| Kristopher Negrón | |
|---|---|
 Negrón with the Cincinnati Reds | |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | |
| Utility player /Coach | |
| Born: (1986-02-01)February 1, 1986 (age 40) Willingboro Township, New Jersey, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| June 7, 2012, for the Cincinnati Reds | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 29, 2019, for the Los Angeles Dodgers | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .221 |
| Home runs | 9 |
| Runs batted in | 32 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| |
Kristopher David Negrón (born February 1, 1986) is an American former professionalbaseballutility player and current benchcoach for thePittsburgh Pirates ofMajor League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for theCincinnati Reds,Arizona Diamondbacks,Seattle Mariners, andLos Angeles Dodgers. He played everydefensive position in MLB except pitcher and catcher, spending the most time atthird base andsecond base.[1]
Negrón was born inNew Jersey and later attendedVanden High School inFairfield, California.[2] He played baseball, football, and track in high school.[3] His mother, Mary, is Dominican, and his father, Dan, is Puerto Rican.[3] He earned a baseball scholarship toUC Davis but lost it after one year due to poor grades.[3] He transferred toCosumnes River College inSacramento, California. In 2006, he hit .361 with 78 runs scored and 31 steals.[4] He was selected by theBoston Red Sox in the seventh round, 223rd overall, of the2006 Major League Baseball draft.[5]
Negrón started his first professional season batting .234 in his first 25 games for the rookie classGulf Coast League Red Sox. However, over the final 16 games he hit .292 with two home runs and 10runs batted in.[6] He was promoted to the Low–ALowell Spinners on August 26, 2006.[7] In 2007, Negron started the season with the Single–AGreenville Drive.[8] He hit .226 with three home runs and 29 RBI.[6] He was promoted to the High–ALancaster JetHawks on August 31. He stole two bases in three games for the JetHawks.[6]
Back in Greenville for the 2008 season, Negrón hit .244 over 92 games. He showed his speed, stealing 25 bases and hitting five triples while scoring 50 runs.[6] Negrón played three games for the Double-APortland Sea Dogs during a brief July call-up and finished the season with the Lancaster JetHawks again. In 33 games, he hit .328 with seven home runs and 19 RBI.[6] The JetHawks made the playoffs, and Negrón went 10–for–39 with two homers and seven RBI in nine games, capped off with a 10th inning, three run walk-off homer in game two of theCalifornia League semifinal series.[9]
Negrón showed strong numbers against left-handed pitching in 2008, hitting a combined .355 with a .600 slugging percentage. He finished the season with a total combined average of .265. He set career highs with eight home runs, 24 doubles and 46 RBI. Negrón spent the first 111 games of his 2009 season with theSalem Red Sox, the new High–A team of the Red Sox. He hit .264 with three homers and 34 RBI.[6]
Negrón was traded to theCincinnati Reds on August 14, 2009, for shortstopÁlex González and cash.[10] After eight games with theSarasota Reds, he was promoted to the Double-ACarolina Mudcats. He hit .241 in 54 at-bats.[6] In 2010 for the Mudcats, Negrón hit .272 in 470 at-bats. Although his power numbers slightly dropped to six home runs and a .351 slugging percentage, his on-base percentage increased to .344.[6] He was promoted to the Triple-ALouisville Bats late in the season and went 4-for-21.[6] Following the 2010 season, he played for thePeoria Saguaros in theArizona Fall League and was placed on the Reds40-man roster.[9] He spent all of 2011 with Louisville, where he hit .216 in 123 games.[6]
Negrón began 2012 with Louisville, but on June 6 he was called up for the first time to the Major Leagues, and made his Reds' debut the next day as a pinch-runner against thePittsburgh Pirates.[9] On June 14, he got his first Major League hit, a single offScott Barnes, in the bottom of the fifth inning in Cincinnati.[11] He returned to Louisville after four appearances with the Reds, where he had the one hit in four at-bats.[5] Negrón hit .218 with six homers and 20 RBIs at Louisville[6] until hetore the anterior cruciate ligament andmedial meniscus in his right knee on July 5, costing him the rest of the season.[9] On November 30, 2012, he was non-tendered by the Reds and removed from the 40-man roster. However, he agreed to a minor league contract with the Reds for the 2013 season that included an invitation to major league spring training.[9] In 2013, all at Louisville, he hit .225 with five homers and 30 RBIs.[6] He played forCriollos de Caguas in thePuerto Rican Winter League after the season.[9]
Negrón began 2014 Louisville in 2014, batting .269 for the Bats.[6] In early July, he was called up to the big leagues for the second time in his career, replacing the injuredBrandon Phillips.[9] On July 13, Negrón, who started at second base, hit his first big-league home run offFrancisco Liriano and tallied his first three RBIs against thePittsburgh Pirates.[12] His playing time was significant for the injury-ravaged Reds; he made the most of it with a three-game stretch against theCleveland Indians August 5–7, going a combined 7–15 with two doubles, one home run and five RBIs. On August 15, playing against theColorado Rockies, he had his first four-hit game, going 4–4 with four singles and one RBI.[13] Overall, he hit .271 with six homers and 17 RBI in 49 games for the Reds in 2014.[5] In 2015, he split the season between Louisville and Cincinnati, hitting .216 in 59 games for Louisville and .140 in 43 games for the Reds.[6] His season ended early when he suffered a partiallydislocated shoulder,fractured scapula, andtorn labrum while making a catch atGreat American Ball Park on September 8.[14] He was released by the Reds in October and became a free agent.[14]
After spending the off-season rehabbing from his shoulder injury, Negrón signed a minor league contract with theChicago Cubs that included an invitation to spring training on January 14, 2016.[14] He spent the entirety of 2016 season with the Triple–AIowa Cubs, where he hit .256/.308/.403 with nine home runs, 46 RBI, and 23 stolen bases across 117 games.[6] Negrón elected free agency following the season on November 7.[15]
On November 21, 2016, Negrón signed a minor league contract with theArizona Diamondbacks.[16] He was assigned to theReno Aces of thePacific Coast League, where he hit .300 in 120 games with 13 homers and 64 RBI.[6] The Diamondbacks called him up to the majors in September[17] He had four hits in 25 at–bats (.160) for the Diamondbacks that season in 14 games.[5] He was added to the Diamondbacks roster for theWild Card Game and2017 NLDS but did not play in the postseason.[9] He was outrighted off the roster after the season but re–signed with the team on a new minor league deal and was invited to spring training.[9] He was assigned to Reno to begin the 2018 campaign, but was called up by the Diamondbacks on June 4, 2018[9] and appeared in two games, on June 4 and June 5 against theSan Francisco Giants, with one hit in three at-bats[18] before he wasdesignated for assignment on June 6 and outrighted back to Reno.[9] He hit .283 in 118 games for Reno during the year.[6]
On August 30, 2018, Negrón was traded to theSeattle Mariners for cash considerations[9] and he was added to the major league roster on September 1.[9] He batted .219/.242/.313 combined for the Mariners and Diamondbacks in 2018.[5] That season, he had the fastest baserunning sprint speed of all MLB third basemen, at 29.5 feet/second.[19] He was outrighted to the Triple–ATacoma Rainiers on March 13, 2019, when he did not make the roster out of spring training[9] In 82 games for Tacoma, he hit .310 wit 12 homers and 61 RBI.[6] On July 16, the Mariners brought him back to the majors, where he hit .217 in 10 games.[5]
On July 9, 2019, Negrón was traded to theLos Angeles Dodgers in exchange for minor league infielderDaniel Castro.[20] In his first at bat with the team, Negron hit a home run offKyle Freeland of theColorado Rockies.[21] He was placed on the injured list on August 20, returning to the team on August 30.[4] He hit a single in his final MLB at-bat in the Dodgers' final regular season game.[22] He played in 30 games for the Dodgers, hitting .259.[5] He was left of the team's roster for theNational League Division Series.[23]
Negrón announced his retirement from professional baseball on November 12, 2019.[24] On November 19, Negrón was hired by theSeattle Mariners as assistant to the director of player development.[25] On January 27, 2021, Negrón was announced as themanager for theTacoma Rainiers, the MarinersTriple-A affiliate.[26] The Rainiers were the 2021 Triple-A West Champions and Negrón was named Triple-A West manager of the year.[27]
In 2022, Negrón became thefirst base coach for the Mariners.[28] On April 20, he made his debut as the interim Mariners manager, while managerScott Servais was unavailable after testing positive forCOVID-19.[29] The Mariners beat theTexas Rangers that day under Negrón's management.[29]
On November 26, 2024, Negrón became thethird base coach for the Mariners.[30]
On November 15, 2025, Negrón was hired by thePittsburgh Pirates as their bench coach.[31]
Negrón and his wife, Allison, met in 2005 as students atUC Davis and married in 2010.[32] They have twin sons, Gianni and Lorenzo, who were born in June 2021.[32] They live inNapa, California.[32]
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