Jonathan Davis DeLuca (born July 10, 1998) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2023.
Career
Amateur career
DeLuca attended Agoura High School in Agoura Hills, California. He was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 39th round of the 2017 Major League Baseball Draft, but did not sign and played college baseball at the University of Oregon. In 2018, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox of the Cape Cod Baseball League and was named a league all-star. After two years at Oregon, he was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 25th round of the 2019 MLB Draft and signed.
Professional career
DeLuca made his professional debut with the rookie-level Arizona League Dodgers in 2019, where he hit .273 in 26 games. DeLuca did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He returned to action in 2021 to play for the Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes and High-A Great Lakes Loons, hitting a combined .264 in 101 games with 22 home runs and 64 RBI. DeLuca started the 2022 season with Great Lakes before being promoted to the Double-A Tulsa Drillers. Between the two levels, he played in 98 games and hit .260 with 25 homers and 71 RBI.
On November 15, 2022, the Dodgers added DeLuca to the 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. He returned to Tulsa to begin the 2023 season and was promoted to the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers on May 16. After just 17 games there, he was called up to the majors for the first time on June 4. DeLuca made his debut against the Cincinnati Reds on June 7 as the starting centerfielder. He was hitless in two at-bats with a walk in his debut. His first major league hit was a single to center field off of Ranger Suárez of the Philadelphia Phillies on June 9. On July 4, 2023, DeLuca hit his first MLB home run off Ángel Perdomo of the Pittsburgh Pirates. He played in a total of 24 games in the majors, hitting .262 with two homers and six RBI before being optioned back to the minors. Between the two minor league levels he played at in 2023, he appeared in 73 games and hit .294 with 17 homers and 53 RBI.