2021 Orioles #19 Prospect - Joey Ortiz - SS/INF

[Tony-OH]

https://www.orioleshangout.com/2021/11/12/19-joey-ortiz/

[interloper]

I'm officially bad at this game, lol.

I had picked Bautista here simply because I figured the possibility of high-leverage reliever was more impactful than likely UTIL infielder. But I guess that's me pitting ceiling against floor, which isn't fair to Ortiz. 

Anyway, this far down the list it's kind of a toss up and we have two injury guys who have a chance to make some serious strides up the list if they are healthy and produce. Can't argue with that! 

[LookinUp]

Really sorry this kid got injured because he was playing very well. He's higher on my personal list than Tony has him here. I feel like if we were an org that didn't have Henderson, Westburg and Mayo ticketed as the future infield, Ortiz would be penciled in as a future SS or starting 2B. Obviously the bat has to pan out, but it was starting to this year.

Don't get me wrong, I'd definitely put him behind the other three, but I'd have started to consider him as high as #10 on our list. That's just me.

[Tony-OH]

43 minutes ago, interloper said:

I'm officially bad at this game, lol.

I had picked Bautista here simply because I figured the possibility of high-leverage reliever was more impactful than likely UTIL infielder. But I guess that's me pitting ceiling against floor, which isn't fair to Ortiz. 

Anyway, this far down the list it's kind of a toss up and we have two injury guys who have a chance to make some serious strides up the list if they are healthy and produce. Can't argue with that! 

Honestly, they are similar type prospects. I could have gone with Bautista here and totally been able to support it. I'm going to drop the rest of the guys next week. I haven't decided how yet. Maybe five at a time or maybe two a day again. Depends on how many I finish up this weekend.

[Tony-OH]

16 minutes ago, LookinUp said:

Really sorry this kid got injured because he was playing very well. He's higher on my personal list than Tony has him here. I feel like if we were an org that didn't have Henderson, Westburg and Mayo ticketed as the future infield, Ortiz would be penciled in as a future SS or starting 2B. Obviously the bat has to pan out, but it was starting to this year.

Don't get me wrong, I'd definitely put him behind the other three, but I'd have started to consider him as high as #10 on our list. That's just me.

I just needed to see more and the injury obviously stopped that. Upside wise, Ortiz still has a chance as an everyday guy, but his OBP dropped a bit in his AA time even though his power went up away from Aberdeen's cavernous power alleys. He doesn't have elite range though so while he can certainly play SS, he'd really be good at 2B. 

Hopefully he comes back next year healthy and moves up the list.

[Frobby]

I too was really disappointed Ortiz’s injury halted his season.  He’d probably have started 2022 in AAA except for that.   

It will be very interesting how the O’s handle the developing logjam of middle infield talent at the AA/AAA level.   I think Ortiz may be a better defender than Henderson or a Westburg.  If so, you might need to leave him as the principal SS if he continues to show some promise with the stick.  
 

[waroriole]

I wonder if we don’t see Ortiz or Vavra start out in Norfolk if either has a good spring. It would be a big leap offensively, but there’s going to be such a logjam at Bowie. I don’t see how Vavra stays on the dirt in Bowie if everyone stays. 

[connja]

@Tony-OHTony can we get a pinned thread with the running list of prospects, with links to each individual prospect thread?  Would love to see ther running list in one place.

[Frobby]

40 minutes ago, connja said:

@Tony-OHTony can we get a pinned thread with the running list of prospects, with links to each individual prospect thread?  Would love to see ther running list in one place.

You mean like this one?

 

[sportsfan8703]

22 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

Honestly, they are similar type prospects. I could have gone with Bautista here and totally been able to support it. I'm going to drop the rest of the guys next week. I haven't decided how yet. Maybe five at a time or maybe two a day again. Depends on how many I finish up this weekend.

@Tony-OHI like the two a day prospects. It gives us adequate time to keep them on the main page and discuss. Also, we actually have a system now to discuss the players 20+. Thanks for all your hard work. Just a thought I had, maybe you could name the OH annual prospect list after Weams in some way. 

[bobmc]

1 hour ago, sportsfan8703 said:

@Tony-OHI like the two a day prospects. It gives us adequate time to keep them on the main page and discuss. Also, we actually have a system now to discuss the players 20+. Thanks for all your hard work. Just a thought I had, maybe you could name the OH annual prospect list after Weams in some way. 

Great idea - Weams and @justD love their prospects!

[jabba72]

If Ortiz is the best SS out of all the prospects defensively other than Grenier, than I think Ortiz needs to play there exclusively. Henderson or Westburg can play the other infield positions, or trade one of them for a SP if Norby or Vavra keep improving at the higher levels.

[connja]

18 hours ago, Frobby said:

You mean like this one?

 

Exactly like that!  thanks.

[RZNJ]

Quote

 

In an interview, Gunnar Henderson was asked what prospect we should know about.  He singled out Joey Ortiz and sounded if he was very impressed by Ortiz all around play.    Ortiz is the one player who most scouts say is most likely to be a true shortstop defensively.   If the offense he began to show last year continues this year, it would be a big boost to the systems overall quality.

[interloper]

On 1/25/2022 at 7:00 PM, RZNJ said:

In an interview, Gunnar Henderson was asked what prospect we should know about.  He singled out Joey Ortiz and sounded if he was very impressed by Ortiz all around play.    Ortiz is the one player who most scouts say is most likely to be a true shortstop defensively.   If the offense he began to show last year continues this year, it would be a big boost to the systems overall quality.

I'm pretty excited to follow Ortiz this year. Like you alluded to, the system could really use a top-tier defensive SS who can also hit. Right now the only guy who sorta fits that mold is Westburg, but I'm not sure his defense is Ortiz-level. But despite the deep farm system, it still feels like the organization is a bit thin at SS. Ortiz would be a huge boost, like you said.