Skip to main content

2019 Phillies Prospects Countdown: #6 OF Jhailyn Ortiz

By
Jhailyn Ortiz, image- Jay Floyd
The Phillies signed outfielder Jhailyn Ortiz, who was the top ranked international free agent, at the age of 16 in 2015 for a reported $4 million. Teams don't make that sort of investment or shell out the largest signing bonus for an international player in organization history without a boat load of high hopes. It seems the talented youngster is well on his way to living up to those expectations.

The powerful Dominican Republic native made his regular season pro debut as a member of the Rookie level Gulf Coast League Phillies in 2016. In 47 games there, Ortiz batted .231 with eight home runs, 27 RBI and eight stolen bases.

In 2017 Ortiz was with the short-season Class A Williamsport Crosscutters. He sported a .302 batting average with 15 doubles, a triple, eight homers and 30 RBI in 47 contests.  His .961 OPS would have been good enough to lead the league if he has notched enough plate appearances to qualify.

Last season with the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws, Ortiz, as a 19-year-old, sported a .225 batting average with 18 doubles, two triples, 13 homers and 47 RBI in 110 games.

In Ortiz’s first taste of a full-season league, a sluggish second half sandbagged his overall stats, as he notched a .258/.320/.399 slash line in the 1st half and a .202/.283/.360 slash line in the 2nd half.

Coaches think the righty batting Ortiz is a special talent with a very bright future. Lakewood’s hitting coach Tyler Henson told me after watching Ortiz play for more than five months in the South Atlantic League last year that, “For me, he's got more ability than anybody in this league.”

Working on plate discipline will be key for Ortiz, as he’ll need to reduce his strike outs. At roughly a 30% strike out rate in the minors, he has a lot of work ahead to improve in that aspect.  The Phillies expect Ortiz to develop a better understanding of how the opposition is trying to pitch to him and an improved ability to interpret the strike zone. Once he does, watch out!  Plus power is his claim to fame.  

The energetic Ortiz, who will be 20 years old for the entirety of the 2019 season, is a quality defender with a very strong arm. He has played strictly right field in the minors to date.

As a base runner, Ortiz will not be a regular stolen base threat, but he is quick-footed enough that he won't be a detriment to his club.

Listed at six-feet-three and 258 pounds, Ortiz is a hulking, strapping, young man that should continue to display plenty of power throughout the minors. Look for him to get some time with Class A Advanced Clearwater this coming season.

Be sure to track this year's complete Phillies top 25 prospects countdown by clicking this link.   
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PhoulBallz Interview: Reading second baseman Jesmuel Valentin

By
Jesmuel Valentin, image- Jay Floyd Switch-hitting infielder Jesmuel Valentin has been a bit of an underrated contributor with the Double-A Reading Fightins. Heading into action on Friday, Valentin was batting .339 over his last 14 games. Overall this season, the 22-year-old is batting .282 with four home runs and 35 RBI in 64 games. Valentin, who plays mostly second base, but dabbles at shortstop a bit also, is the son of former big leaguer Jose Valentin . The Puerto Rico native was a supplementary round pick (51st overall) of the Dodgers in 2012. He was acquired by the Phils as part of the Roberto Hernandez trade in 2014. Recently, I spoke with Jesmuel about his team's success, growing up around the game and more. Read ahead for that full interview. -The Reading team has been great and you've contributed very nicely to the club's success. What are your thoughts on competition in the Eastern League this year? I just came here with the mindset that...
Post a Comment
Read more

Q&A with Justin De Fratus

By
Justin De Fratus is a 21 year old right handed relief pitcher with the Lakewood BlueClaws. An 11th round draft choice in 2007, Justin had been a starter in his first two seasons in the Phillies organization. Informed this spring that he'd be switched from the rotation to the bullpen, Justin has excelled and become one of the most reliable pitchers on the Lakewood staff. In 19 games this season, Justin is 2-0, with a 1.83 ERA and 0.89 WHIP over 39 1/3 innings pitched. PhoulBallz.com spoke with Justin De Fratus just last night. Here's how that went down... Justin, South Atlantic League all star selections were announced this week, and you were named to the team. Can I get your reaction to that? How excited were you? Very excited about it. Well, especially this year because I just got moved to the bullpen, so this is a new role for me. So, if anything, it's reassuring that I'm doing my job. It's the first time in my pro career that I've been selected as an all star...
7 comments
Read more

Catching prospect O'Hoppe tabbed to join Phillies

By
Logan O'Hoppe, image- Jay Floyd Please consider supporting my work and via my Patreon page .  For a small monthly fee, your patronage will get you exclusive interviews and other prospect related material as well as early access to all of my other content such as this feature.  Thank you.   On Friday, the Phillies added a pair of catchers to their 2020 player pool.  Minor leaguers Logan O'Hoppe (pronounced Oh-HOP-ee) and Henri Lartigue arrived in Philadelphia to help catch bullpen sessions for the team's collection of approximately 30 pitchers. The call to O'Hoppe was extremely welcome as the 20-year-old had been staying as active as he possibly could, working out with other players that have been been waiting out quarantine due to the current pandemic at his home on Long Island.  However, he had been very eager to step back onto an actual baseball field. "I just hope I can play soon.  Where ever that is or whatever form that is, that'd be aw...
1 comment
Read more