Luis Ortiz was lousy in his debut for the Guardians, then followed a quality start with all of this tonight in Cleveland against the Royals: A career-high 10 strikeouts, 17 swings and misses, a four-seamer that topped at 97.8 mph and sat at 96.1 mpg, and one run over 5 2/3 innings:
They know what they're doing up there. They'll figure him out.
Here, of course, the Pirates have no clue about anything, so they'l be waiting until May to see what they can squeeze out of Spencer Horwitz, the platoon-hitting, low-power first baseman with the known chronic wrist issue they acquired for Ortiz who'd turn up with -- surprise! -- a wrist injury.
I didn't like this trade when it looked potentially even, if only because I believe in Ortiz, just as I believe in the extra value of starting pitching. I also didn't believe the rotation already in place would be deep enough to withstand much going wrong, and there went Jared Jones.
Buckle up.
Want to participate in our comments?
Want an ad-free experience?
Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits! Make your voice heard on the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates, and hear right back from tens of thousands of fellow Pittsburgh sports fans worldwide! Plus, access all our premium content, including Dejan Kovacevic columns, Friday Insider, daily Live Qs with the staff, more! And yeah, that's right, no ads at all!
THE ASYLUM
Dejan Kovacevic
3:16 am - 04.13.2025DowntownDK: A bad deal bound to worsen
This isn't hindsight, I swear, but ...
Luis Ortiz was lousy in his debut for the Guardians, then followed a quality start with all of this tonight in Cleveland against the Royals: A career-high 10 strikeouts, 17 swings and misses, a four-seamer that topped at 97.8 mph and sat at 96.1 mpg, and one run over 5 2/3 innings:
They know what they're doing up there. They'll figure him out.
Here, of course, the Pirates have no clue about anything, so they'l be waiting until May to see what they can squeeze out of Spencer Horwitz, the platoon-hitting, low-power first baseman with the known chronic wrist issue they acquired for Ortiz who'd turn up with -- surprise! -- a wrist injury.
I didn't like this trade when it looked potentially even, if only because I believe in Ortiz, just as I believe in the extra value of starting pitching. I also didn't believe the rotation already in place would be deep enough to withstand much going wrong, and there went Jared Jones.
Buckle up.
Want to participate in our comments?
Want an ad-free experience?
Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits! Make your voice heard on the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates, and hear right back from tens of thousands of fellow Pittsburgh sports fans worldwide! Plus, access all our premium content, including Dejan Kovacevic columns, Friday Insider, daily Live Qs with the staff, more! And yeah, that's right, no ads at all!
We’d love to have you!