signed with the Bravos de León of the Mexican League.[17]

Seattle Mariners

On February 14, 2018, Lake signed a minor league deal with the Seattle Mariners.[18] He was released on March 28, 2018.

Return to León

On April 7, 2018, Lake re-signed with the Bravos de León of the Mexican Baseball League.

Toros de Tijuana

On July 10, 2018, Lake was traded to the Toros de Tijuana of the Mexican Baseball League. He played in 46 games for Tijuana in his first campaign, hitting .274/.383/.451 with 7 home runs, 37 RBI, and 6 stolen bases. In 2019, Lake made 114 appearances for Tijuana, slashing .306/.410/.528 with 21 home runs, 85 RBI, and 25 stolen bases. Lake did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the Mexican League season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[19]

Lake played in 64 games for the Toros in 2021, batting .293/.390/.485 with 10 home runs, 29 RBI, and 4 stolen bases. The following season, he appeared in 88 contests for the team, slashing .318/.377/.559 with 22 home runs, 79 RBI, and 10 stolen bases.[20] Lake returned in 2023, appearing in 5 games before being placed on the injured list on April 27.

El Águila de Veracruz

On May 12, 2023, Lake, along with P Samuel Zazueta and P Tyler Madrigal, were traded to El Águila de Veracruz of the Mexican League in exchange for P Luis Márquez.[21]

International career

After the 2020 season, he played for the Dominican Republic in the 2021 Caribbean Series. After each of the 2021 and 2022 seasons, Lake played for Estrellas Orientales of the Dominican Professional Baseball League.

References
  1. "Cubs add four players to 40-man roster". Chicago.cubs.mlb.com. 2011-11-18. Retrieved 2014-06-10.
  2. "Injury ends camp for Cubs prospect Junior Lake - Chicago Sun-Times". Suntimes.com. 2013-03-13. Retrieved 2014-06-10.
  3. "Injury knocks Junior Lake out of the picture". CSN Chicago. 2013-03-13. Archived from the original on 2015-02-09. Retrieved 2014-06-10.
  4. "Chicago Cubs News: Junior Lake to be called up from Iowa. - Chicago Tribune". Articles.chicagotribune.com. 2013-07-18. Retrieved 2014-06-10.
  5. "Chicago Cubs on Twitter".
  6. Muskat, Carrie (July 31, 2015). "Cubs get Hunter from O's, send Lake in return". MLB.com. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
  7. "Baltimore Orioles on Twitter".
  8. Nicholson-Smith, Ben (December 18, 2015). "Blue Jays claim outfielder Junior Lake on waivers". sportsnet.ca. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
  9. "Toronto Blue Jays on Twitter". Twitter. June 24, 2016. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  10. "Blue Jays' Jose Bautista activated off DL before San Diego series". July 25, 2016. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  11. "Shi Davidi on Twitter". Twitter. July 31, 2016. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
  12. Siegel, Jonas (August 10, 2016). "Jays put Jose Bautista on 15-day disabled list with knee sprain". Canadian Press. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
  13. Adams, Steve (August 16, 2016). "Blue Jays Designate Junior Lake For Assignment". mlbtraderumors.com. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  14. "Junior Lake Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
  15. "MLB rumors: News on free-agent contracts, trades and more". si.com. December 9, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
  16. "Junior Lake | SoxProspects.com". www.soxprospects.com. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  17. "Se Integran a Bravos Los Dominicanos Junior Lake Y Gilberto Mejia". bravosdeleon.com (in Spanish). June 20, 2017. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  18. "Mariners' Junior Lake: Agrees to terms with Seattle". CBSSports.com. February 14, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  19. "Mexican League Cancels 2020 Season". July 2020.
  20. "Toros".
  21. "LAKE, ZAZUETA, Y MADRIGAL LLEGAN A EL GLORIOSO". elaguiladeveracruz.com (in Spanish). May 12, 2023. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
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