Justin Dean

Dean attended Mauldin High School in South Carolina and played college baseball for the Lenoir–Rhyne Bears. He was named to the 2018 ABCA/Rawlings NCAA Division II All-Southeast Region Second Team, after hitting .398 with 59 runs scored, 119 total bases and a .640 slugging percentage.^[1]

The Atlanta Braves selected Dean in the 17th round of the 2018 MLB draft^[2] and he signed for a $125,000 bonus.^[3] He played in 60 professional games that season, split between rookie-level Danville Braves and Single-A Rome Braves, with a .284 batting average.^[4]

Dean spent all of the 2019 season with Rome, playing in 109 games, batting .284 with nine home runs, 46 runs batted In (RBI) and 47 stolen bases.^[4] He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[5]

The Braves promoted Dean to the Double-A Mississippi Braves for the 2021 season, where he hit .237 in 99 games and stole 29 bases.^[4] After the season, he played for two teams in the Mexican Pacific League.^[4] In 2022, he began the season in Triple-A with the Gwinnett Stripers^[6] but he hit just .204 in 19 games^[4] and was demoted back to Mississippi on May 3.^[7] He finished the season there, hitting .320 in 75 games and stealing 19 bases.^[4] After another off-season in Mexico,^[4] he was invited to major league spring training by the Braves in 2023.^[8] He did not make the club and split the 2023 season between Mississippi and Gwinnett, playing in 117 games with a slash line of a .139 batting average, .339 on base percentage and .304 slugging percentage.^[4] In 2024, he again split the season between the same two affiliates, slashing .247/.338/.321 while stealing 47 bases.^[4] Dean elected free agency following the season on November 4, 2024.^[7]

Dean signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers on December 15, 2024.^[7] He was invited to major league spring training^[9] and was assigned to the Triple-A Oklahoma City Comets to start the 2025 season,^[10] where he played in 90 games and slashed .289/.378/.395 with six home runs, 33 RBI, and 27 stolen bases.^[4] On August 8, he was selected to the 40-man roster and promoted to the major leagues for the first time.^[11] Dean made his MLB debut that night as a defensive replacement against the Toronto Blue Jays.^[12] He played in 18 games for the Dodgers and was used exclusively as a late-game defensive replacement and pinch runner, recording only two at-bats (a strikeout and a groundout).^[13] Dean was later included on the Dodgers postseason roster, appearing in 13 games as a defensive replacement as the Dodgers reached the 2025 World Series and won the series in seven games. He scored one run as a pinch runner in the Division Series but did not have a plate appearance in the postseason.^[14] Dean was outrighted to the minors by the Dodgers on November 6 and removed from the 40-man roster.^[15]

On November 6, 2025, Dean was claimed off waivers by the San Francisco Giants.^[16] He was designated for assignment on January 6, 2026, following the signing of Tyler Mahle.^[17] On January 13, Dean was claimed off waivers by the Chicago Cubs.^[18] He was optioned to the Triple-A Iowa Cubs to begin the regular season.^[19]

• Career statistics from MLB · ESPN · Baseball Reference · Fangraphs · Baseball Reference (Minors)