Back on May 24, the Milwaukee Brewers dropped their game against the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates by the score of 2-1. Quinn Priester tossed six innings of one-run ball while allowing six hits and a walk while striking out seven. Caleb Durbin had three hits in three at bats, but the rest of the Brewers’ offense could not get anything going, as had been the case far too often up to that point in the season.
Joey Ortiz, the team’s starting shortstop following the departure of Willy Adames in free agency, was 0-3 that night and saw his season averages drop to .189.,250/.252.
As a rookie playing primarily third base in 2024, Ortiz had hit .239/.329/.398 with 11 home runs, 60 RBI, and 11 stolen bases. Aside from being stingy, one of the reasons Milwaukee did not address the shortstop position during the offseason was because they believed Ortiz would take a step forward in his second season in the league. At the time, it appeared that they were wrong.
After a long stretch of unproductive hitting and a couple of days off, Ortiz has finally started to hit the way the Brewers hoped he would. In March and April, he hit just .192/.263/.484 with five RBI. The hope was that it was just a slow start and that he would figure it out soon, but he did not.
In May, Ortiz was even worse, hitting .162/.222/.267 with two home runs and three RBI. The aforementioned loss to the Pirates, which saw Milwaukee’s shortstop continue to struggle, dropped the Brewers record to 25-28. It looked like the season was going to be a mammoth disappointment in many ways.
But since that game, Milwaukee is 17-7 and has improved their record to 42-35. In their latest win, a 9-0 shutout over the Minnesota Twins, Ortiz was 2-4 and has seen his batting line improve to .208/.270/.267.
Obviously, that is nowhere near where the Brewers would like his production to be, but a look at how he has performed over the past month shows that he is certainly heading in the right direction.
In the month of June, Ortiz is hitting .283/.333/.340 with six RBI. Over the last 28 days, or ever since that loss to the Pirates, he is hitting .263/.333/.316.
And while these numbers show improvements, his production over the last two weeks is what fans should really be excited about.
Over the last 14 days, Milwaukee’s shortstop is hitting .333/.333/.385 with six RBI. Over the last seven days, he is hitting .389/.389/.389.
Obviously, Ortiz has a long way to go; but the good news is that he seems to be figuring it out. And, as the Brewers’ record in the last month indicates, the team is reaping the benefits.
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