Luis

Ortiz

The Yankees couldn’t get anything going against Ortiz. Two of their three hits came during his last inning. One was erased by a double play before an Aaron Judge single forced Guardians’ manager Stephen Vogt called on the lefty Tim Herrin to face Cody Bellinger with a man on base. Nevertheless, Ortiz had everything working in this one. His slider led the way as his primary pitch and had the Yankees either flailing or off balance nearly every time he threw it. In all, each of his four pitches forced multiple swings-and-misses and he faced practically no trouble against this talented Yankees lineup. Ortiz is lined up for a two-start week coming up against the Reds and Mariners.

The 26-year-old right-hander struck out five batters on the night while issuing a pair of walks. The lone tally against him came on an RBI single off the bat of Jo Adell in the second inning. Unfortunately, that was enough to hang a loss on Ortiz as the Guardians couldn’t scratch out a run of support for him. He got 10 swings and misses on 97 pitches in the ballgame, registering a CSW of 33 percent. He’ll carry a 4.40 ERA, 1.43 WHIP and a 64/30 K/BB ratio (59 1/3 innings) into a tough matchup against the Yankees in New York on Thursday.

Ortiz couldn’t find the strike zone, as he walked five and threw just 49-of-89 pitches for strikes. He still was able to hold the Tigers to ‘only’ the three runs with three strikeouts in a start that could have gone considerably worse for the 26-year-old. He’ll try and lower a 4.73 ERA in a scheduled start against the Angels, but fantasy managers shouldn’t count on that happening.

Ortiz gave up six hits, walked two and struck out seven. The 26-year-old right-hander pitched well for the most part, but was done-in by a two-run home run by Will Benson in the fourth inning. Ortiz continues to have bad luck this year as he’s saddled with a 4.66 ERA despite a 3.72 xFIP. Ortiz has a 56/23 K/BB ratio in 48 1/3 innings this year. He’s lined up to face the Tigers on the road next weekend.

The 26-year-old hurler racked up nine strikeouts on the evening while issuing a pair of walks. The only blemish on his evening came on a solo blast off the bat of Kyle Schwarber in the second inning. That would be all the support that Zack Wheeler would need. Ortiz got 14 whiffs on 95 pitches on the night — eight of them on his slider — while registering a terrific CSW of 35 percent. Now 2-4 on the season, he’ll attempt to replicate this fine effort as he carries a 4.78 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and a 49/21 K/BB ratio (43 1/3 innings) into Saturday’s matchup against the Reds in Cincinnati.

Ortiz followed up his best outing of the year with a real clunker. Eight of the 18 balls in play against him were hit at least 100 mph, and he wound up with four strikeouts and three walks. He definitely should have kept his cutter in his back pocket today; the six times he threw it produced a homer, a double and four balls. Ortiz will take a 5.30 ERA into his next start against the Phillies.

It’ll be made up on Tuesday as a doubleheader. Monday’s original starting pitchers -- Luis L. Ortiz and Jake Irvin – will presumably take the ball at some point during the twin bill.

Ortiz gave up just three hits, struck out five and only handed out a pair of free passes. He wasn’t exactly overpowering, generating just 10 swinging strikes. However, he managed to throw enough strikes with his five-pitch mix to keep the Twins off-balance, allowing just four hard-hit batted balls with exit velocities over 95 mph. He’ll bring a respectable 4.78 ERA, 1.41 WHIP and 36/16 K/BB ratio across 32 innings (six starts) into a road tilt on Monday against the Nationals.

It looked like this could be a very early exit for Ortiz, but he managed to quiet the Yankees after giving up four runs in the first two frames, and he wound up with eight strikeouts. That brings his total to 26 over 15 innings in his last three starts. He’s 2-3 with a 5.96 ERA overall, so this isn’t yet the time to pick him up in mixed leagues. Still, if he keeps missing bats like this, the results will come. He’ll face the Twins next.

As might have been expected after the Pirates traded him in the offseason, Ortiz had a little something extra on his pitches tonight; his 96.8 mph average on his fastball topped his previous season high of 96.2. He bettered it just once in his 15 starts last year. He struck out eight, his second highest total in 38 career starts. The high of 10 was established in his previous start versus the Royals. Ortiz struggled all spring and had an 8.44 ERA in his first two regular-season starts, but maybe he’s figured a little something out now? Or maybe he’s just faced two of MLB’s coldest offenses in his last two starts. Let’s see how he fares against the Yankees next week before considering him in mixed leagues.