Guardians' Exciting New Pitcher Comes With Glaring Red Flags

The Cleveland Guardians have an exciting new pitcher in their starting rotation, but he also comes with some serious question marks.

Sep 7, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Luis Ortiz (48) throws to the Washington Nationals during the first inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Philip G. Pavely-Imagn Images / Philip G. Pavely-Imagn Images

The Cleveland Guardians have swung multiple trades this offseason, and in one of them, they landed a pitcher who is expected to be a top three starter in their 2025 rotation.

Luis Ortiz.

The Guardians acquired Ortiz from the Pittsburgh Pirates, sending first baseman Spencer Horwitz (who had previously been acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays in the Andres Gimenez trade) to the Pirates in exchange for the right-hander.

While there are certainly reasons to be excited about the addition of Ortiz to what was a brutal Cleveland pitching staff last year, there are also reasons for concern.

Let's be honest for a minute: Ortiz comes with some very glaring question marks.

First of all, he has very limited experience as a starter.

Since entering the big leagues in 2022, Ortiz has made 59 appearances, but only 34 of them have been starts. As a matter of fact, he began 2024 in the bullpen and was only promoted to Pittsburgh's starting rotation in June. He made just 15 starts last season overall.

The 25-year-old did pitch to the tune of a 3.32 ERA this past year, but his peripherals weren't great. He logged a 4.25 FIP and a .243 BABIP, the latter of which indicates that regression is coming.

Plus, Ortiz isn't exactly a strikeout artist, as evidenced by his 7.1 K/9 and 2.55 K/BB ratio in 2024.

What's going to happen when his luck almost inevitably runs out on batted balls? Will he look a heck of a lot more like he did in 2023, when he posted a 4.78 ERA?

But perhaps the most worrisome aspect about Ortiz is his velocity.

During Ortiz's first big-league campaign, he averaged 98.4 mph on his fastball. Albeit, that was only over four starts, but it was still impressive. That number then dipped to 95.9 mph in 2023, and last season, it fell even further to 94.2.

In a modern era where a plethora of hurlers are firing 4-seamers at around 100 mph, dipping all the way to around 94 mph on your fastball is not ideal.

On the plus side, Ortiz did seem to harness his control issues last year, registering a 2.8 BB/9 after recording an alarming 5.0 BB/9 the season prior.

All of that being said, there are many variables at play when it comes to Ortiz, and there is absolutely no guarantee that he is going to significantly boost the Guardians' starting rotation in 2025.

That's all the more reason why Cleveland needs to add another arm before the season begins.