December 11th was a busy day for the Cleveland Guardians.
First, they traded three-time Gold Glover Andrés Giménez and reliever Nick Sandlin to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for infielder Spencer Horwitz and outfield prospect Nick Mitchell.
Then, almost immediately, the Guards flipped Horwitz to the Pittsburgh Pirates for pitchers Luis L. Ortiz, Josh Hartle and Michael Kennedy.
The last two are prospects, but Ortiz is a major-league ready starter expected to be part of the Guardians’ rotation.
The right-hander showed off his stuff in a recent training session.
It’s easy to see why he posted a 3.32 ERA last year in Pittsburgh and why he has so much potential.
“Cleveland #Guardians RHP Luis Ortiz out on the mound at the Goodyear Development Complex. Pitch sequence in video: Changeup, slider, cutter, cutter, cutter,” Guardians Prospective posted on X.
Cleveland #Guardians RHP Luis Ortiz out on the mound at the Goodyear Development Complex.
Pitch sequence in video:
Changeup
Slider
Cutter
Cutter
Cutter#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/sHq8dCK0DU— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) February 8, 2025
In addition to those offerings, he also throws a four-seamer and a sinker.
You can see his pitches have a lot of natural movement because he isn’t even throwing with maximum effort.
The four-seamer averaged 95.9 mph last year with the Pirates, so the velocity is definitely there.
The extension (he ranked in the 79th percentile per Baseball Savant) is also there, and the Guardians love it.
It’s all a matter of increasing his 19.2 percent strikeout rate.
The slider, at 31 percent, is the pitch with the highest whiff rate in his repertoire.
Naturally, it’s the one he uses the most.
The changeup is second in whiff rate at 28.6 percent, yet he only uses it 0.9 percent of the time.
Maybe a pitch mix change and some work on his other offerings can unlock a new level for him.
Ortiz’s floor is that of a fourth starter.
Cleveland knows that his ceiling is way more than that.
NEXT: Analyst Predicts Guardians' Shortstop Of The Future
