Luis Ortiz has officially made his case to stay in Pirates starting rotation

Most of the hype around the Pittsburgh Pirates' electric starting rotation this season has revolved around Paul Skenes, Jared Jones and Mitch Keller, and rightfully so. Skenes and Jones have established themselves as elite starters in their debut seasons, while Keller has emerged as the anchor of the rotation.

But perhaps it's time to give some well-deserved attention to Luis Ortiz, who has flown under the radar all season as one of the Pirates' best pitchers. The right-hander put on a dominant performance and blanked the best team in baseball over seven innings, holding a star-studded batting lineup to just three hits in Pittsburgh's 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday.

Ortiz had all of his usual pitches firing – the four-seam fastball, sinker and slider – over his 89-pitch outing, but it was his cutter that kept the Phillies' left-handed bats most honest. The cutter is a new pitch for Ortiz, one he began developing in April when he was still in a reliever role.

Indeed, it's easy to forget that Ortiz didn't even start the season in the Pirates' rotation. He was in competition for the fifth spot heading into Opening Day, which was eventually awarded to left-hander Bailey Falter. Despite starting for the majority of his career, Ortiz shifted to the Pirates' bullpen, where he posted a respectable 3.49 ERA in 22 relief appearances.

Due to a series of injuries to Pirates starters – Jones and Falter among them – Ortiz eventually found his way into the rotation. In four outings since shifting to a starting role, he has collected just two earned runs across 24.2 innings pitched. His ERA as a starter this season is 0.73.

Luis Ortiz has officially made his case to stay in Pirates starting rotation

Ortiz will deservedly get more chances to start on the mound while Jones and Falter remain on the injured list. But with both expected to return at some point during the second half of the season, things could get interesting.

Whether it be as a starter or a reliever, Ortiz has been one of the Pirates' most dependable pitchers this season. But if he keeps putting up dominant performances like he did against the Phillies on Saturday, it's hard to argue that he deserves to be relegated to the bullpen – even when Falter and Jones are healthy.

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