Joe Ortiz is a 22-year old left handed pitcher from Venezuela who is entering his seventh season of professional baseball in the United States. Ortiz pitched in one Spring Training game for the Rangers back in 2011, but until this season had not seen extensive time in big league camp. Ortiz split the 2012 season between the Rangers Double-A team in Frisco and their Triple-A affiliate in Round Rock. He appeared in a total of 51 games, earning a 2-3 record out of the bullpen with an astonishing 2.15 ERA for the second consecutive season. In 62 2/3 innings of work in 2012, Ortiz had 52 strikeouts and only walked nine hitters.
Considering the issues that the Rangers are having in their bullpen this spring, do not be surprised if Joe Ortiz is one of the left-handed guys out in the Texas bullpen to start the season. If Robbie Ross were to somehow win the final spot in the Rangers rotation, it would almost guarantee a spot in the bullpen for Ortiz. Regardless of what Ross does, Ortiz has shown that he at least deserves a chance to help the Rangers bridge from the rotation to Joe Nathan in the ninth inning.
Ortiz pitched another scoreless inning on Thursday, his fifth of the spring. Ortiz has only allowed two hits in those five innings, one each against the White Sox and Diamondbacks. He has registered five strikeouts and no walks in his five appearances this spring, and has thrown 27 strikes out of 32 total pitches.
Game Recap:
The Rangers fell behind the Dodgers early on Thursday, as Randy Wells gave up a run-scoring double to Jeremy Moore in the first inning to give Los Angeles in the bottom of the first inning. The Dodgers extended that lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the third inning when Ramon Castro launched a solo shot off of Wells before Yasiel Puig singled to score Dee Gordon in the same inning to give the Dodgers a three run lead.
Texas answered back in the top of the fourth inning when A.J. Pierzynski reached base on an error by Alfredo Amezaga, which allowed David Murphy to score for the Rangers first run. Leonys Martin hit a sacrifice fly later in the inning to score Jeff Baker, which cut the Dodgers lead down to 3-2.
Wells pitched a scoreless fourth inning, his final of the afternoon. Wells finished with four innings of work, giving up three runs on six hits. He struck out three Dodgers and walked one.
The Rangers took a big lead in the top of the fifth inning, thanks to a David Murphy double to score Craig Gentry and then a two run home run by Adrian Beltre, his first of the spring, to give Texas a 5-3 lead. Texas was not done, as Leonys Martin hit a two run single to score Jeff Baker and A.J. Pierzynski, giving Texas a 7-3 lead after the top of the fifth inning.
The Dodgers answered back quickly, as Elian Herrera doubled to center field to score Yasiel Puig and then Tim Federowicz singled to left field to score Herrera, cutting the Texas lead down to 7-5. Those two runs came against Joe Nathan of the Rangers, who pitched just the one inning, but allowed two runs on three hits. Nathan has a spring ERA of 9.00 entering play on Friday.
Texas added to their lead in the seventh inning, as Konrad Schmidt launched a two run bomb to left field to score himself and Jeff Baker. The Rangers had a 9-5 lead, but they would not have that comfortable margin for long.
Los Angeles got a run scoring double from Brian Barden against Evan Meek to cut the lead to 9-6 before Wilkin Castillo and Matt Angle had RBI singles of their own. Evan Meek gave up a total of three runs in just 2/3 innings of work, allowing three runs on four hits, and leaving the Rangers lead at 9-8. Ross Wolf came in for Meek to record the last out of the inning.
Nate Robertson worked a scoreless eighth inning on the mound for Texas before the Rangers added two runs in the top of the ninth when Jim Adduci recorded his second triple of the spring, which scored Brett Nicholas and Konrad Schmidt, and gave Texas an 11-8 lead.
Texas turned to Josh Lindblom to close out the game in the bottom of the night, but he was unable to hold on to the lead. Lindblom gave up a three run home run to Matt Angle, which tied the game at 11-11. As is the usual in the spring, the teams decided not to play extra innings, and the final score remained tied.
Offensively for Texas, David Murphy and Jeff Baker each recorded two hits on the afternoon. Murphy finished 2-4 with a double and an RBI, while Baker went 2-3 on the day with a walk and three runs scored. Adrian Beltre finished 1-4 on the afternoon, with his one hit being the two run homer in the fifth inning. A.J. Pierzynski, Mitch Moreland and Leonys Martin each had a hit in their starts for Texas, with Martin recording three RBI. Jurickson Profar, Ian Kinsler and Craig Gentry each went without a hit after getting starts on Thursday.
Yangervis Solarte finished the game with a hit in two at-bats after replacing Kinsler, while Brett Nicholas earned a hit in his first spring at-bat for Texas after he replaced Jeff Baker as the designated hitter. Konrad Schmidt finished 1-2 with a two run bomb and Jim Adduci finished 1-1 at the dish with his two RBI triple.
Randy Wells had a rocky performance in his start, allowing three runs on six hits in four innings of work. Joe Nathan and Evan Meek each struggled in their relief appearances as well. Joe Ortiz and Nate Robertson were the bright spots on the mound, each pitching a scoreless inning for the Rangers without allowing a hit or a walk.
Next Up: Texas will travel to Maryvale Baseball Park to take on the Milwaukee Brewers. Texas will start bullpen candidate Jeff Beliveau on the mound. Beliveau has pitched three innings this spring and has not allowed a run and has two strikeouts. Milwaukee will start Tyler Thornburg against the Rangers, who is 0-1 this spring with a 9.00 ERA in four innings of work.
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