Ramón Ortiz

[William Malone]

Ramón Diógenes Ortiz was born on May 23, 1973 in the Dominican Republic.

The Anaheim Angels signed him as an amateur free agent in 1995. He made his Major League debut in 1999, and pitched six seasons for the Angels. Ortiz was 59-49 with a 4.60 ERA for them, winning a career high 16 games in 2003. He helped Anaheim win the 2002 World Series, going 2-0 with a 9.00 ERA in three postseason starts that fall.

Ortiz pitched for the Cincinnati Reds in 2005, and the Washington Nationals in 2006. The Minnesota Twins signed him ahead of the 2007 campaign. Despite having Johan Santana at the top of their rotation, the team was in desperate need of starting pitching. The always reliable Brad Radke had just retired, and Francisco Liriano was going to miss the entire season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Things started out great for Ortiz in 2007. He opened the year by tossing seven innings of two run ball against the Baltimore Orioles. That was followed up by an eight inning, one run gem against the New York Yankees. When April ended, he was 3-1 with a 2.56 ERA through five starts. Ortiz wasn't able to keep this pace though, and Twins manager Ron Gardenhire eventually had to put Ortiz in the bullpen. He finished his Twins tenure with a 5.14 ERA, going 4-4 across ten starts and 18 relief appearances.

Minnesota traded Ortiz to the Colorado Rockies at the deadline, acquiring infield prospect Matt Macri. Ortiz struggled with the Rockies, posting a 7.62 ERA in 13.0 innings out of their bullpen. Colorado reached the World Series that fall, but Ortiz was left off their postseason roster.

He was no longer a big league regular after that 2007 season. Ortiz continued to pitch professionally in various leagues until 2016, but his time in the Majors going forward was brief and sporadic. He pitched 16 games for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2010, 22 games for the Chicago Cubs in 2011, and seven games for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2013.

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