Joey Ortiz

21 February 2025

Getting first crack at shortstop

Ortiz will start at shortstop and bat sixth in Saturday's Cactus League opener against the Reds, Sophia Minnaert of Bally Sports Wisconsin reports.

Analysis

Manager Pat Murphy said to not look into the positional alignment too much, but it's still notable that the 26-year-old is getting the first exhibition start at shortstop following the offseason departure of Willy Adames. Ortiz provided strong defense at third base last season and had a .239/.329/.398 slash line with 11 homers and 11 steals in 142 regular-season games. Brice Turang is also being considered to shift to shortstop, but it may make more sense to keep him at second base since that's where he won the Platinum Glove Award last year.