Luis

Ortiz

Ortiz appeared to have a rotation spot to lose this spring, but he’s throwing it away with his 11.66 ERA. He walked six batters tonight, and he has a 2.05 WHIP in five starts. Things would seem to be looking up for Joey Cantillo at the moment.

Cecconi has resumed throwing, but won’t be ready in time for Opening Day. The 25-year-old righty came over from the Diamondbacks in the offseason Josh Naylor trade and was fighting to break camp in Cleveland’s starting rotation mix. His absence is a hit to the Guardians’ depth, but it does pretty much ensures that Luis L. Ortiz and Triston McKenzie are going to break camp in the big leagues.

Ortiz also issued three walks on the day while striking out four. His trouble stemmed directly from his inability to keep the ball in the yard, as Jacob Stallings tagged him for a solo home run in the second inning and again for a three-run shot in the fourth. The 26-year-old right-hander got eight whiffs on 73 pitches in the game — four of those on his fastball — while posting a CSW of 26 percent. He’s going to have to be better than this to secure the final spot in the Guardians’ Opening Day rotation.

Ortiz struck out five and only issued a pair of walks. He averaged 95.3 mph on his four-seam fastball, but didn’t throw his changeup (again) in this latest outing. The 26-year-old has the inside track to open the year as Cleveland’s fifth starter, but we’re not forecasting a breakthrough campaign unless he makes some changes to his pitch mix.

It was a nice bounce-back performance for Ortiz after getting shelled for six runs last time out in his Cactus League debut. The 26-year-old right-hander’s slider continued looking sharp in this outing, which is encouraging. He averaged 95 mph on his four-seam fastball, striking out two batters without handing out a free pass. He’ll have to beat out Joey Cantillo for the final spot in Cleveland’s season-opening starting rotation and the lack of elite strikeout upside limits his appeal to deeper mixed leagues entering the season.

Not great. Ortiz was tagged for six hits, including a three-run homer by veteran Jake Bauers in the opening frame. The 26-year-old hurler came over from the Pirates back in December and figures to make Cleveland’s season-opening rotation. He’ll need to hold off Joey Cantillo, who looked sharp in his spring debut, if he wants to lock open the year in the big leagues.

Ortiz has shown occasional flashes of brilliance and represents a fascinating gamble for Cleveland’s pitching development apparatus. The hard-throwing 25-year-old righty boasts an impressive fastball/slider combo, but hasn’t made enough progress with a third pitch to excel as a starter. That might change with the Guardians, who have had success with pitchers like him in the past. He should be in the mix for a spot in Cleveland’s season-opening rotation, which would make him intriguing for fantasy purposes, especially in extremely deep mixed leagues.

MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand adds the Guardians are getting left-handed pitching prospect Josh Hartle and Michael Kennedy, in addition to big-league righty Luis Ortiz in the deal. Technically, Horwitz hasn’t been officially traded to the Guardians yet. However, once that deal is announced, he’s going to be on the move again, this time to Pittsburgh. No word yet on the return from the Pirates. The 27-year-old, who makes a ton of contact and boasts strong plate disciple as well, figures to take over as Pittsburgh’s primary first baseman, unless they make some additional moves in the lead up to spring training.

Ortiz gave up four hits, walked one and struck out five. He had an up and down season as the Pirates gave him a chance in the rotation for the first time, but Ortiz undoubtedly closed the season on a high note. He finishes 7-6 with a 3.32 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 107 strikeouts in 135 2/3 innings. Ortiz’ 4.59 xFIP suggests he might not be this good, though the Pirates will likely stick with the 25-year-old right-hander as a rotation option in 2025.

Ortiz gave up five hits, walked two and struck out seven. He moved into the rotation on June 26th and had a 0.73 ERA in his first four starts. In his next five starts, his ERA was 6.26. Now, in his last five starts, he has a 2.93 ERA. Ortiz has been up and down this year, but there have been more positives than negatives. He’s 6-6 with a 3.43 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 102 strikeouts in 128 2/3 innings this year. The 25-year-old right-hander is set to face the Brewers at home next week.