Phil Ortez

Phil Ortez batting in the 2015 Holland Series with Kinheim in Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Philip Michael Ortez

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 190 lb.
• School California Polytechnic State University, Scottsdale Community College
• High School Coronado High School
• Born August 4, 1986 in Scottsdale, AZ, USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Phil Ortez receiving the All Star MVP award in Haarlem, The Netherlands on June 16, 2013

Phil Ortez played baseball in the United States, Canada, Germany and the Netherlands.

Ortez was picked by the Detroit Tigers in the 30th round of the 2006 amateur draft out of Scottsdale Community College but did not sign. Instead Ortez decided to take a scholarship offer to attend NCAA Division I California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California. He went 4 for 28 with 2 doubles and 4 walks for Cal Poly in 2008 and 1 for 10 with a triple and two walks in 2009. In 2010, he played for the Victoria Seals, going 3 for 16 with 2 doubles, a RBI and a walk; he had one putout in the outfield. He went to Europe in 2011 to play for the Solingen Alligators and put on an offensive show at .439/.511/.632 with 11 steals in 13 tries, 17 walks, 35 runs and 23 RBI in 28 games. Defensively, he struggled with a .865 fielding percentage as a SS-OF. He was among the Bundesliga-1 North leaders in average (4th), hits (50, 2nd, one behind Elliot Biddle), runs (2nd, 3 behind Julius Uelschen), slugging (4th) and OBP (5th). Ortez also won the 2011 Best Hitter award in the European Cup with the Solingen Alligators (http://www.mister-baseball.com/qualifiers-european-cup-final-standings-awards/).

Phil Ortez receiving the Best Hitter Award during the 2011 European Cup in Solingen, Germany

Trying himself against a tougher European circuit, he played for ADO in the Dutch Hoofdklasse in 2012 and remained effective. He produced at a .355/.379/.470 clip with 30 RBI in 42 games as an outfielder. He was among the league leaders in average (4th, after Bas de Jong, Danny Rombley and Kody Hightower), hits (1st, 59), RBI (tied for 10th), doubles (13, tied for 3rd with Jeffrey Arends and Rien Vernooij) and total bases (3rd, 78, behind Wesley Connor and Dwayne Kemp) but missed the top 10 in both OBP and slugging. Ortez being a switch hitter had a career best batting .500 from the right side going 17 for 34.

Ortez was selected to start in right field for 2012 Hoofdklasse All-Star Team. He help the South squad beat the favored North by hitting a home run in the 8th inning.

In 2013, he was picked up by the Vaessen Pioniers, also of the Dutch Hoofdklasse, and offensively led them to an improved 3rd-place finish. The switch-hitter continues to be one of the top hitters in European baseball (http://baseball-avenue.com/2013/12/16/2013-top-american-import-hitters/#). This season he finished as the top foreign hitter in his league with a .361/.436/.479 split, including batting .406 versus right-handers. Additionally, he finished in the top ten in the 2013 Hoofdklasse in batting average (4th, behind de Jong, Percy Isenia and Remco Draijer), slugging percentage (6th, between Ramiro Balentina and Draijer), on-base percentage (8th, between Isenia and René Cremer), runs scored (41, 4th, behind Cremer, Shaldimar Daantji and Rombley), hits (61, 2nd, one behind de Jong), doubles (11, tied for 7th) and total bases (81, 2nd, 7 behind de Jong).

Phil Ortez's Baseball Card while with ADO The Hague, The Netherlands 2012

In June, he participated in his second straight Hoofdklasse All-Star Game (http://www.mister-baseball.com/north-wins-hoofdklasse-star-game-van-heydoorn-hr-derby/), this time playing for the North squad. Despite not getting in until the 6th inning, he finished 3-3 and tied the game in the seventh with a 2-run home run. This production earned in him All-Star MVP accolades.

In 2014, Ortez came back to the Hoofdklasse signing with the Utrecht club UVV. This came after helping the Vaessen Pioniers reach the Holland Series in 2013 (http://www.honkbalsite.com/2014/06/04/phil-ortez-voor-uvv-terug-in-de-hoofdklasse/). Despite visa issues that caused Ortez to miss the first half of the regular season, Ortez batted an impressive .383 in 20 games and lead UVV to a 5th place finish (http://www.knbsbstats.nl/2014/HB/statsHB/lgplyrs.htm#leagp.mlb). In the postseason, he continued his dominance by batting .435 and carried a lofty .563 on base percentage (http://www.knbsbstats.nl/2014/HB/statsHBRU/lgplyrs.htm#leagp.pgm). Had he qualified, he would have led in average in the regular season by .010 over de Jong and in OBP by .001 over Dè Flanegin. He returned with Corendon Kinheim in 2015.

Sources

• Go Poly bio
• Bundesliga stats
• Hoofdklasse stats
• [1]
• [2]
• 2013 Hoofdklasse All-Star Game
• Article on his being 2013 All-Star MVP
• [3]
• [4]
• [5]
• [6]