Johan De Jesus

WTM’s PLAYER PROFILE

As MLB has introduced rules intended to reduce bonuses for international signees, the Pirates have increasingly gone to lower bonuses while many other teams have flouted the rules and handed out higher and higher bonuses.  As a result, the Pirates have increasingly fallen out of the competition for the better Latin American prospects and been left with more moderately priced players like De Jesus, few of whom seem to be working out.

2013
DSL:  190/254/202, 168 AB, 2 2B, 14 BB, 46 K, 6-10 SB

De Jesus struggled badly at the plate, showing no power and striking out a lot.  He also had problems in the field, committing 24 errors in just 49 games at short, leading to an unsightly .888 fielding percentage.

2014
DSL:  204/364/257, 191 AB, 7 2B, 1 HR, 47 BB, 68 K, 10-11 SB

The Pirates moved De Jesus to third in deference to Adrian Valerio.  He made no progress on offense beyond drawing a lot of walks.  In fact, his K rate got even worse.

2015
Suspended

De Jesus was hit with a PED suspension and missed the entire season.

2016
DSL:  219/297/219, 32 AB, 3 BB, 12 K, 2-3 SB
R:  185/235/277, 173 AB, 9 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 9 BB, 57 K, 6-7 SB

Initially, the Pirates sent De Jesus back to the DSL, where he played first and third.  Shortly into the season, though, they brought him to the US when another infielder suffered a possibly season-ending injury.  He split his time between first and third in the GCL.  He struggled there, hitting poorly with a low walk rate and very high K rate.

2017
R+:  214/292/347, 173 AB, 9 2B, 4 3B, 2 HR, 20 BB, 55 K, 3-6 SB

The Pirates moved De Jesus up to Bristol, where he split his time between first and third, mostly the former.  His hitting improved a little, with a bit more power and a better walk rate, but he continued to strike out at almost exactly the same rate.  He also had defensive problems.

De Jesus didn’t help himself with the suspension, but he appears to be overmatched anyway.  Despite not having gotten above advanced rookie ball, he’s eligible for the Rule 5 draft.