Luis Ortiz (ortizlu03)

From BR Bullpen

Luis Leandro Ortiz

  • Bats Right, Throws Right
  • Height 6' 2", Weight 240 lb.

BR page

Biographical Information[edit]

Luis Ortiz debuted in the majors in 2022.

He was signed by Pittsburgh Pirates scout Junior Vizcaino in October 2018. [1] He skipped the Dominican Summer League, debuting with the Bristol Pirates and going 2-2 with a 4.09 ERA. The 2020 minor league season was wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, he was 5-3 with a 3.09 ERA for the Bradenton Marauders, fanning 113 in 87 1/3 IP. He was four strikeouts behind league leader Adrian Florencio and second in the Pirates chain (again four behind Florencio).

Ortiz began 2022 with the Altoona Curve, going 5-9 with a 4.64 ERA but 126 K in 114 1/3 IP. He was promoted to the Indianapolis Indians and struck out 12 in 10 innings there, giving up four hits. He then got called up to The Show for a brief glance, as the Bucs figured he would join the 40-man roster that off-season anyways. [2] He made an impressive major league debut for the 2022 Pirates, throwing six pitches of 100+ mph; Gerrit Cole was the only other Pirates starter to hit the century mark before, having done so 33 times in a five-year period with the club. [3] He allowed only one hit (to Stuart Fairchild) and three walks while fanning five in 5 1/3 shutout innings before Chase De Jong took over. It was the best debut by a Pirates starter since Nick Kingham; the Bucs obviously hoped he would pan out better than Kingham.

When he reached the majors, there was already another pitcher named Luis Ortiz, active in the majors since 2018. In order to differentiate the two, he is sometimes called "Luis L. Ortiz", after his middle name (the other one has the middle name Francisco).

Sources[edit]

  1. 2022 Pirates Media Guide, pg. 222
  2. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article by Mike Persak, 9/12/2022
  3. 9/13/2022 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article by Jason Mackey

Related Sites[edit]