Dennis Ortega

Dennis Enrique Ortega

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 230 lb.

• Born June 11, 1997 in Valencia, Carabobo Venezuela

BR register page

Biographical Information

Dennis Ortega has played as high as AAA and for the Venezuelan national team.

Ortega was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals. In 2014, he hit .229/.330/.242 for the DSL Cardinals, throwing out 41% of those who tried to steal. The next year, he batted .248/.333/.310 with the same club. He came to the US in '16 and hit .357/.439/.426 for the GCL Cardinals, catching 41%. His 20-game hitting streak was the longest in the Gulf Coast League. He was 3 for 13 with 3 walks and 3 runs in the playoffs as the team won its first title.

He split 2017 between the State College Spikes (.213/.284/.252 in 39 G) and Peoria Chiefs (7 for 18, 2B, 5 BB in 6 G). He caught an impressive 53% of base-runners that year. He made his Venezuelan League debut with the Bravos de Margarita, producing at a .205/.238/.282 clip and throwing out five of nine as their backup backstop. Baseball America rated him as the Cards' best defensive catcher prospect entering 2019. In 2019, with the Palm Beach Cardinals, he hit .205/.257/.250. The 2020 minor league season was wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Returning to the field that winter, he was excellent for the Bravos (.356/.439/.563, 7 HR, 31 RBI in 37 G). He was 6th in average (between Willians Astudillo and Luis Sardiñas), 10th in OBP, 7th in slugging (between Astudillo and Gorkys Hernández), 5th in OPS, 4th in runs (29), tied Astudillo and José Rondón for 2nd in home runs (one shy of Alberth Martinez) and tied Rondón for the RBI lead.

The big backstop began the 2021 season slowly with the Memphis Redbirds but was still put on Venezuela's squad for the Final Olympic Qualifier, presumably on the strength of his excellent winter campaign. He started the opener at 1B (with veteran Robinson Chirinos behind the dish) and hitting 8th against the Dominican national team. He grounded out his first at-bat against Raynel Espinal and was 0 for 4 for the day. He was 0 for 4 the next day at catcher versus the Netherlands and sat out the last two games, with Chirinos at C and Hernán Pérez at 1B. He handled 17 chances error-free in the event.