Now a 'different guy,' Ortiz wraps breakout season strong

PITTSBURGH – Liover Peguero has watched Luis L. Ortiz plenty in their ascent through the Pirates’ farm system, but not really in 2024. Peguero spent most of 2024 in Triple-A Indianapolis, and when they both departed Spring Training, Ortiz was in the Pirates’ bullpen without a real role.

Watching Ortiz roll on Wednesday at PNC Park, Peguero knew this wasn’t quite the same Ortiz he had seen the past few years.

“[He’s a] way different guy, you know, right now,” Peguero said. “He's attacking the hitters and that's one thing that's going to get you in a good position to be a pitcher.”

Ortiz finished his 2024 campaign with perhaps his best start of the season, striking out five over seven innings of one-run ball. Peguero tacked on a two-run double in the fifth, and the Pirates were able to beat the Brewers, 2-1.

It’s a well-earned happy ending in a pivotal season for Ortiz, a former Top 100 prospect who struggled throughout 2023. He was a man without a position for the opening months of this season, but gradually worked his way back into the rotation and never really gave the Pirates a reason to reconsider sending him back to the bullpen. With his seven innings Wednesday, he wrapped his first full season in the Majors with a 7-6 record and 3.32 ERA over 37 games (15 starts) and 135 2/3 innings.

"I think this last start, what it means is all the work that I put in throughout the year to stay up here and stay healthy,” Ortiz said, via interpreter and coach Stephen Morales.

When he started in the bullpen, Ortiz’s focus was on just trying to help the team win. He was immediately thrown into higher-leverage situations in the season-opening series in Miami and showed that high-level stuff that made him a touted prospect a year prior. As he continued to grow on the mound and in his routine, he earned more opportunities, and it translated to more individual and team success.

“He’s continued to progress,” said manager Derek Shelton. “Some young pitchers would be mad they didn’t make the rotation. He continued to get better throughout the year.”

Ortiz’s lone hiccup Wednesday was a Jake Bauers home run in the second inning. Omitting that, he was able to power through with his two fastballs and his freshly-minted cutter, a pitch he debuted midseason that gave him the offspeed pitch he sorely needed. With that cutter and four-seamer, Ortiz was able to hammer the top of the zone and keep the Brewers off-balance.

It’s a very different combination than the sinker-slider pairing he burst onto the scene with in 2022, but like Peguero said, this isn’t the same guy.

"There were a lot of changes, for sure, from last year to this year,” Ortiz said. “Where to pitch and stuff like that. I added the cutter and that has been a really good weapon for me. You know, I'm proud of how hard I've worked with the staff. It worked for me."

Ortiz is going to come into 2025 positioned to be part of one of the best young rotations in baseball, alongside Mitch Keller, Paul Skenes, Jared Jones, Bailey Falter and Johan Oviedo, who is returning from Tommy John surgery, not to mention a wealth of pitching prospects. Ortiz could have been lost in the shuffle or stuck in the bullpen had he not taken that step forward. Instead, he looks like a piece of this team for years to come.

“He should be proud,” Shelton said. “In his case, it’s the culmination of a really good year where he got better. We challenge people to get better. We challenge ourselves to get better. He did that throughout the year, and he’s put himself in a really good spot.”