Ortiz showed why 'the sky's the limit' in electric MLB debut

CINCINNATI -- The Pirates may be winding down the 2022 season, but one of their pitching prospects gave fans a reason to pay attention to a losing baseball team in September.

Luis Ortiz made his major league debut Tuesday night against the Reds and turned in one of the more dominant performances by a Pirates pitcher this season. Pittsburgh defeated the Reds, 1-0, sweeping the split doubleheader at Great American Ball Park. The team turned in a commanding collective performance by not only shutting out the Reds, but holding them to only one hit.

"We pounded the zone. We went right after people. We put the ball on the ground," Derek Shelton said. "Overall, an outstanding effort. We just commanded the zone the entire night."

Ortiz led the way with 5 2/3 innings, and he set the tone for what happened right from the first pitch. The 23-year-old flamethrower began his debut with a nine-pitch first inning, retiring the Reds in order:

1. Four-seam fastball: 98.5 mph, called strike
2. Four-seam fastball: 98.8 mph, called strike
3. Four-seam fastball: 99.4 mph, pop out
4. Four-seam fastball: 100.0 mph, ball
5. Four-seam fastball: 99.4 mph, ball
6. Four-seam fastball: 98.8 mph, swinging strike
7. Four-seam fastball: 98.7 mph, ground out
8. Slider: 87.1 mph, ball
9. Four-seam fastball: 100.4 mph, ground out

Then, Ortiz opened the second inning by shifting away from the fastball, getting Aristides Aquino to swing and miss at three straight sliders for his first career strikeout:

All in all, Ortiz needed 83 pitches to record 17 outs. 53 of those pitches were four-seam fastballs, and he averaged -- AVERAGED -- 99.0 mph with those fastballs.16 of his 27 sliders thrown induced swings, and half of those swings missed the baseball.

Here's all five of his strikeouts, and you'll get a clear look at what kind of electric stuff Ortiz has:

"That was exciting. I mean, that was cool," Shelton said of Ortiz. "I think that's one of the things Ben [Cherington] talks about -- identify, develop, deploy. That's what we did there. That was outstanding."

What was really impressive about Ortiz wasn't just what he did on the mound. Even at 23, this guy had a calmness about him that didn't make it seem like the stage was too big or the lights were too bright.

"I’m just very proud," Ortiz said through interpreter Mike Gonzalez. "I’m proud of everything, everything that I’ve been able to do, the work ethic, everything that I’ve been able to pour out. I’m filled with joy."

It's not uncommon for hard-throwing guys to come up and be wild in their debut. Nerves are high. Pulses are elevated. That's the human element of this game. And for guys who throw hard, throwing even harder seems to be a natural way to try and course correct themselves.

But Ortiz is different. Yes, as we've highlighted, the stuff is electric. However, Class AA Altoona manager Kieran Mattison told us why Ortiz is a special breed among flamethrowers.

"I had him in Bristol in 2019," Mattison told DK Pittsburgh Sports. "I knew the future was bright even that year before you start seeing the velo gun jump up. He just knew how to pitch."

During Ortiz's time under Mattison in Bristol, he kept pushing through his ceiling. Mattison explained how starting pitchers worked with limited pitch counts there, typically not going any further than five innings. But, Ortiz wasn't getting the work he needed because he kept pushing the limit.

"We had to call the pitching coordinator and be like, 'Hey, can he go out for six? Because he got 50 pitches in five innings,'" Mattison explained. "Then we had a call back another time for seven innings. Then another time he went eight. And he did it like twice."

Ortiz hasn't stopped testing those limits. Just last year, Ortiz was at Class A Bradenton, and he turned in a good season with a 3.09 ERA and 1.26 WHIP in 22 appearances (19 starts). The Pirates were confident enough in him to skip Class A Advanced Greensboro and go straight to Altoona, where he was reunited with Mattison.

While he has certainly been good at Altoona, the numbers don't necessarily jump off the page. In 23 starts (24 total appearances), he posted a 4.64 ERA and 1.17 WHIP in 114 1/3 innings. Typically, that kind of ERA doesn't warrant a trip to Class AAA, much less the major leagues in the same season.

"It's a lot deeper than that, man. He's had a lot of tough breaks this year," Mattison said. "There are times where like a ball barely goes fair. ... I always tell people when they come to town, I put in my reports, the line doesn't do him any justice of how well he's thrown. I had never seen a guy have that many tough breaks."

Even with the tough breaks, Mattison knew Ortiz could continue to work and develop toward a moment like Tuesday night. He had seen him make one big jump before, and he knew making a major league start after only 10 innings at Class AAA Indianapolis wasn't going to be too much for him.

"This year, he made the jump to Double-A, but we knew we can handle it because who he is as a person, he comes into work and tries to master his craft," Mattison said. "Being that talented and being a student, that's the perfect combination. The sky's the limit for him."

Now that Ortiz has faced a big league lineup, and dominated it quite thoroughly, the belief that he belongs in Pittsburgh has grown.

"That’s the mindset. That’s the goal," Ortiz said. "Just coming out here, attacking the zone, being aggressive with my pitches, being in attack mode and doing everything that I can to be able to demonstrate to the club that I belong here and I have what it takes to be here."

MORE FROM THE GAME

• Ortiz may have earned another start in Pittsburgh before the calendar closes on the 2022 season, but it'll have to wait.

Ortiz was selected to the 40-man roster prior to Tuesday's doubleheader and added to the active roster as a 29th man (current active rosters are at 28 players). Teams are permitted to recall a player from the 40-man roster as a "27th man" in normal circumstances for a doubleheader. In this case, because of the expanded rosters in September, it's a "29th man." 

According to the rules under the new collective bargaining agreement, the player that is recalled as the 27th man (or 29th man) must be returned to the minor leagues after the conclusion of the doubleheader. In the previous CBA, any player could be returned or optioned. Now, the player that is recalled must be returned.

Typically when a player is optioned to the minor leagues, there is a mandatory waiting period before the major league club can recall them (10 days for position players, 15 days for pitchers).

It's different when a 27th man is recalled then returned after the conclusion of the doubleheader. The 10- or 15-day waiting period doesn't apply to a 27th man since it is not an actual option to the minor leagues.

However, in this case with Ortiz (at least, how it was explained to us by the team), because they had to select him first, they also had to option him. That option requires the 15-day waiting period, which began Tuesday. The earliest he could possibly return to Pittsburgh is Sept. 28.

• Ortiz wasn't the only dominant pitcher. The Pirates' pitching staff combined for a one-hitter. Even against the Reds, that's an accomplishment.

Chase De Jong relieved Ortiz in the sixth and got the final out of the inning, then faced the minimum in the seventh. Yohan Ramirez pitched a perfect eighth inning, then Duane Underwood Jr. came in the ninth inning with a fragile 1-0 lead and recorded his first career save.

"A lot of hard work. I’ve grinded my whole career. It’s a great opportunity," Underwood said. "Shelty trusted me to take the ball and get the save, so that’s exactly what I did."

• The Pirates obviously had to score a run to win this ballgame, even though it took until the fifth inning to finally get into the hit column when Ben Gamel led off with a single.

The lineup only produced two more hits on the night, but they were both needed. In the seventh inning, Rodolfo Castro lined a one-out double into left-center field to get into scoring position. Then, in line with the same success the Pirates had with two outs in their 6-1 victory in Game 1 of the doubleheader, Kevin Newman went down and hit a slider hard enough into left field to clear a leaping Matt Reynolds at shortstop for a two-strike, two-out RBI single.

Five of the Pirates' six RBIs in Game 1 came with two outs.

"We played well all day long," Shelton said. "Two-strike, two-out hit for the only run with Newman after Rudy gets the double. So, a lot of positives tonight."

• With the win (and the sweep of Tuesday's doubleheader), the Pirates improved to 54-88 on the season. The Pirates can still reasonably avoid another 100-loss. They'll have to finish at least 9-11 in their final 20 games to do so.

THE ESSENTIALS

• Boxscore
• Live file
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule
• Scoreboard

THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE INJURIES

• 15-day injured list: RHP David Bednar (back), LHP Dillon Peters (left elbow)

• 60-day injured list: RHP Yerry De Los Santos (lat), OF Canaan Njigba-Smith (wrist), RHP Colin Holderman (right shoulder), RHP Blake Cederlind (elbow), RHP Max Kranick (elbow), C Roberto Pérez (hamstring)

THE LINEUPS

Shelton's card for Game 2:

1. Oneil Cruz, SS
2. Bryan Reynolds, CF
3. Rodolfo Castro, 3B
4. Ben Gamel, DH
5. Kevin Newman, 2B
6. Cal Mitchell, RF
7. Zack Collins, 1B
8. Greg Allen, LF
9. Jason Delay, C

And for David Bell's Reds in Game 2:

1. TJ Friedl, LF
2. Nick Senzel, DH
3. Donovan Solano, 1B
4. Aristides Aquino, RF
5. Alejo Lopez, 2B
6. Spencer Steer, 3B
7. Matt Reynolds, SS
8. Stuart Fairchild, CF
9. Chuckie Robinson, C

THE SCHEDULE

The Pirates will go for the four-game sweep Wednesday afternoon. Roansy Contreras (5-4, 3.29) will take on lefty Nick Lodolo (4-5, 3.78), with first pitch scheduled for 12:35 p.m. I'll have you covered from Cincinnati once again.

THE CONTENT

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