Luis Leandro Ortiz...Married to Altagracia...Is one of three players to come up through the Pirates' Dominican Academy and reach the Major Leagues, joining teammates RHP Yerry De Los Santos and INF Rodolfo Castro...Enjoys playing pool in his spare time...Is a fan of the NBA's Golden State Warriors and says that Stephen Curry is his favorite player...Signed by Pirates scout Junior Vizcaino.
2024
Coming off a career year for Pittsburgh, posting career-bests in wins (seven), strikeouts (107), innings pitched (135.2), ERA (3.32), WHIP (1.11) and bWAR (3.0)...Third-highest bWAR on the Pirates in 2024 (behind Paul Skenes and Bryan Reynolds)...Made MLB debut on Sept. 13, 2022 at Cincinnati, firing 5.2-scoreless IP, just the second pitcher in Pittsburgh history to throw 5.2-shutout IP with one-or-fewer hits allowed in a debut...Spent the entire season with the Pirates (first career Opening Day roster), spending most of the first half in a relief role before starting the last three months of the season with a high degree of success¡15 of his final 16 appearances came in a starting role after making first start on June 26 at Cincinnati (6.0IP, 1R, career-high-tying 7 SO)¡.From June 26-on, he was 4-4 with a 3.25 ERA in 16 outings/15GS (88.2IP, 66 H, 32 ER, 24 BB, 71 SO, .205 AVG)¡T-11th in the NL in ERA over the span, fifth in average against and sixth in WHIP (1.02)...Pitched 5.0+ IP and allowed four or fewer hits in five consecutive starts (dating back to his final start of 2023), matching the second-longest such streak in club history (the only longer streak was six starts by Francisco Liriano from 7/17-8/14/2014)...Went 1-0 with a 1.75 ERA (25.2IP/5ER) in five games (4 GS) during July...Recorded win on Opening Day at Miami (2.0 IP, 0 R)...Won his sixth game on Aug. 31 at Cleveland after pitching six scoreless innings to extend his streak to 15 consecutive scoreless frames (later snapped at 16)...Was one of three shutout outings started against Cleveland in 2024 where a starter went at least 6.0IP and allowed one-or-fewer hits (0 R)...Others were Dylan Cease and Gerrit Cole...Posted a 2.86 ERA on the road (eighth-lowest mark in NL)...Righties (.225/.290/.330/.620) had similar slash lines against him (LHH: .210/.285/.421/.706).
2023
Pitched with the Dominican Republic team in the WBC; made one appearance and struck out three batters in 2.0 scoreless innings¡Began season with Indianapolis and was the Opening Day starter on 3/31 vs. Omaha (3.2ip/1h/0r/3bb/4so)¡Was named Indy¡¯s Player-of-the-Month in April after going 2-1 with a 2.45 ERA (29.1ip/8er) and 26 strikeouts in six starts¡Ranked fourth in the International League with a 2.31 ERA in April and third with a 0.94 WHIP¡ Was recalled by the Pirates on 5/9 and started that night vs. Colorado; suffered the loss after giving up five runs (two earned) in 5.0ip¡Tossed 7.2 innings (93 pitches) and gave up two runs while winning his first Major League game on 5/22 vs. Texas¡Pitched a career-high 8.0 innings (1r) and won his second game on 6/23 at Miami (career-high 97 pitches)¡ Went 2-3 with a 4.86 ERA (53.2ip/29er) in 11 games (10 starts) with the Pirates prior to the All-Star break¡Was optioned to Indianapolis on 7/5¡Was recalled on 8/23 and started that afternoon vs. St. Louis; walked five and gave up five runs in 3.1ip while suffering the loss¡Made his final appearance in a starting role on 9/28 at Philadelphia and won his fifth game (5.0ip/1er)¡Went 4-5 with a 4.93 ERA (73.0ip/40er) in his 15 starts and 1-0 with a 3.95 ERA (13.2ip/6er) in three relief appearances.
2022
Went 5-9 with a 4.56 ERA (134.1ip/63er) and 138 strikeouts in 24 combined games (23 starts) between Altoona and Indianapolis¡Finished with the second-most strikeouts among Pirates minor leaguers, trailing only Jared Jones, who led the South Atlantic League with 142 punchouts¡Spent a majority of the season with Altoona, where he was named the team¡¯s pitcher-of-the-year and finished with the fourth-most strikeouts (126) in Curve history¡Ranked seventh in the Eastern League in strikeouts, fifth in ERA, tied for eighth in starts, ninth in innings pitched, third in batting average against and second in WHIP (1.17)¡Began the season with Altoona¡Made his only relief appearance on 6/28 vs. Harrisburg and picked up the win (5.0ip/3er)¡Tossed the fourth immaculate inning in Curve history on 8/9 at Binghamton, becoming the first player ever to do it twice¡Made his Triple-A debut on 9/2 at Louisville and gave up six runs (4er) in 4.0 innings¡Tossed 6.0 no-hit innings and struck out nine batters on 9/8 at Omaha, but received a no-decision¡Was named the International League¡¯s Pitcher-of-the-Week for the week ending 9/11¡ Was recalled on 9/13 to serve as the 29th man for the doubleheader at Cincinnati; started game two and allowed just one hit in 5.2 scoreless innings (became just the second pitcher in club history to throw 5.2-plus innings of shutout baseball with one or fewer hits allowed in his Major League debut along with Nick Kingham on 4/28/18 vs. St. Louis)¡ Was returned to Triple-A following the doubleheader on 9/13, but did not appear in a game for Indianapolis¡Was recalled on 9/18 when JT Brubaker was placed on the injured list¡Made his second start on 9/20 at Yankee Stadium and received a no-decision (5.0ip/2r/1er)..Began his big league career with 9.2 scoreless innings ¨C the longest streak by a Pirates starting pitcher since Paul Maholm in 2005 (11.0ip)¡ Surrendered six runs in 0.2 inning and suffered the loss in his final start on 10/1 at St. Louis¡Was optioned to Indianapolis on 10/3¡Was named the Pirates organization¡¯s Teammate-of-the-Year along with Jacob Gonzalez following the season.
