Jonathan Ornelas

Jonathan Ornelas (born May 26, 2000) is an American professional baseball infielder for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2023.

Amateur career
Ornelas attended Raymond S. Kellis High School in Glendale, Arizona. In his senior season of 2018, he hit .464 with 15 doubles, six home runs, 29 RBIs and 19 stolen bases. He had committed to the University of Tennessee to play college baseball. Ornelas was drafted by the Texas Rangers with the 91st overall selection in the 3rd round of the 2018 MLB Draft. He signed with them for a $622,800 signing bonus.

Professional career
Ornelas 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. 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. He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 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. Ornelas spent the 2022 season with the Frisco RoughRiders of the Double-A Texas League. 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. Ornelas was named the Texas Rangers 2022 minor league Defender of the Year.

On November 15, 2022, the Rangers added Ornelas to their 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. Ornelas was optioned to the Round Rock Express of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League to begin the 2023 season. On August 7, Ornelas was called up to the major leagues for the first time. He made his debut that night versus the Oakland Athletics as a pinch runner, scoring the eventual winning run in the eighth inning.

Ornelas was optioned to Triple–A Round Rock to begin the 2024 season. He was called up on June 30 following an injury to Corey Seager.