The Giants have agreed to minor league contracts with free-agent right-handers Luis Ortiz and Wei-Chieh Huang, as indicated on the team’s official transactions log at MLB.com.
Both righties have a bit of big league experience, with Ortiz’s 2019 showing in Baltimore standing as the most recent. He’s tallied just 5 2/3 innings in the big leagues, all with the Orioles, and yielded eight runs on 11 hits and eight walks in that time. It’s not an especially impressive showing, but it’s a tiny sample of work for Ortiz, who notably ranked among the game’s top 100 prospects from 2016-17 in the estimation of Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus and MLB.com. He’s the second former top prospect added by the Giants in recent weeks, joining righty Jorge Guzman in that regard.
A former Rangers farmhand, Ortiz has been involved in a pair of notable trades — going from Texas to Milwaukee in the Jonathan Lucroy/Jeremy Jeffress deal before being flipped from Milwaukee to Baltimore as part of the return for Jonathan Schoop. At his prospect peak, Ortiz was praised for a mid-90s fastball, a plus slider and strong command, all of which gave him the upside of a mid-rotation starter.
Ortiz dealt with elbow and forearm troubles early in his pro career, however, and he’s only reached 100 innings in a single season (when he threw 102 between Double-A, Triple-A and Baltimore). He returned to the Rangers on a minor league deal for the 2021 season and worked primarily out of the bullpen in Triple-A Round Rock, where he posted a 4.60 ERA, a 23.4% strikeout rate and a 9.0% walk rate in 43 innings. Ortiz is still just 26 and has had solid results up through the Double-A level, but it’s been a rough go of it for him both in Triple-A and in the Majors.
Huang, 28, reached the bigs with Texas back in 2018 — albeit only for a brief 5 2/3-inning look. He held opponents to a pair of earned runs but also surrendered eight hits and five walks during that short-lived stint. Wang wasn’t with a Major League player pool in 2020, when there was no minor league season, and he didn’t pitch in affiliated ball last year either. However, he’s rattled off three perfect innings in the Dominican Winter League this year, fanning five hitters along the way. He’ll join the Giants org with a career 3.37 minor league ERA in addition to a strong 28.2% strikeout rate and an 8.7% walk rate.
More Zaidi low risk arms for the Minors.
can never have enough
simply the best
Huang, in particular, looks like a good pickup.
If good means minors depth who may throw 11.2 innings this season at the big league level, then yes.
The Giants. LOL
Farhan Zaidi the dumpster diving Cheapasss
@gwynn, who’s the as****? 107 wins last year. His methods sure seem to work better than Preller’s. Why you so disgruntled?
I’m not sure which is more ridiculous, Padre fan’s knee jerk condemnation to every Zaidi minor move or (on the flip side) how Giant’s fan get semi-erect over every Zaidi minor move.
26 man roster to start the season. Use over 50 players total by seasons end. Probably both end up out there for another 5 2/3 innings each. FZ is not a cheapass. They will spend after the lockout is over. Suzuki and pitching.
I can see Suzuki and Castellanos and another start maybe Greinke and Duffy!! Maybe a pipe dream but a good one at that
Lol
@DJ, I’ve dreaming about Suzuki and Castellanos too! Not sure about Greinke, but Rodon would be a plus. I trust Z will get us there!
Ortiz and Guzman look like great pickups; solid, young, former solid prospects(from an organizational standpoint) that performed well in the minors through AAA, and just didn’t do great in short stints in the bigs. Those former prospects in their mid-20’s are perfect fits for a change of scenery, and with an organization like SF, it seems they’re applying the strategy they used with Gausman, Smyly, DeScalfani, Wood, Cobb, etc.
There won’t be as much pressure on these guys, and they’re likely to either compete with Hjelle and Beede for the 5 spot or for a spot in the bullpen. Converting former starting pitching prospects into quality relievers is a good plan, especially if they’re successful starters from rookie through triple-a ball.
It’s not like Logan Webb was an ace his first stints with the big club, sometimes guys take more than 20 or 40 innings in the bigs before they “get it”.
#InFarhanWeTrust
Right, except don’t hold your breath on Beede. Big time wash out who wasn’t even particularly good at Vanderbilt. Never understood the Giants on that draft pick.
I’ve been a huge Giants fan for decades following in the footsteps of my family so don’t get all bent out of shape when I say this. Zaidi is cheap, you can look at what he’s done in his three years with the team to see that. He goes for bargains, Hope’s that the coaching staff they’ve put together can make that bargain pan out, but if they can’t no big loss. It worked out great in 2021, no guarantees on how it will work out with the patchwork Starting Pitching staff they currently have in place (beyond Webb and Disco relax….though Disco will need to have a much better 2nd half for the team to compete in 22′)
For those who keep throwing their savings at Castellanos, the guy is a weakness in the outfield defensively and that would be so much more apparent in SF, his numbers are also skewed offensively by playing half his games at the bandbox in Cinci. He’s going to want way too much money and personally I think the Giants would come to regret that signing.