Jonathan

Ornelas

Ornelas, 25, was outrighted off the 40-man roster by Atlanta at the end of September. The 2018 third-round pick was an intriguing prospect at one point, but now is more organizational depth than anyone to pay attention to in fantasy circles.

Ornelas went unclaimed on waivers after being dropped from Atlanta’s 40-man roster back in mid-September. The 25-year-old infielder got into six games this season between the Braves and Rangers. He’s merely organizational depth at this stage of his development.

The 25-year-old Ornelas, who was picked up from the Rangers in May, got into only two games for the Braves, going 2-for-4. He’s hit .196/.295/303 in 115 games in Triple-A, continuing an unfortunate trend; he had a .728 OPS in 2023 in his first year in Triple-A, a .648 OPS last year at the level and now a .598 OPS this season.

Ornelas returns to the minors to make room for newly added utility specialist Vidal Bruján, who was claimed off waivers from the Orioles earlier this week. The 25-year-old went 2-for-4 in his lone game with Atlanta this season.

There hadn’t been any word that Bruján was on waivers, but it looks like the Orioles cut him to open up a spot for Ryan Mountcastle. Bruján had just been claimed from the Cubs on Sunday and went 1-for-1 as an Oriole. He’ll probably take the place of Jonathan Ornelas on the Braves bench and could see a fair amount of time at third base with Austin Riley out.

With Jared Kelenic sent down after Sunday’s game, Ornelas will be called up to take his place. Ornelas is hitting just .202 in 79 Triple-A games this season with six home runs and six steals, so he can be ignored in fantasy leagues.

Both clubs are permitted an extra player on the roster for the unique showdown, which is expected to break the all-time single-game attendance record. Ornelas will head back to Triple-A Gwinnett at the conclusion of the contest.

Ornelas heads to Triple-A Gwinnett as ancillary infield depth after being removed from Texas’ 40-man roster earlier this week. The 24-year-old has hit .184 across 54 plate appearances over 30 games in the majors since 2023.

Ornelas, 24, has regressed offensively the last couple of years and no longer seems likely to have a future in the majors as a utilityman. He was hitting .204/.339/.235 in 30 games for Triple-A Round Rock this season. He came in at .251/.322/.326 at the same level last year, and he’s hit .184/.245/.224 in 54 major league plate appearances to date.

Ornelas is back to Round Rock with Corey Seager (hamstring) off the injured list. Ornelas will essentially be the safety valve for when the Rangers need an extra infielder in 2025 as long as he sticks in the org.