The Rise of Joey Ortiz

×

Expand

Photo via Joey Ortiz and Milwaukee Brewers - Instagram

Joey Ortiz

Joey Ortiz

An array of unexpected players played major roles in the Brewers’ early success in 2024 but, even among that group, Joey Ortiz stands out as a potential breakout star. 

Ortiz’s first full season in the majors has to be going about as well as anyone could have expected. His double and walk on Sunday lifted his batting average to .282 with a .383 on-base percentage and .475 slugging on the season, but even those numbers don’t tell the whole story: Ortiz was relegated to part-time duty and struggled for a big chunk of April, batting .245/.351/.306 while starting just 14 of the Brewers’ first 24 games. Since April 26 he’s played in 40 out of 47 games and flourished in the increased playing time, batting .296/395/.538 across 158 plate appearances.

While that sample by itself is likely too small to guarantee future stardom, Ortiz’s peripheral numbers suggest this success isn’t a fluke. Baseball Savant’s data has Ortiz in the top 16% in all of baseball in all four of their plate discipline metrics and the results demonstrate it: He strikes out less often and walks more often than any other Brewer. He doesn’t square the ball up as often as some of his teammates, but he makes up for some of that with excellent bat speed. His weighted on base average (wOBA) of .376 is second on the team to Christian Yelich, and his .348 expected weighted on base (xwOBA) suggests that his inputs are almost as good as his results have been.

Defensive Stats

On the defensive side, however, Ortiz has added on even more value by playing at a very high level at a relatively new position. He had logged just 15 games in the minors at third base but has played the equivalent of 48 full games there in his first season as a Brewer and FanGraphs rates him as the fourth most valuable defender at that position this season. Defensive stats can take some time to stabilize, but it certainly looks like Ortiz is already capable of being an above average defender at third and could even improve as he gets more experience there.

It’s been a while since the Brewers have had a viable everyday option at third base. They’ve finished below average in on base plus slugging from the position in each of the last two seasons and four of the last five. The last Brewer to play at least 100 games at the hot corner and rate above average offensively was Mike Moustakas in 2019, and even that year the Brewers’ other options at the position played so poorly that the Brewers ranked 28th in production from that spot. This spring the Brewers went so far as to experiment with Sal Frelick at the position despite the fact that the longtime outfielder hadn’t played in the infield since a few games in the Futures Collegiate League in 2020.

Of course, Ortiz’s long-term position with the Brewers may not be third base. While he certainly adds significant value there, he and second baseman Brice Turang may be the prime candidates to move over to shortstop next season if the Brewers don’t re-sign Willy Adames as a free agent. On top of being a key contributor for the Brewers on offense, Adames is one of the game’s most valuable defenders at any position and would leave some big shoes to fill if he moves on.

No matter where he plays, however, Joey Ortiz has made a near-immediate impact on this contending Brewers team and his early performance suggests he could be a big part of winning teams in Milwaukee for many years to come.