The Phillies announced that outfielder Jhailyn Ortiz cleared waivers and has been outrighted to their Triple-A affiliate Lehigh Valley. Ortiz had been designated for assignment earlier in the week.
Ortiz was added to Philadelphia’s 40-man roster ahead of the Rule 5 draft at the end of 2021, but is yet to appear in the big leagues. A high-profile international signing with a $4MM bonus in 2015, Ortiz moved up the Phillies’ minor league system as one of their better prospects. His raw power was always his big calling, but that came with a concerning strikeout rate as well.
He slugged 19 home runs in 74 games at High-A in 2021, but took a slight step back last year at Double-A, hitting 17 home runs across 119 games for a .237/.319/.415 line. That line came with 165 strikeouts over his 505 plate appearances. Nonetheless the Phillies started Ortiz in Triple-A this year, and having cleared waivers it appears that’s where he’ll continue.
While the power is intriguing, it’s clear it wasn’t enough to tempt the other 29 clubs to offer him a 40-man roster spot, even though Ortiz has a couple of option years remaining.
A couple of decent minor league stats does not make a major leaguer. The Phils, Mets & Braves are all in due stress. Plan B will make a winner. Let’s see what happens
The Phillies have failed to draft/develop OF prospects since I can remember.
All the best ones were either traded for or free agent ….Very strange history of failings.
@cpdpoet, I hope you’re not tanking on the Phils, not yet. Plan B could be emasculating to other teams, and I’m a Braves fan!
“Plan B could be emasculating” what???
Beating other teams, duh…
Not really what “emasculating” means, but ok.
Why don’t you pontificate what emasculating to us “other ” teams means..
It means to beat other masculine teams by cutting their strengths off. And it definitely applies.
It actually means to basically strip something of its male role, making it feminine, guess it also can mean to make something weaker. Just a really odd word choice. Not sure why you would assign masculine roles to sports teams or why making them less effective in your mind makes them more feminine, but ok. I was also confused by your mention of Plan B being the cause of all of this newfound feminizing of the Phillies’ opponents.
Are you accusing me of being gay?
I find that offensive @Sid Bream Speed Demon
Even if I am…
Lol, what?
@curly…
Hell no, have been taking my lumps as a Phillies fan since kindergarten and that was many decades ago…..
It’s just that the Phils best OF’s since 2000(and since the 70’s btw) have all been brought in. Abreu, Glanville, Rowand, Victorino, Werth, Ibanez, Revere, O.Hererra, Harper and Schwarber/Castellanos. Either by trade/sign or rule 5.
It’s just weird they’ve hit on no one.
Trading for young OFs on the other hand…
@cpdpoet I guess when you have both POBO and club owner on same page of win now. Screw player development.
A young player that Is draft by Philadelphia Phillies feel he will packed In a trade for a veteran player.
@logistics extremely lazy take.
Put down the beverage and when you can, please re-read my post. The Phillies have been historically bad when it comes to drafting OF talent – google their OF draftees…. very poor. Goes back decades and then some.
Your dig at DD is unwarranted and has ZERO to do with my post. Not sure why DD lives so deep in your mind……
You’re not wrong, cpdpoet, but I’d say the Phillies have been historically bad at drafting anyone…in any position. Few teams in the history of sports have missed on more draft picks.
You’re mostly right Von, but I’d argue the 2008 squad came with a lot of home grown talent. Chase, Cole, Jimmy, Ryan, even Pat Burrell. You know how takes the cake for failed draft picks? The Sacramento Kings. And it isn’t even close. Light the beam!!!
That’s why that team was so special, and the cream of the crop of the NLE for half a decade. It was the rare exception. The Phillies had a talented homegrown core. That never happened before or since. The Braves do it all the time.
@von They’ve done a good job at drafting c’s and infs, but still von, no OF’s….
Phils have to go back to Lonnie Smith. Luzinski was a 1b and Burrell a 3b.
Haseley, Moniak, Randolph (ss but never played in minors) Cozens, D.Brown, Greene, Collier, Golson, Ruf (got the major yo-yo) and go back to the 90’s and so on…
Anybody else was not drafted.
You think by accident, they’d have semi-hit on one?
They are not as bad as we think. Someone on bleacherreport did a thing on drafting in the past @30+ yrs a bit ago…Phils came in @17-18th. I was surprised, but when other teams failures were put out there….well it showed how MLB drafting is easy for most teams.
Another example of dyslexic nomenclature. Mr. And Mrs. Brito suffer the same affliction.
If you can’t do it right, just get the “H” outa here!
@cpdpoet First DD does not live In my head. Second I was not drinking when I posted my reply to you.
So you are wrong on your first two points and no I am not MLB writer or someone that cover MLB for living.
However I be willing to make a bet that If you ask about 10-12 MLB press people most of them would tell you that Mr DD loves to trade minor league players for veterans. And I be also happy to wag that If you look up his trade over past 15 years how many did he make that he trade a veteran for a minor league.
Not looking for a fight goodsir.
But if one truly goes over DD’s history, he moves minor league talent he did not bring in, yes…
Look at his drafting record going back to Montreal. The players he drafts pan out a bit more often than the average front office and for the team he drafted them to….
The players he has drafted form an impressive list and no I am not related to him.
As for the imbibing comment, true apologies then sir.
I am enjoying Sam Adams.