After bursting onto the major-league radar, Ortiz's focus is to refine

BRADENTON, Fla. -- If you hadn't heard of Luis Ortiz at this time last year, you were far from alone.

After all, he had yet to advance past Class Low-A Bradenton to that point and wasn't considered a top prospect by anyone. But after a good showing in spring training, the Pirates decided to challenge him by advancing him to Class AA Altoona to start the year. There, he started to take off, and he wound up finishing the year with the Pirates and being considered one of the organization's top young pitchers. In doing so, he burst onto Baseball America's top prospect list, ranking at No. 74.

It's not every year someone goes to major-league spring training for the first time after they made four big-league starts, but that's what Ortiz is doing. And as he rocks black and gold dreadlocks now -- a natural pick when he was in the Dominican Republic this winter wanting new hair -- it's clear that the 24-year-old fireballer looks comfortable being in this new environment. 

“It's good to know that I’m on people's radar now, but I don't pay attention to that,” Ortiz said at Pirate City Saturday, via interpreter Stephen Morales. “I just work hard to do a good job every day and try to establish myself in the big leagues."

Ortiz exudes confidence and fearlessness. Last September, he went into Yankee Stadium to take on one of the best teams in one of the toughest venues. He didn't blink, striking out five over five innings while allowing just one earned run. It was a start that created buzz within the Pirates' coaching ranks, showing that he can be on the attack and continue to throw 100 mph fastballs, even in enemy territory.

It was a start that, as Derek Shelton put it, will only make him moving forward.

"I learned I had to work ahead," Ortiz said about that start. "That’s the only way I can be successful in the big leagues is by throwing strikes and working ahead in the count."

“You’ve seen guys with stuff. Guys like that can throw electric, 100-mph this and that. But they may get spooked at times," Oscar Marin told me before spring training. "This dude did not. It was more like, ‘I’m going to get ya.’ There’s nothing more exciting to see than somebody that has that confidence. That’s going out [to the mound] to get you out.”

Fastballs alone can't carry him, though. There were some rough patches in that major-league cameo too, including getting chased in the first inning in his final start against St. Louis. He threw some good fastballs and sliders, but the Cardinals' veteran lineup was still able to crush them.

So this winter, the focus shifted to making sure he was a true three-pitch pitcher. He needed the changeup. Last year, he went to his offspeed pitch just 5% of the time, according to Baseball Savant, and it often didn't dive like it was supposed to.

"Oscar last year told me I needed to throw that changeup more against lefties," Ortiz said. "I was kind of not afraid of throwing the changeup, but I was leaving it up in the strike zone. I know I’ve got to throw that changeup to lefties more.”

It just has to be a secondary offering, because a 100 mph fastball that holds its velocity late into games is a potentially dominant pitch. 

"I know I throw hard with the fastball, but it can get me in trouble because I can throw it too much or I can try to overthrow it and lose control," Ortiz said.

To put it simply, he still has more developing to do, like most 24-year-old pitchers. He is far from a finished product. But it's the potential that puts him in the highest echelon of the Pirates' pitching prospects with guys like Quinn Priester and Mike Burrows.

Or if he doesn't get that third pitch, he could work out of the bullpen and be a late inning arm. There are certainly worse ways to deploy someone who throws triple digits, and it could be a way to mask his walks, which became a bit of a problem late in the season when facing the highest levels of competition.

"I'd like to be a starter," Ortiz said. "I prepare my body to eat innings and I work fast, too. Right now, I see myself as a starter. But down the road, whatever happens, I’d have no problem going to the bullpen."

He knows it's going to take more refinement for him to stay in that role.

“That’s the only way to be successful in the big leagues, throwing strikes and working ahead in counts,” Ortiz said. “That’s something I’m really working hard at right now.”

And for a team that will perpetually need to develop pitching, well, Ortiz is just the type of guy they need: A breakout pitcher who has yet to fully realize what he could potentially become.

"He wasn't on a lot of people's radar," Shelton said. "We liked the stuff, and as he continued to grow, we're able to see it. So yeah, he's definitely an organizational win."