Jon Del Campo

Jonathan Del Campo

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 195 lb.
• High School Cibola High School (Yuma)

• Born May 18, 1988 in San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora MEX

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

OF/IF Jon Del Campo was born in Mexico but went to high school across the border in Yuma, AZ and was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 20th round of the 2006 amateur draft. His minor league career, which started that year, was still a going concern in 2022. Two of his brothers, catchers Manny Del Campo and Rogelio Del Campo, have also played professionally.

Jon was in the Blue Jays system from 2006 to 2010, making his way from the Appalachian League to the Florida State League, with stops with the Bluefield Blue Jays, GCL Blue Jays, Auburn Doubledays, Lansing Lugnuts and Dunedin Blue Jays. It took him a while to get regular playing time, as he had less than 100 at-bats in his first two seasons, before getting 188 in 57 games with Auburn in 2008. He hit .266/.340/.404 in what what his first significant playing time. He then played for multiple teams in both of his next two seasons, but was a back-up both years, his defensive versatility being an asset for the thin benches of the lower minors, but also indicating that he wasn't seen as any kind of prospect. He had 152 and 159 at-bats, batting .184 and .277.

In the 2009-2010 winter ball season, he first appeared with the Venados de Mazatlan and starting in 2011 he played full-time in the Mexican League in the summers, and in the Mexican Pacific League in the winters. He saw relatively little action with the Diablos Rojos del México in his first year, appearing in just 12 games, which is not entirely surprising given he was moving from being a little-used back-up in A ball to a competitive AAA circuit full of veteran players. He moved around over the following years and gained playing time. In 2013 he had the first true full season as a regular eight years into his professional career, playing in 93 games with 325 for the Leones de Yucatan, hitting .268 with 40 runs and 36 RBIs. He hit 27 doubles and 12 homers for the Pericos de Puebla in 2014, for a batting line of .367/.399/.576, making it to the Mexican League championship series against his old team from Mexico City. In championship finale on September 11th, he hit a two-run homer off closer Manny Acosta as Puebla took an 8-6 lead in the 9th, but Mexico City came back to tie it in the bottom of the inning, and a homer in the bottom of the 10th completed a four-game sweep. He was never as good as that season, but still hit ..297 with 11 homers between Puebla and the Saraperos de Saltillo in 2015, then after spending all of 2016 with Saltillo, batting .284, he returned to Puebla in 2017 to hit .298 in 56 games.

He was no longer a big power threat after the 2014 and 2015 seasons, but remained a solid hitter for average. In 2018, with the Generales de Durango, he hit .374 in the first half and .351 in the second half as the championship was split into two discrete parts. In 2019, he played for three different teams but only appeared in 51 games, as he took some time off to take care of his ailing mother. The COVID-19 pandemic then forced him into inactivity after he had once again appeared with Mazatlan in the 2019-20 winter league season, and his career seemed over, but he played a few games back in the LMP in 2021-22 and was with the Mariachis de Guadalajara in the 2022 Liga season. His career having gone full circle, he was back to being a bench player, but at 34 was still able to maintain a decent batting average, .271 in his 22 games.

He has started a youth baseball school named "Del Campo Baseball". He played for the Mexican national team in the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games, which were held in Veracruz, Veracruz. Starting in right, he was 5 for 15 (all singles, no walks) with three runs, handling four putouts.