SF Giants promote former first-round pick Luis Ortiz, option Bryce Johnson
The SF Giants added right-handed pitcher Luis Ortiz to their big-league roster on Wednesday, optioning outfielder Bryce Johnson to Triple-A Sacramento to create a spot for another arm. The Giants bullpen is in a tough spot after a bullpen game in Tuesday's 6-3 loss and a doubleheader scheduled for tomorrow. Ortiz was not on the 40-man roster, but he fills the spot created by designating Andrew Knapp for assignment yesterday.
Ortiz signed a minor-league contract with the Giants last offseason. He has spent all year at Triple-A Sacramento, where the 26-year-old righty has primarily worked out of the bullpen (four starts in 32 appearances). Across 63.2 innings pitched, Ortiz has a middling 4.66 ERA, but an excellent strikeout-to-walk rate of 69-to-12.
Ortiz's arsenal features a four-seam fastball, slider, curveball, and sinker. However, he almost exclusively throws his four-seamer, which sits in the mid-90s, and slider during his outings. As has been quite common among Giants pitchers, Ortiz has thrown his slider more than his fastball in several outings.
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Ortiz was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the first round of the 2014 MLB draft out of Sanger High School in California, located east of Fresno. Ortiz's career got off to a tremendous start, reaching Double-A before his 20th birthday. In fact, he was a consensus top-100 prospect in the minor leagues from 2016-2017.
Ortiz was actually traded with recent Giants acquisition Lewis Brinson to the Brewers for Jonathan Lucroy at the 2016 deadline. However, Ortiz struggled developing his secondary offerings as a starter and had issues with conditioning that stalled his development. A couple of years later, the Brewers traded Ortiz alongside another prospect to the Orioles for infielder Jonathan Schoop.
Once he joined the Orioles' organization, Ortiz was a mainstay in their Triple-A rotation, receiving a pair of short big-league stints from 2018-2019. He completed 5.2 innings pitched in three appearances, allowing 11 hits, 10 runs, and eight walks.
Johnson was recalled from the minors earlier this week when the Giants placed Alex Wood on the injured list. During his latest stint in the bigs, Johnson finally recorded his first big-league hit. He now has a .067/.125/.067 line in 16 plate appearances with the Giants this season. At Triple-A, Johnson has a .290/.371/.401 triple-slash this season.
Given Ortiz's track record as a starter, the SF Giants will likely use him as a much-needed long reliever over the next couple of days. Without an off day for more than a week, San Francisco will need every inning they can get from Luis Ortiz to keep their best relievers as fresh as possible.
