Iván De Jesús Álvarez Jr. (born May 1,ánDeJesú 1987) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball infielder. Born in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, he went to high school at American Military Academy of Guaynabo and was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers' in the 2005 Major League Baseball draft. DeJesus Jr. is the son of former major leaguer Iván DeJesús and a former major league batboy.
His Major League Baseball (MLB) debut with the Dodgers occurred early in the 2011 Major League Baseball season. He has since split time between the Major Leagues and various Triple-A affiliates, earning Triple-A All-Star recognition in 2014. He has also played in MLB for the Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds.
Career
Los Angeles Dodgers
In 1987, he was born in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. He went to high school at American Military Academy of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. When his father was hitting coach for the Houston Astros organization, he served as batboy. DeJesus Jr. was the Los Angeles Dodgers' 2nd selection and 51st overall selection of the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft.
In 2005, he split time between the GCL Dodgers of the Gulf Coast League and the Ogden Raptors of the Pioneer Baseball League. He has played with the Columbus Catfish of the South Atlantic League in 2006 and with the Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino of the California League in 2007. He spent the 2008 season with the Jacksonville Suns of the Southern League. He was selected to play for the South Division of the Southern League All-Star Game, but he instead played in the 2008 All-Star Futures Game. He ended 2008 with a 23-game hitting streak. He finished second in the Southern League with 76 walks and tied for third with 150 hits. He was selected to the Baseball America Minor League All-Star Second Team as a second baseman. DeJesús was named 2008 minor league player of the year for the Dodgers organization. DeJesús had been the Dodgers' sixth highest rated prospect and best defensive infielder prior to 2007. He was listed as the #12 Dodger prospect prior to 2008 by Scout.com and #13 by Baseball America.
DeJesús played in the 2008 Arizona Fall League and the 2008–2009 Puerto Rican Winter League. The Dodgers invited him to Major League camp as a non-roster player for spring training, however he broke his left leg in a home plate collision during a spring training game. He returned to play four games for the Arizona League Dodgers in late August. The Dodgers added him to their 40 man roster prior to the 2010 season and promoted him to the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes, where he hit .296 in 130 games. He played for the Phoenix Desert Dogs in the Arizona Fall League after the season.
He made his Major League debut on April 1, 2011, against the San Francisco Giants. He played in two games with the Dodgers, striking out five times in seven at-bats before being optioned back to AAA Albuquerque on April 6. He was recalled to the Dodgers on April 12 when Rafael Furcal was placed on the disabled list. He recorded his first Major League hit on April 16 against the St. Louis Cardinals. On April 23, he took the field at the same time as his father when the Dodgers' pitched in the bottom of the eight inning at Wrigley Field. With the Cubs batting, his father was performing his third base coaching duties, while Junior entered the game as a defensive replacement. This was the first occurrence for a regular season game. After being sent back to AAA on May 13, and aside from a brief stint in the majors from June 4–6, he spent the rest of the season with the Isotopes, hitting .310 with 8 home runs and 59 RBI in 443 plate appearances and 100 games. Following the conclusion of the 2011 AAA season, DeJesús was not among the post season callups by the 2011 Dodgers. for whom he had only had 35 plate appearances.
DeJesús lost his chance to make the opening day roster in 2012 when he suffered a torn oblique muscle in his side during a spring training game. On May 3, he began his rehabilitation with Albuquerque. The Dodgers recalled DeJesús on May 19. On June 1, 2012, DeJesús was part of a Dodgers lineup that featured the sons of five former Major Leaguers (along with Tony Gwynn Jr., Jerry Hairston Jr., Dee Gordon and Scott Van Slyke). This was the first time in Major League history that this had occurred. It was also the first time a starting infield of four major league sons had ever occurred: first baseman Van Slyke, second baseman Hairston, third baseman De Jesus and shortstop Gordon.