It’s certainly better than a bullpen game. And the progress Luis Ortiz has made this season could matter a great deal to a Pirates pitching staff that has started to thin out fast.
With a hole in the starting rotation due to Vince Velasquez being on the 15-day injured list with right elbow inflammation, the Pirates recalled Ortiz from Triple-A Indianapolis on Monday and plan to start him Tuesday against the Rockies at PNC Park.
“We expect him to compete,” Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said. “He's got ability, really good pitches, and he’s competitive. He’s used his time at Indy to his benefit. He's in a good spot physically, and his delivery is in a better spot than it was in spring training. He’s throwing strikes. We expect him to compete and attack the zone. If he does that, he’ll be effective.”
Ortiz, 24, made his MLB debut last season and started four times for the Pirates, pitching to a 4.50 ERA in 16 innings. Three of those outings were incredible, as he was dazzling against the Reds, Yankees and Cubs before struggling at St. Louis. The hard-throwing righty walked 10 and struck out 17.
Results thus far have been excellent for Ortiz in the minor leagues. He has gone 2-1 with a 2.23 ERA in seven games, walking 11 and striking out 29 in 32 1/3 innings.
The last start Ortiz made was on Friday, and it was shortened to just three innings, likely because he would pitch again Tuesday. Ortiz was once again sharp, allowing one hit, no runs or walks and striking out three.
“We feel good that he’ll be ready,” Cherington said.
In his previous two outings, Ortiz delivered quality starts — a combined 12 innings during which he allowed four earned runs with strikeouts.
There are a couple things the Pirates have been emphasizing with Ortiz, most notably consistency. While he throws incredibly hard — with a fastball that averaged 98.4 mph in 2023 — he had intermittent control problems, leading to walks and/or meaty pitches.
Ortiz certainly looked dominant at times this spring and was a fill-in pick to pitch for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. But he also allowed seven earned runs over six innings, with three walks and three strikeouts in Grapefruit League action.
As they sent Ortiz to the minors, the edict was basically to refine his changeup so he had three distinct pitches: the upper-90s fastball, a changeup in the 90-93 mph range and a ridiculous slider that generated a 47.3% whiff rate in 2022.
“The separation of his pitches and their profiles is starting to get back to where it was when he first came up last year,” Pirates pitching coach Oscar Marin said.
Manager Derek Shelton praised Ortiz for “how he has been moving down the mound.” The changeup certainly remains a work in progress, but it’s also not the biggest deal in the world if Ortiz can locate his fastball and slider.
“He’s been throwing the ball well,” Shelton said. “We saw Luis last year. We know he has multiple weapons. We’ve talked about pitching depth and making sure that we’re building pitching depth. He’s part of it.”
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: May 8, 2023, 6:10 p.m.
Updated: May 8, 2023, 9:17 p.m.