More accolades for Atlanta Braves prospects are piling up. This time it's a guy who we may be hearing more buzz about in the coming months, left-handed starting pitcher Jose Ortegano. He was named the Southern League Player of the Week, here is the snippet from the press release:
Since joining the M-Braves on July 28, Ortegano has three wins in his first three Double-A starts and has allowed just two earned runs in 20 innings. In two starts last week, the 22-year-old lefty struck out 15 in 13 innings and surrendered only one earned run. On August 3 against Montgomery, Ortegano struck out seven batters and yielded just four singles in six scoreless innings. He turned in another stellar performance on August 9 at Huntsville, and allowed one earned run on eight hits through seven innings. He struck out eight more batters, and now has 21 strikeouts and three walks in 20 Double-A innings. The native of Maracaibo, Venezuela was signed as a non-drafted free agent in 2003.
The M-Braves press release also adds this:
Ortegano made the jump to AA Mississippi on July 28th and has impressed in each outing since. On his way to a 3-0 record, Ortegano has given up one earned run or less in each of his three starts - all quality outings. He's got an ERA of 0.90 and has fanned 21 while walking only three. The lefty has held left-handed batters to a .067 average.
Overall he's holding batters to a .230 average against, which is also pretty darn good. He wasn't this good at Myrtle Beach, though he wasn't terrible by any means. A 3.49 ERA and a 59/19 K/BB in 69.2 innings pitched. Maybe he's drinking whatever Jason Heyward is drinking as Ortegano's vast improvement coincides with his promotion to a higher level -- including the toughest jump in minor league baseball, from A-ball to double-A.
It is certainly good to see one of our young pitchers make that leap to double-A and conquer it at the same time. We've got so many guys in our system that could emerge in this same exact or similar fashion over the next few years -- it's going to be an exciting time to keep up with Braves prospects.
Ortegano's next start is this Friday.
0 recs | 9 comments
Anyone seen him pitch?
What is his arsenal?
Is he crafty, or can he bring it a little bit?
hoboken_wood - August 11, 2009
Not yet but I will be at the game in Montgomery Friday and am now looking forward to it even more.
Mountngrown - August 11, 2009
He’s a soft throwing lefty. That’s all I know about him personally, though yondaime broke him down for me in once of the recent minor league recaps.
Bronn - August 11, 2009
I saw him in ST and back in May with MB and he’s definitely crafty. He knows how to pitch and he has a good feel for what he wants to do with each hitter. I’ve never seen him as a guy out of the bullpen, because he doesn’t have the typical stuff for that, so it’s nice to see him succeeding as a starter.
cbwilk - August 12, 2009
Ortegano is certainly catching some people’s attention. I’m very interested to see how he finishes out the year at Double-A. Ortegano, Osuna, and Diamond all have the difficult task of trying to distinguish themselves from each other, but I think we’ll find a productive use for all three, be it in a trade, or for us.
timmy3 - August 11, 2009
Nice!
As you said, hopefully he and Heyward continue to play better against stronger competition.
It’s nice to have a young lefty with promise playing consistant since the promotion.
Fischerking - August 11, 2009
Another soft tossing lefty?
I was hoping from his K/innings pitched ratio that he was a power pitcher.
Braves haven’t had much luck lately with soft tossing lefties. Horacio, Bruce Chen, Chuck James, etc. Glavine fits that mold, I guess, but when he first came up he was in the 90s wasn’t he? Anyway, I’m not fond of soft tossing lefties due to their history with the Braves.
All of those guys that I mentioned were outstanding in the minors. I think Chen at one time was at the top of the Braves prospect list, but couldn’t cut the mustard at the ML level. I guess that crafty/soft tossing shit works against inexperienced minor leaguers, but gets ripped by guys in the Bigs.
Braves fan since 1966 - August 11, 2009
due to their history with the Braves
I’d filter through ten more soft tossing lefties if there is another close to Glavine out there.
In fact the first thing that comes to my mind when I think about the Braves and soft tossing
lefties is a warm and Fuzzy thought.
BravesfaninMontana - August 12, 2009
If nothing else he might be useful as a loogy.
KC Ryan - August 12, 2009
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