What Luis Ortiz had done to this point felt like finding a $20 bill in your back pocket.
A solid pitcher but not necessarily one of the Pirates’ premium prospects, the 23-year-old right-hander spent the majority of this season in Double-A Altoona, received a cup of coffee as a reward and chugged it. Almost overnight, Ortiz blossomed into a future rotation piece.
In three MLB starts prior to Saturday, Ortiz posted a 1.17 ERA, struck out 17 over 15 1/3 innings and threw nine pitches 100.0 mph or greater, making him one of only two Pirates starting pitchers since 2008 to reach triple digits. And, yeah, that Gerrit Cole guy is pretty good.
