The Pittsburgh Pirates made eight more cuts Tuesday, optioning one of their top pitching prospects in right-handed starter Luis Ortiz and righty reliever Yohan Ramirez to Triple-A Indianapolis.
The 24-year-old Ortiz, ranked the Pirates’ No. 4 prospect by Baseball America, was 1-1 with a 10.50 ERA and 2.50 WHIP in three starts this spring, allowing seven earned runs on 12 hits and three walks while striking out four. Opponents batted .429 against Ortiz, who also pitched for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic.
Ortiz was hoping to crack the Pirates’ starting rotation after making what Pirates manager Derek Shelton called “just an unbelievable debut” last Sept. 13 at Cincinnati. Ortiz threw 53 four-seam fastballs at an average of 99 mph, touching triple digits six times to join Gerrit Cole as the only Pirates starting pitchers to hit 100 mph on the radar gun since pitch speed data started being tracked by Statcast in 2008. In four starts for the Pirates, Ortiz went 0-2 with a 4.50 ERA, 17 strikeouts and 10 walks in 16 innings.
Ramirez is the odd man out in a crowded bullpen after posting an 14.21 ERA in allowing 10 earned runs on 11 hits, including two home runs, with four walks and six strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings over eight appearances as opponents batted .367 against him. Acquired from Cleveland last July, the 27-year-old Ramirez went 3-1 with a 3.67 ERA and 1.30 WHIP in 27 innings over 22 appearances, averaging seven strikeouts and 4.3 walks per nine innings.
Six others were reassigned to minor league camp: infielder Andres Alvarez, catcher Carter Bins, right-handers Cody Bolton and Carmen Mlodzinski, outfielder Chavez Young and lefty reliever Daniel Zamora. Baseball America ranks Mlodzinski the Pirates’ No. 22 prospect, Bolton No. 23 and Alvarez No. 30.
The Pirates now have 40 players in major league camp.
