Newest Cleveland Guardians Starter Showcases Pitch Sequence

Ortiz appears to be throwing a mix of cutter, slider, and changeup. Last year, his go-to pitches were his slider and heater, which he threw 53.6 percent of the time. His four-seam fastball even ranked in the 94th percentile in fastball run value.

Adding an elite offspeed or breaking pitch can turn Ortiz into a quality middle-of-the-rotation starter, which the Guardians hope he will become during the 2025 season.

Ortiz will be one of the most intriguing Guardians to watch during Spring Training and into the regular season.

One reason is that he was the key return Cleveland received from Andres Gimenez in their plethora of trades during the Winter Meetings.

This will also be Ortiz's first full-time start in the rotation. Last year, he pitched in 37 games, but only 15 (86.2 innings)of those were starts.

That said, Ortiz looked fantastic as a starter in that limited sample size. He posted a 3.22 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP in that role and even carved up the Guardians, striking out five batters in 6.0 scoreless innings of work.

The Guardians need another quality starter to be considered a playoff contender in 2025, and they'll rely on Ortiz to be that starter.