In a move that was anticipated, the Dodgers today announced that 24-year-old second baseman Ivan De Jesus Jr. has been reinstated from the 15-day Disabled List and immediately optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque. As disappointing as this may be for De Jesus, it could very well work to his advantage in the long run, as it squarely places him behind Mark Ellis as the heir apparent to becoming the Dodgers’ everyday second baseman – that’s the good news. The bad news is that De Jesus has “been there – done that” and probably would already be the Dodgers’ everyday second baseman were it not for the horrific ankle injury he suffered during a spring training B-game in 2009.

Ivan De Jesus Jr. (Photo by Danny Wild/MiLB.com)

Jesus Jr. was in the midst of the best spring training of his career this year when he suffered the injury of the new millennium  (a strained oblique) on March 17th which landed him on the major league 15-day DL, allowing the Dodgers to fill his spot on the 25-man roster. Now that he has been officially activated off of the DL, the Dodgers were forced to option him back to the minors. However, if De Jesus can remain healthy and rack up good numbers with the Isotopes, he will most likely get a September call-up, or perhaps even sooner if (Lord forbid) Mark Ellis were to get injured before then.

Regardless, it’s great to see Ivan De Jesus Jr. back out on the playing field.