Nick Ortiz

From BR Bullpen

Nicolas Yamil Ortiz

BR Minors page

Biographical Information[edit]

Nick Ortiz played 15 seasons in the minors, including three in AAA.

The Boston Red Sox took Ortiz in the 34th round of the 1990 amateur draft. Debuting with the 1991 GCL Red Sox, the youngster hit .260/.408/.310 with 21 walks in 35 games. He split 1992 between the Elmira Pioneers (5 for 28, 3 2B, 5 BB, 13 K) and the GCL Red Sox (.264/.370/.356). He fielded .921 as the starting shortstop of the GCL Red Sox. In '93, Nick played for the Utica Blue Sox (.269/.348/.381) and Fort Lauderdale Red Sox (.205/.264/.330). With the 1994 Sarasota Red Sox, he hit .269/.323/.375 while moving primarily to third base. Back with Sarasota in 1995, he put up a .247/.315/.368 line and fielded only .887 at the hot corner. For the 1996 campaign, Ortiz made appearances with the Michigan Battle Cats (.302/.366/.417 in 73 G) and Trenton Thunder (.223/.294/.323 in 38 G). Starting at second for Trenton in '97, he hit .281/.348/.438, one of his best seasons.

Ortiz then began a stretch of bouncing from team to team, splitting 1998 between the Boston and Montreal chains. He appeared for the Thunder (.229/.308/.298 in 39 G), Harrisburg Senators (.270/.346/.472 in 56 G) and the AAA Ottawa Lynx (3 for 32, 2B, 6 BB). In 1999, he was with the Los Angeles Dodgers' San Antonio Missions (7 for 40, 2B, 3 BB) and the Cleveland Indians' Akron Aeros (.267/.333/.395 in 55 G) and Buffalo Bisons (.255/.296/.333 in 22 G).

In 2000, Nick was with the New York Yankees' Norwich Navigators (6 for 37, 7 BB) and the Kansas City Royals' Wichita Wranglers (.294/.378/.433). Back at shortstop, he led Texas League players at that position in both fielding percentage (.980) and double plays (84). Spending his only full year at AAA, he hit .250/.323/.377 for the 2001 Omaha Golden Spikes, fielding .975 as their main shortstop.

The Cidra native sat out 2002 then returned in '03 with Wichita (.230/.287/.286 in 35 G) and the Chicago Cubs' West Tenn Diamond Jaxx (.297/.352/.426 in 43 G). In 2004, Ortiz hit .229/.321/.334 for the independent Bridgeport Bluefish. He played for three Atlantic League clubs in 2006, putting together a composite line of .303/.388/.417. He was 6th in the league in average but lost All-Star shortstop honors to Raul Marval.

The veteran hit .318 for the 2006-2007 Criollos de Caguas, third in the Puerto Rican League, then had a big year with the 2007 Bridgeport Bluefish, batting .297/.379/.431 with 28 doubles, 93 runs and a career-high 20 steals in 28 tries. He finished third in runs, tied for 8th in doubles and 8th in steals.

Ortiz played for the Puerto Rican national team in the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games.

Ortiz joined the New York Yankees organization in 2016, first as a scout and then as a coach for the Pulaski Yankees. He spent the next three years as a manager with the GCL Yankees West (2017, 2019) and Pulaski (2018).

In 2020, the San Francisco Giants hired Ortiz as their quality assurance coach. He remained in this role through the end of the 2023 season. Ortiz returned to the Yankees' organization as manager of the Hudson Valley Renegades in 2024.

Ortiz further enhanced his skills in winter league baseball as pitching coach of the Gigantes de Carolina in 2018/2019 and third base coach in 2019/2020. During the 2022/2023 season Ortiz moved to the rival Cangrejeros de Santurce club. He started the season as the team's bench coach, but was promoted to manager on November 25th where he stayed for the rest of the season.

Year-By-Year Managerial Record[edit]

Year Team League Record Finish Organization Playoffs
2017 GCL Yankees West Gulf Coast League 32-27 7th New York Yankees
2018 Pulaski Yankees Appalachian League 32-36 6th New York Yankees
2019 GCL Yankees West Gulf Coast League 22-27 12th New York Yankees
2024 Hudson Valley Renegades South Atlantic League 73-58 4th New York Yankees Lost in Finals

Related Sites[edit]