Christopher earned his high school diploma last summer and surprised his mother, Rosa, with a trip back home to the Dominican Republic in September for his graduation ceremony…he completed courses, usually two at a time, while working around his busy baseball schedule… Christopher says math was his toughest subject...He is close friends with Giants shortstop and former Ray Willy Adames…both grew up in Santiago, located about two hours north of the Dominican Republic capital of Santo Domingo… they frequently work out and spend time together during offseasons…Christopher, who has likened Willy to a big brother, sports two horizontal black lines on his face for games in honor of his friend’s similar look...Christopher has a longstanding relationship with Rays Major League Field Coordinator Tomas Francisco…from ages 10-12, he worked out at a baseball facility in Santiago ran by Tomas’ father, who has also coached him in the Dominican Winter League...His custom glove features nearly two-dozen smiley faces and the phrase amor y paz (“love and peace”)…the glove reminds him to enjoy each moment and seize every opportunity to have fun and be a good teammate…his inspiration stemmed from a horrific injury he suffered as a 16-year-old Cubs prospect…a broken glass door resulted in severe cuts in his left arm and wrist and around his left eye, requiring nearly 200 stitches...Christopher has an Instagram account where he showcases his work with Dominican youth baseball players: @amorypaz_org.
2024
Appeared in 152 games between the Cubs (103G) and Rays (49G)…acquired from Chicago, along with RHP Hunter Bigge and RHP Ty Johnson, in exchange for INF Isaac Paredes on July 28...Made 44 starts between second base (20), designated hitter (13) and left field (11) after joining the Rays…his 102 starts with the Cubs were split between third base (73) and designated hitter (29)...Hit .202/.304/.382 (71-for-351) with 18 HR over 99 games with the Cubs to open the season, producing a 12.8 pct. walk rate…after the trade to the Rays, slashed .185/.256/.277 (34-for-184) with three HR and a 7.8 pct. walk rate in 53 games...Produced a career-best 10 pct. walk rate on the season…had four games with three walks, one of six players in MLB to accomplish the feat, joining LAD Freddie Freeman (five), NYY Aaron Judge (five), PHI Kyle Schwarber (five), NYY Juan Soto (five) and SF LaMonte Wade Jr. (four)…His 76.1 mph average bat speed ranked fifth in the AL and ninth in the majors…his 90.2 mph average arm strength ranked seventh among Major League infielders (min. 50 throws)...His .233 batting average on balls in play was second lowest in the Majors, ahead of only BAL Anthony Santander (.225)…over a full season, with the Rays, it would have signaled the second lowest mark in club history, higher than only Carlos Peña (.222) in 2010...On April 9 at SD, drove in a career-high four runs in a 5-1 win thanks to his first career grand slam, a 431-foot shot off Stephen Kolek…marked the first grand slam by a Cubs hitter at Petco Park since the ballpark opened in 2004...On May 18 vs. PIT, singled off David Bednar in the 9th frame for his third career walk-off plate appearance…his three walk-offs from 2022-24 tied Nico Hoerner for most among Cubs hitters...Reached base safely in a season-high 17 straight games from July 3-27, tying the second-longest streak of his career behind a 22-game run from May 17–June 10, 2022...From July 30-31, became the third player in Rays history to homer in each of his first two games with the club, joining Lucas Duda (2017) and Elijah Dukes (2007)…including his June 11 blast as a member of the Cubs, homered in three of his first five career games at Tropicana Field...Recorded a .509 OPS and one HR over 47 games from Aug. 1 on, including a .518 OPS in August and a .495 OPS in September, the two lowest marks in any calendar months of his career (min. 20PA)...On Sept. 22 vs. TOR, recorded his first game-winning RBI with the Rays on a pinch-hit sacrifice fly in the seventh frame of a 4-3 victory...Played for Aguilas Cibaenas in the Dominican Winter League for the third time in three years.
2023
Christopher batted .247 (96-for-388) with 17 doubles, three triples, 26 home runs, 70 RBI and a .821 OPS in 107 games in 2023 with the Cubs...Played in 29 games with Triple-A Iowa, batting .330 (38- for-115) with nine doubles, two triples, 11 home runs, 31 RBI, a .425 OBP and a 1.156 OPS...His 26 home runs were tied for the most on the team, while his 70 RBI, .821 OPS and 46 extra-base hits all ranked fifth...Hit 19 of his 26 home runs vs. right-handed pitching...Began the season with the Iowa, earning International League Player of the Month honors for April...Batted .356 (31-for-87) with eight doubles, 11 home runs and 26 RBI in 22 games during the month...Hit 10 home runs in a 14-game span from April 12- 29, including a seven RBI performance April 29 vs. Louisville...Was recalled by the Cubs, May 8 and made his season debut May 9 vs. St. Louis...Tallied a hit in each of his first 13 Major League games this season May 9-24 (14 straight games dating to Oct. 5, 2022), batting .377 (20-for-53) during the run...Hit nine home runs in his first 12 games of the season, becoming the fourth player in MLB history (since 1901) to homer nine times in his first 12 games of a season...Other players to do so: Luis González - nine in 2001, Larry Walker - nine in 1997 and Mike Schmidt - 11 in 1976...Homered in five-straight games May 17-23, becoming the first Cub to accomplish the feat since Sammy Sosa (June 3-8, 1998)...Recorded at least one hit and one run in each of his first 12 games of the season, the second-longest streak in franchise history since at least 1900 (Hank Sauer - 13 in 1954)...In eight games from June 10-18, batted .414 (12-for-29) with one double, one triple, four home runs and 13 RBI, including five multi-RBI efforts...Tallied eight RBI in a four-game span from June 13-16 for the second time in his career (also June 28-July 1, 2022)...Notched consecutive three-hit games June 15-16 for the first time in his career...May 9-June 18 ranked among the Major League leaders in slugging percentage (second, .700 - trailing Shohei Ohtani - .729), home runs (T-second, 13), OPS (sixth, 1.042) and RBI (T-seventh, 28)...Tallied a 10-game hitting streak from July 21-Aug. 2, batting .350 (14-for-40) with two home runs and 10 RBI during the stretch...Aug. 2 vs. Cincinnati, hit his 17th home run of the season (in 241 AB), surpassing his 2022 total (16 in 379 AB)...Aug. 16 vs. Chicago (A.L.), blasted his first career walk-off home run, a three-run shot in the ninth inning in the Cubs' 4-3 victory...The walk-off shot was his second career walk-off RBI (also sac fly, June 1, 2022 vs. Milwaukee)...Marked the Cubs' first walk-off home run since Jason Heyward, Sept. 8, 2021 vs. Cincinnati.
2022
Christopher in 2022 finished among the MLB rookie leaders (min. 350 AB) in home runs (sixth, 16), slugging percentage (sixth, .433), stolen bases (seventh, 10), RBI (ninth, 47), OPS (ninth, .751) and on-base percentage (11th, .308)....After his debut on May 17, ranked among Cubs team leaders in runs (T-1st, 55), home runs (3third, 16), hits (third, 89) and RBI (third, 47), slugging percentage (third, .433) and doubles (third, 19)....Recorded 39 extra-base hits, the second-most by an N.L. rookie, trailing Michael Harris II (49)....Appeared in 113 games for the Cubs, seeing time at center field (57 games), second base (33 games), third base (18 games), shortstop (13 games), designated hitter (three games) and left field (one game)... Became the first Cub since 1904 to start at four different defensive positions (2B, 3B, SS, CF) in his first five career starts....Began the season with Double-A Tennessee, batting .306 (33-for-108) with five doubles, one triple, seven home runs, 20 RBI and a .945 OPS in 28 games....From May 17-June 11, had a franchise-record, 22-game, career-opening on-base streak ... the 22-game run to begin his career was the fourth-longest in N.L. history and the eighth-longest in MLB history...During the streak, batted .303 (27-for-89) with seven doubles, two triples, three home runs, 10 RBI and 12 walks, contributing to a .388 OBP and a .916 OPS....Had his contract selected and made his Major League debut May 17 vs. Pittsburgh ... became the first Cub to homer in their first career Major League plate appearance since Willson Contreras, June 19, 2016 vs. Pittsburgh... Contreras was also the last Cub to hit a pinch-homer in his first career major league plate appearance....Tallied a Cubs season-high, 11-game hitting streak from May 20-31, batting .283 (13-for-46) with three doubles, one triple, one home run, four RBI and an .834 OPS during the run....Notched his first career walk-off RBI, a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning June 1 vs. Milwaukee....Went 5-for-9 in the doubleheader June 4 vs. St. Louis...Elias and Stats Inc. note that he became the second Cubs rookie in the last 40 years to record five-plus hits in a doubleheader (also Kris Bryant, Sept. 11, 2015, at Philadelphia)....Hit two game-opening home runs (June 7 at Baltimore, June 16 vs. San Diego), one shy of the Cubs rookie franchise record (Lou Brock, 3 in 1962)....June 30, notched a career-high, five-hit game, the youngest Cub (23 years, 6 days) with a five-hit game since Ken Hubbs, May 20, 1962 at PHI at 18 years, 148 days old....Homered in three-straight games from June 29-July 1, the first Cubs rookie to accomplish the feat since Frank Schwindel (Sept. 3-5, 2021)... Prior to Schwindel the last Cubs rookie to homer in three-straight games was Mike Olt (May 7-9, 2014) ... source: Elias)....Hit his 15th home run of the season Sept. 27 vs. Philadelphia, becoming the fifth rookie in Cubs history with a 15-plus home run, 10-plus stolen base season during their first major league campaign (last Kris Bryant - 2015)....Hit safely in seven of his last 10 games, from Sept. 22-Oct. 5, recording five extra-base hits (three doubles, two home runs), eight RBI and an .836 OPS.
2021
In 2021, reached the Triple-A level for the first time, splitting 110 games between Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa... Set career marks in games (110), hits (90), runs (65), doubles (18), home runs (18), RBI (66) and walks (55)... His 66 RBI were second-most among all Cubs minor leaguers, while his 18 homers were fourth-most... Appeared in center field (34 games), third base (23 games), right field (21 games), shortstop (14 games), second base (13 games), left field (6 games) and designated hitter (2 games)... Hit .278 (22-for-79) with seven home runs, 19 RBI and a .994 OPS vs. left-handed pitching... July 4 was named the Double-A South Offensive Player of the Week after going 8-for-18 (.444) with four home runs and nine RBI during the week... Was promoted to Iowa on Sept. 22 and played in nine games for the I-Cubs.
2020
Spent the season at the South Bend Alternate Site.
