4. Luis Ortiz, RHP
Birthday (age on opening day 2018): 9/22/1995 (22)
2017 teams/levels played for: AA Biloxi Shuckers
2017 Stats: 22 G, 20 GS, 94 1/3 IP, 4.01 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 9.4% BB, 20.2% K
Info: A well-built righty from California, Ortiz was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 1st round in 2014. He had just started working toward the upper minors when the Rangers traded him to the Milwaukee Brewers as part of the Jonathan Lucroy trade.
When he’s on the hill, Ortiz has some of the better raw stuff in the system
In spite of just over 60 innings at AA in 2016, the Brewers chose to have Ortiz spend the entire season at AA in 2017. One reason was to work on his conditioning, and some blamed excess weight for an early injury that had him miss a few starts.
When he’s on the hill, Ortiz has some of the better raw stuff in the system. He works with his fastball in the mid-90s and can maintain that velocity deep into games. His slider looks just like the fastball out of hand until its hard, late break, getting him weak contact or swing and miss.
His change has ticked up to average, but really needs him to consistently be on the hill to develop a feel for sequencing it in order to see it tick up any further. Though his delivery has become more stable and his control has followed suit, he’s still yet to clear 100 innings in a single season.
Ortiz has the upside of a #2 type of starter if he could keep himself on the mound. The Milwaukee Brewers will most likely challenge him with AAA Colorado Springs to open 2018.
3. Brandon Woodruff, RHP
Birthday (age on opening day 2018): 2/10/1993 (25)
2017 teams/levels played for: Arizona Rookie League Brewers, AAA Colorado Springs Sky Sox, MLB Milwaukee Brewers
2017 Stats: Minors: 17 GS, 77 1/3 IP, 4.31 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 7.8% BB, 21.5% K; Majors: 8 GS, 43 IP, 4.81 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 7.6% BB, 17.4% K
Info: Woodruff was originally and 11th round selection by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2014 out of Mississippi State as a guy who had a solid arm but who had not shown much in college, and finally the Brewers saw a breakthrough of that stuff in 2016 when Woodruff led the minor leagues in strikeouts.
Woodruff struggled through injury in 2017 as he worked between AAA and the majors, keeping him from showing his best stuff. That “best stuff” is keyed by a hard, heavy sinker that comes in at 93-95 and that he can control very well.
He has a fringe-plus slider that he pairs with the sinker to generate a ton of ground balls and swing and miss, and his change is an average pitch, though he does not get sink on the pitch, so it does not have similar movement to his fastball, which can make it easier to pick up than he’d like.
On the mound, Woodruff is extremely confident and draws comments like “bulldog” and “killer” for his attitude with the ball in hand. He will need that confidence as he takes a spot in the Milwaukee Brewers rotation in 2018.
Next: #1 and #2