Ortiz Might Need Demotion Soon

Through the first seven appearances of his big-league career, it appeared the Texas Rangers had another unheralded gem on their hands in the mold of Robbie Ross in 2012 with the arrival of Joseph Ortiz.

Ortiz, a short, stocky lefty reliever gave up a run in his first outing before putting up a 0.77 ERA with 10 strikeouts and two walks over his first seven outings in the bigs, but since then it's been all downhill for Ortiz, who might be in line to be demoted to the minors for a bit with the hope he can find his groove again.

Ortiz has now allowed six earned runs in his last seven innings of work and opponents are hitting .500 against him in his last three outings. That's just not sustainable in the bigs. It spoke volumes that he was the one pitcher manager Ron Washington didn't call on in Sunday's 13-inning loss to Seattle.

With Neal Cotts' call-up being a gift from the baseball gods, the Rangers have a little more flexibility with Ortiz, even though they're not exactly rolling with bullpen arms, at least not until Joakim Soria is ready to go sometime around the all-star break.

But if they can figure out a way to do it, even if means sending Ortiz down and re-calling Cory Burns from Round Rock, it might do Ortiz some good to get down in no-pressure situations and try to find what was working so well for him early in the season.

Copyright FREEL - NBC Local Media
Contact Us