Morning Rundown: Luis Ortiz Rejoins The Pirates, Cal Mitchell Begins Rehab Assignment
The Pirates will call upon Luis Ortiz to make their start in their series finale against the St. Louis Cardinals, and Cal Mitchell begins a rehab assignment in Bradenton.
The Pittsburgh Pirates haven’t officially announced it yet, but it looks as if Luis Ortiz will be making the start in their finale of their three game weekday set against the St. Louis Cardinals.
After bursting on the scene late last year, even flying up some prospect lists, it’s been a real struggle for Ortiz in the majors this year. In 11 games, 10 starts, Ortiz has a 4.86 ERA (5.35 xFIP), and has a strikeout rate of just 13.8%.
His four-seam fastball is among the worst in baseball, according to most statistics on baseball savant. He’s used a sinker more, which has graded out better, but still hasn’t helped his overall numbers.
The struggles continued in Triple-A upon returning, as he’s posted a 7.77 ERA and has walked over 13% of the batters he’s faced in his second stint of the year with Indianapolis.
Ortiz has a wipeout slider, one of the better pitches in the league, but has been another Pirates’ pitcher that has struggled this year due to their fastball getting beat up.
Cal Mitchell was assigned to the Bradenton Marauders to begin his rehab assignment. He last played for the Indianapolis Indians on July 4, where has put up an .272/.347/.400 batting line.
Also making his first appearance in some time, Hudson Head also begun a rehab assignment, but with the FCL Pirates team. He fared better than Mitchell did, going 3-4 with three runs driven in as well as scoring three on his own.
Minor League Recap
Indianapolis Indians - 4 vs Iowa Cubs - 10
Top Hitter - Miguel Andujar: 3-3, BB, 2 R, RBI, HR (16), 2B
Top Pitcher - Kyle Nicolas: 2 IP, 2 K
Altoona Curve - 9 vs Akron RubberDucks - 2
Top Hitter - Mike Jarvis: 1-3, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR (1)
Top Pitcher - Omar Cruz: 3 IP, 2 H
Greensboro Grasshoppers - 2 vs Rome Braves - 0
Top Hitter - Jack Brannigan: 2-4, R, 2 RBI, HR (11)
Top Pitcher - Bubba Chandler: 7 IP, 4 H, 6 K
Bradenton Marauders - 2 vs Jupiter Hammerheads - 7
Top Hitter - Deivis Nadal: 2-4, RBI, 2B
Top Pitcher - Landon Tomkins: 1.1 IP, K
FCL Pirates - 15 vs FCL Orioles - 10
Top Hitter - Hudson Head: 3-4, 3 R, 3 RBI
Top Pitcher - Gilberto Alcala: 2 IP, H, 4 K
SRO in Altoona.
I really hope BC has some plan this offseason to identify and address the fastball issue with our young pitchers. Ortiz, Contreras, and Priester have all gotten hit around this year and it all seems to be that their fastball is entirely too hittable. Is this a scouting issue- that is, are we acquiring pitchers with inherently hittable fastballs- or an instruction issue? At this point, with this track record, I'm kinda expecting Skenes to be topping out at 96-97 by the time he gets up here with a fastball shape that gets smacked around.