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Round Rock INF Jonathan Ornelas Promoted to Texas

Express Infielder Heads to The Show Seeking His MLB Debut
August 7, 2023

ROUND ROCK, Texas – Welcome to The Show, Jonathan! The Texas Rangers announced that the club recalled Round Rock Express INF Jonathan Ornelas on Monday evening. Ornelas will be active today at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum against the Oakland Athletics. First pitch is scheduled for 8:40 p.m. CT. Ornelas began

ROUND ROCK, Texas – Welcome to The Show, Jonathan! The Texas Rangers announced that the club recalled Round Rock Express INF Jonathan Ornelas on Monday evening. Ornelas will be active today at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum against the Oakland Athletics. First pitch is scheduled for 8:40 p.m. CT.

Ornelas began the 2023 campaign with the Express after spending all of 2022 with Double-A Frisco. In 88 games this season, he is batting .250 (84-336) with 14 doubles, two triples, five home runs, 39 RBI, 54 runs scored, 55 walks and 95 strikeouts. The 55 walks are the most in any season of his career.

The righty is coming off his best month of the season. In July, he slashed .304/.385/.392/.777 with two doubles, one triple and one home run. He rode a 12-game hitting streak where he hit .400 (18-45) and had an on-base percentage of .481.

On June 11 against the Salt Lake Bees, Ornelas posted his first multi-homer game of the season as he went 2-for-4 with two home runs, two RBI and two runs scored. It was the first time he posted multiple home runs in a game since June 26, 2021 while playing for High-A Hickory. The righty collected his first Triple-A bomb on May 21 against the El Paso Chihuahuas at Dell Diamond.

Ornelas has committed only nine errors this season and has seen time at second base, third base, shortstop and center field. He has spent most of his season at shortstop where he has made 63 starts. In 2022 with Double-A Frisco, Ornelas was named the Texas Rangers Minor League Defensive Player of the Year. Ornelas was also lauded by Baseball America as the ‘Best Defensive Infielder’ and ‘Best Infield Arm’ in the Rangers farm system, according to the publication’s annual ‘Best Tools’ survey of the club’s top prospects.

Ornelas, a native of Glendale, Arizona, was originally a third-round selection by the Rangers in the 2018 MLB Draft out of Raymond S. Kellis High School. Ornelas is bilingual (English, Spanish) and has been a great asset for the Round Rock clubhouse and front office.

Round Rock returns to Dell Diamond to take on the Albuquerque Isotopes (Colorado Rockies affiliate) tomorrow, August 8 at 7:05 p.m. CT. Express RHP Owen White (1-1, 5.75) is set to make the start against Isotopes LHP Josh Rogers (4-6, 7.22).

For more information about the Express, visit RRExpress.com or call (512) 255-2255. Subscribe to the E-Train email newsletter and keep up with the Express on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!