- For the most part, you can take spring training numbers and throw them in the trash. There are so many variables when it comes to the games, it makes it hard to put too much emphasis on what some of the basic counter statistics are.
Picking up trends or changes in a player can really tell more on what they are working on, or trying to improve upon.
Luis Ortiz blew onto the scene with his upper 90s fastball and wipeout slider, sending himself into the conversation as a potential rotation piece, and one of the better pitching prospects in baseball.
While his rise from Bradenton in 2021 to the majors to close out 2022, there is one thing that continues to rear his head out, and that’s his inability to miss bats with that fastball.
He’s working on the changeup, throwing it seven times in his start on Monday, but there is still obviously work to be done with that.
Of 24 swings by hitters on his fastball this swing, Ortiz has generated just three misses (12.5%). It’s two starts, and he’s thrown only 41 fastballs, but it’s a theme that emerged during his brief time in the majors last year.
Ortiz generated a 16.4% whiff rate with his fastball across his 16 major league innings. For context, of 594 pitchers in baseball who had at least 10 plate appearances determined by a fastball, he ranked 435th in the category.
Not everyone is going to rack up the swings and misses with the fastball, but it does seem odd that someone with the velocity he has (98th percentile in fastball velocity on Baseball Savant) is allowing so much contact with it.
Again, it was one start – realistically just one bad inning – but it’s also something we saw before in his last outing against the St. Louis Cardinals.
It’s something that’s going to happen from time to time, every pitch has a bad outing where they get lit up, but the fact that Ortiz allows so much contact with his fastball can certainly limit his upside as a starting pitcher.
If spring is about finding trends and changes, that may be the biggest one to follow the rest of the way out.
Where’s The Offense?
Spring results don’t matter, yes, but it doesn’t mean it isn’t nice to see something, anything out of the offense. The Pirates have posted the second worst OPS so far (.597).
Connor Joe and Ji-Man Choi each went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, with the team finishing with 11 total. They have 98 in 10 games played so far.
The starters haven’t really been completely worked in yet, so it’s hard to imagine a lot of them feel like they are in rhythm yet, but there is a .354 difference in their OPS and the current leaders – the Kansas City Royals – so some teams aren’t having that issue.
Pirates Prospects Daily
By John Dreker
**Spring Training Recap: Yankees 9, Pirates 2
**Pirates Draft Prospect Watch: Wyatt Langford Makes Noise with a Powerful Weekend Our second weekly recap of the top draft prospects. Only college action going on so far.
**Pirates DVR: Tsung-Che Cheng And Chris Owings Home Run, More Draft Prospects
**Pirates Prospects Daily: Depth May Need To Show Up Sooner Than Expected In case you missed it yesterday
Song of the Day
Today’s Lineup
Pirates are home vs the Toronto Blue Jays. 1:05 PM start time, and it will be televised. Michael Burrows, Carmen Mlodzinski and Cody Bolton will all pitch, for you lovers of prospects.
Back in Bradenton vs. the Blue Jays.#LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/ysxa12P9Bz
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) March 7, 2023
