Danny Ortiz

WTM’S PLAYER PROFILE

2008
R:  274/328/419, 186 AB, 11 2B, 5 3B, 2 HR, 11 BB, 30 K, 4-4 SB

Ortiz played mainly right field in his rookie league debut.  He hit reasonably well, but the lack of patience surfaced right away.

2009
INJURED

Ortiz missed the entire season following surgery on his left knee for an injury sustained while sliding.

2010
R+:  259/299/498, 239 AB, 16 2B, 4 3B, 11 HR, 14 BB, 60 K, 1-1 SB

The Twins sent Ortiz to advanced rookie ball, where he played the outfield corners, mostly left.  He showed good power, but at the cost of a poor OBP.

2011
A:  239/294/391, 468 AB, 33 2B, 4 3B, 10 HR, 37 BB, 96 K, 7-12 SB

Ortiz spent the season in low A.  He improved his walk and K rates, but his power, and his hitting overall, dropped off.  He played all three outfield positions, including 17 games in center.

2012
A:  299/337/414, 87 AB, 4 2B, 2 HR, 4 BB, 15 K, 3-7 SB
A+:  269/313/424, 375 AB, 24 2B, 5 3B, 8 HR, 22 BB, 67 K, 4-8 SB

The Twins sent Ortiz back to low A at the beginning of the season, then moved him up to high A after a month.  He hit better, with his power returning somewhat.  He continued playing all three outfield positions.

2013
AA:  258/301/405, 484 AB, 27 2B, 4 3B, 12 HR, 27 BB, 88 K, 1-5 SB

Ortiz spent the season in AA, playing mostly left.  He continued a pattern of hitting just adequately, with a low walk rate but not and exceptionally high K rate.

2014
AA:  324/340/500, 182 AB, 16 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR, 4 BB, 34 K, 3-4 SB
AAA:  256/283/434, 242 AB, 13 2B, 3 3B, 8 HR, 9 BB, 51 K

Ortiz split the season between AA and AAA, again playing mostly left.  He had one of his better hitting seasons, but his walk rate evaporated almost entirely.

2015
AAA:  248/295/430, 484 AB, 31 2B, 3 3B, 17 HR, 33 BB, 105 K, 4-5 SB

Ortiz spent the season in AAA, playing mainly center.  His batting line closely followed his career minor league line of 261/304/428.  He signed with the Pirates as a minor league free agent after the season.

2016
AAA:  236/275/415, 436 AB, 31 2B, 3 3B, 17 HR, 25 BB, 91 K, 6-14 SB

The Pirates invited Ortiz to spring training, but he didn’t have a good spring and the signing of Matt Joyce ended whatever minimal chance he had of making the team.  He spent the season at Indianapolis, mostly playing center.  He hit for fairly good power, but continued to post a low walk rate with a very low OBP.  He hit LHPs much better than RHPs.

2017
AAA:  270/303/457, 411 AB, 30 2B, 1 3B, 15 HR, 19 BB, 80 K, 5-7 SB
MLB:  083/154/083, 12 AB, 1 BB, 1 K

Ortiz became a free agent after the 2016 season, but re-signed with the Pirates late in the off-season.  They may have brought him back in reaction to losing Willy Garcia on a waiver claim.  He returned to Indianapolis, but got called up at the end of April when the Pirates had a string of injuries and also had lost Starling Marte to suspension.  The attraction evidently was Ortiz’ ability to play all the outfield positions, as his AAA record showed little evidence that he’d be able to hit major league pitching.  He also was struggling severely at the time, with a .499 OPS.  He didn’t see any action and went back to AAA a few days later, but came up again mid-month.  Ortiz got into eight games with the Pirates and got his first major league hit, then was sent back down in late May.  He hit better as the season went along, including an .800 OPS after the AAA all-star break.  He struggled against LHPs, with a .535 OPS for the season.  In early August, the Pirates designated Ortiz for assignment to make room for Sean Rodriguez.  He cleared waivers and was assigned to Indianapolis.

Ortiz will be a free agent again in the fall.  It’s possible the Pirates could try to bring him back, but there may be a lot of players ahead of him.  It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Pirates try to acquire a legitimate fourth outfielder to replace John Jaso, and Jordan Luplow and Austin Meadows should both be at Indy (and hopefully healthy).  Ortiz’ chances of returning to the majors would be better elsewhere.