Jonathan Ornelas (born May 26, 2000) is a Mexican-American professional baseball infielder for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Águilas de Mexicali of the Mexican Pacific Winter League (LMP). He debuted in the MLB in 2023 while in Mexican winter baseball he debuted in 2024.
| Jonathan Ornelas | |
|---|---|
 | |
| |
| Infielder | |
| Born: May 26, 2000 Glendale, Arizona, U.S. | |
Bats: Right Throws: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| August 7, 2023, for the Texas Rangers | |
| MLB statistics (through September 3, 2024) | |
| Batting average | .138 |
| Home runs | 0 |
| Runs batted in | 1 |
| Teams | |
| |
Amateur career
editOrnelas attended Raymond S. Kellis High School in Glendale, Arizona.[1][2] In his senior season of 2018, he hit .464 with 15 doubles, six home runs, 29 RBIs and 19 stolen bases.[3] He had committed to the University of Tennessee to play college baseball.[4] Ornelas was drafted by the Texas Rangers with the 91st overall selection in the 3rd round of the 2018 MLB Draft.[5] He signed with them for a $622,800 signing bonus.[6]
Professional career
editOrnelas was assigned to the AZL Rangers and in 48 games hit .302/.389/.459 with 3 home runs, 28 RBI, and 15 stolen bases over 48 games in his professional debut season of 2018.[7] Ornelas spent the 2019 season with the Hickory Crawdads of the Single–A South Atlantic League, hitting .257/.333/.373 with 6 home runs, 13 stolen bases, and 38 RBI.[8] He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[9] Ornelas returned to Hickory (which had moved classification to the High-A East level), hitting .261/.310/.394 with 8 home runs, 9 stolen bases, and 38 RBI.[10] Ornelas spent the 2022 season with the Frisco RoughRiders of the Double-A Texas League.[11] He hit .299/.360/.425 with 14 home runs, 64 RBI, 14 stolen bases, and tied the Frisco franchise record by recording 157 hits in 2022.[12] Ornelas was named the Texas Rangers 2022 minor league Defender of the Year.[13]
On November 15, 2022, the Rangers added Ornelas to their 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.[14] Ornelas was optioned to the Round Rock Express of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League to begin the 2023 season.[15] On August 7, Ornelas was called up to the major leagues for the first time.[16] He made his debut that night versus the Oakland Athletics as a pinch runner, scoring the eventual winning run in the eighth inning.[17]
Ornelas was optioned to Triple–A Round Rock to begin the 2024 season.[18] He was called up on June 30 following an injury to Corey Seager.[19]
References
edit- ^ Harris, Jack (June 8, 2018). "Arizona talent 'bursts back on the scene' with strong MLB draft". Arizona Sports. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
- ^ Kernahan, Shaun P. (May 27, 2018). "2018 MLB Draft: Jonathan Ornelas, SS, Glendale, Arizona". Minor League Ball (SB Nation). Retrieved May 23, 2022.
- ^ Dotson, Wesley (June 5, 2018). "Rangers add more RHPs, shortstops on Day 2". MLB.com. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
- ^ Banfield, Jordon (September 22, 2017). "COMMITMENT Q&A: 2018 SS/RHP JONATHAN ORNELAS PICKS TENNESSEE". Prep Baseball Report. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
- ^ "Arizona high school and college players taken in 2018 MLB draft". The Arizona Republic. June 6, 2018. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
- ^ Stevenson, Stefan (June 12, 2018). "$7 million men: Here are the signing bonuses for Rangers' top five picks". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
- ^ Longenhagen, Eric (April 16, 2020). "Top 52 Prospects: Texas Rangers". FanGraphs.com. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
- ^ Longenhagen, Eric (May 28, 2021). "Top 65 Prospects: Texas Rangers". FanGraphs.com. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
- ^ "2020 Minor League Baseball season cancelled". mlb.com. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
- ^ Newberg, Jamey (April 27, 2022). "Part 2 of our four-installment series ranking the top 72 Rangers prospects". The Athletic. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
- ^ Longenhagen, Eric (May 23, 2022). "Monday Prospect Notes: 5/23/22". FanGraphs.com. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
- ^ Postins, Matthew (September 20, 2022). "Rangers Prospect Ties Frisco Hits Record". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
- ^ Bigley, Zach (October 3, 2022). "Former Riders sweep 2022 Rangers MiLB awards". MiLB.com. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
- ^ Weaver, Levi (November 15, 2022). "Martín Pérez returns to Texas, Dennis Santana traded, 6 added to 40-man roster". The Athletic. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
- ^ "Rangers' Jonathan Ornelas: Optioned to Triple-A". cbssports.com. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
- ^ "Round Rock INF Jonathan Ornelas Promoted to Texas". MiLB.com. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
- ^ Chen, Sonja (August 7, 2023). "Garver's 3-hit day, late rally propel Texas to 7th straight". MLB.com. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
- ^ "Rangers' Jonathan Ornelas: Sent to minors". cbssports.com. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
- ^ Morris, Adam J. (June 12, 2024). "Burke activated, Anderson optioned". SBNation. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
External links
edit- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors)