July 12, 2019: The Dodgers signed OF Jonny Deluca after choosing him in the 25th round, out of the Univ. of Oregon, via scout Jeff Stevens.

2021 Season: 22 homers, 20 steals. Deluca snuck his way on to the 20-20 Club by stealing two bags in the penultimate game of the season for High-A Great Lakes. The bulk of his damage came at Low-A Rancho Cucamonga in a league known primarily for offensive production.

Jonny hit .287/.376/.592 with 15 homers and 13 steals in 57 games with the Quakes, only to see that slash line fall to .232/.308/.421 in 44 games at High-A Central. At the least, he did enough for the Dodgers to take notice, and he shouldn’t be such a sleeper in 2022.

2022 Season: The Dodgers took DeLuca in Round 25 of the 2019 Draft and have watched him make some very impressive strides in turning his athleticism into performance. He had been a track standout in high school before focusing on baseball at Oregon and is still an explosive athlete with some loud tools.

Jonny has an intriguing power-speed combination, and his improvements in terms of plate discipline have helped him use those tools, as he finished 2022 with 25 homers and 17 steals.  (Jonathan Mayo - Nov. 16, 2022)

In 2023, the Baseball America Prospect Handbook rated DeLuca as the 18th-best prospect in the Dodgers' organization. He was at #13 in 2024.

2023 Season: Stats: .262/.311/.429, 102 wRC+, 2 HR, 3 BB, 45 PA, 24 G 

DeLuca started the season in Double-A Tulsa and reached the majors by June. He spent nearly two months with the Dodgers as a reserve at all three outfield spots in the middle of the season.

Added to the 40-man roster in November 2022, DeLuca hit .279/.380/.590 with a 150 wRC+ 10 home runs in 32 games for Tulsa before getting promoted to Triple-A Oklahoma City on May 16. He just kept going in Triple-A, hitting .315/.375/.548 with eight extra-base hits in 17 games. That made DeLuca the next player up when Trayce Thompson strained his oblique on June 3.

DeLuca’s major league stay was extended when Chris Taylor missed about three weeks with knee soreness.

DeLuca hit his first major league home run on July 4 against the Pirates at Dodger Stadium, just 33 miles from where he played baseball and excelled in the long jump at Agoura Hills High School. The home run was a go-ahead shot in the eighth inning that gave the Dodgers the lead, but Pittsburgh spoiled the fun with a three-run ninth.

The signing of Jake Marisnick during the All-Star break meant DeLuca was headed back to Triple-A, only to be called back five days later when Marisnick strained his hamstring. DeLuca didn’t actually play in the interim, dealing with a bit of a travel nightmare.

From Fabian Ardaya at The Athletic:

Optioned back to the minors on Friday afternoon, DeLuca’s flight Saturday to rejoin Triple-A Oklahoma City in Sacramento was canceled. Rerouted back to Oklahoma City, he arrived only to find his bags hadn’t come with him.

By the time DeLuca’s bags got there Tuesday evening, DeLuca had already been summoned into Oklahoma City manager Travis Barbary’s office. Marisnick had strained his hamstring, and DeLuca was headed back to the bigs. A 5:00 a.m. flight to Baltimore and another flight to Dallas on Wednesday night all but completed DeLuca’s travels. Patience was a virtue for DeLuca, and not just his 10.7-percent walk rate in the minors this year.

He was active with the Dodgers active 36 games, but only started 10 games — five in center field, four games in left, and one in right. DeLuca played a lot in reserve, totaling 24 games, but only batted 45 times.

Any kind of footing in the majors DeLuca might have gained in his second stint ended with his own hamstring injury, sidelined just a week after he returned.

Once the Dodgers acquired the multi-positional Kiké Hernández near the trade deadline, that all but ended DeLuca’s chances at playing time in the majors this season. His injured list stint ended on August 31, and he spent the remainder of the season in Triple-A. (Eric Stephen@ericstephen - Nov 24, 2023)

 2024 Season: Entering Spring Training, DeLuca seemed prime to win a spot on the Opening Day roster. Unfortunately, DeLuca was hit by a pitch in mid-March and suffered a fractured hand. After a brief rehab assignment in Triple-A Durham, DeLuca made his Rays debut on May 3rd. DeLuca stuck on the active roster for the rest of the season. DeLuca enjoyed a hot start to his Rays tenure, followed by an abysmal slump. He eventually regained his offensive footing and posted a 104 wRC+ over his final 50 games of the season. Meanwhile, DeLuca proved himself to be a well above average outfielder capable of playing all three spots; DeLuca excelled during his time in right field specifically.

Final 2024 Statline

AAA: .300/.440/.650 | 2 HR | 1 SB | 4.0 K% | 16.0 BB% | 179 wRC+ | 25 PA
MLB: .217/.278/.331 | 6 HR | 16 SB | 21.3 K% | 6.6 BB% | 77 wRC+ | 362 PA | 0.9 fWAR  (Adam Sanford  Nov 22, 2024)

TRANSACTIONS

July 12, 2019: The Dodgers signed OF Jonny Deluca after choosing him in the 25th round, out of the Univ. of Oregon, via scout Jeff Stevens.

DeLuca struggled as a switch-hitter at Oregon but has flourished offensively after the Dodgers made him hit righthanded only. He crushes lefthanded pitching with a strong, powerful swing and generates plus, 60 grade power with his bulging, muscular forearms. He catches up to velocity, has above-average plate discipline and battles through at-bats with a 50 grade hit tool.

Jonny started hitting righthanded only as  pro and found his offensive stride. He takes big, powerful swings and generates above-avg. raw power he generates with his muscular forearms. with his muscular forearms. He has above-average plate discipline and crushes fastballs at any velocity. Deluca struggles against secondary stuff. He is more masher than pure hitter, but he battles through at-bats and projects to be a below-avg. hitter who gets to his power.  He hits lefties particular hard.

Deluca projects to be valuable role player who crushes lefties and plays solid defense. (Kyle Glaser - Baseball America Prospect Handbook - Spring, 2024)

DeLuca is still getting used to seeing the ball from the right side against righthanded pitchers, but he crushes mistakes when they leave them over the plate. (Kyle Glaser - BA Prospect Handbook - Spring, 2023)

Jonny’s ability to control the strike zone was one his most attractive assets coming out of college. He has maintained that as a pro with a 10% walk rate and strikeout rate just shy of 17% in 2022.

A switch-hitter in college, DeLuca has batted strictly righthanded since signing with the Dodgers, leading to some unfavorable splits against same-handed pitchers. But Rhymes sees that evening out with more at-bats.

“He killed lefties,” Rhymes said. “We think there’s a really well-balanced hitter in there if he smooths some things out against righthanded pitching.”

“A good power-and-zone-control combo," Dodgers farm director Will Rhymes said. "Really good defense. And he’s one of the fastest guys in our system. So it’s a really well-rounded game. He does a lot of things really well . . . We’re really excited about him. He’s a heckuva player. (Bill Plunkett - Baseball America - Jan 2023)

2022: DeLuca was limited to 98 games by an oblique injury but still hit 25 home runs and batted .260/.347/.541 for Great Lakes and Double-A Tulsa. 

July 26-Aug 31, 2023: Deluca was on the IL with right hammy strain.