Pittsburgh Pirates: Previewing High-A Greensboro’s Potential Starting Rotation

Luis Ortiz

Earlier, when I said that the Bradenton Marauders had two of the best Low-A starting pitchers, this was one of them. Luis Ortiz was that pitcher and had a great campaign in 2021. He might start the year at Double-A Altoona, but I think it’s more likely he gets things kicked off at High-A Greensboro.

Last year, Ortiz posted a 3.09 ERA, FIP, and 1.26 WHIP. The right-hander struck out 30.1% of the time with a 7.4% walk rate. Home runs were no problem for Ortiz, and he had a 49.1% ground ball rate and an HR/9 of just 0.52.

Ortiz was highly comparable, if not better, than teammate and Low-A Southeast Pitcher of the Year, Adrian Florencio. Ortiz had a better FIP, walk rate, strikeout rate, xFIP, and ground ball rate. The only thing that kept Ortiz from being better was a .342 batting average on balls in play. Florencio had a .280 BAbip.

Ortiz could quickly get an early-season promotion to Double-A Altoona, given his age and how well he did in 2021. He’ll be going into his age-23 season. So if he did get promoted to Double-A early or skip High-A entirely, a bevy of other young arms who performed solid at Low-A in 2021 could take his place.