Joey Ortiz's Passivity Remains an Issue, and Pat Murphy Has Taken Action

[Jack Stern]

Image courtesy of © Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

From a results standpoint, things have been trending in the right direction for Joey Ortiz. After limping to a .185/.254/.250 line (45 wRC+) with just two home runs through June 14, the Brewers shortstop has since hit .290/.323/.500 (130 wRC+) with four homers in his last 65 plate appearances.

Despite that substantial uptick in production, Ortiz has found himself in the crosshairs of his manager’s ire. Pat Murphy pinch hit for Ortiz in his final at-bat on Saturday in Miami against the Marlins. He hasn’t played since, remaining on the bench due to Murphy’s displeasure with his recent swing decisions.

“Yeah, the manager’s pissed,” Murphy said when asked on Monday afternoon about Andruw Monasterio starting in Ortiz’s place at shortstop for a second straight night. “I want him to give me his best approach at the plate. And, you know, we’ve given him a lot. We play him every day, and we need him, and he can’t just have lapses at the plate like that.”

Passivity in the batter’s box has been a long-running issue for Ortiz. Last season, his 53.5% swing rate against in-zone pitches was the lowest among qualified hitters, rendering him a net negative hitter on hittable pitches over the heart of the plate despite a decent overall line. Ortiz has upped his in-zone swing rate to 59% this year, but that remains well below the league average. He fell back into the worst version of himself on Milwaukee’s last road trip, swinging at just 52.3% of in-zone pitches while chasing 37.5% of pitches outside the zone.

“The swing decisions have been the worst [they’ve] been,” Murphy said. “And he’s swinging the bat way better, but [it’s] his swing decisions now. So all that mental stuff, he’ll sit and think about it.”

Ortiz had a rough at-bat in New York in the first game of that road trip, rolling over a first-pitch sinker for an inning-ending double play after three straight walks to load the bases, but his last two at-bats in Miami were apparently the final straw before Murphy imposed a reset. First was a sequence against Cal Quantrill in which he watched three fastballs right down the middle and chased a fastball at his eyes.

His next at-bat was a similar story, as Ortiz watched two fastballs and a hanging sweeper for strikes and offered only at another sweeper well off the plate.

Perhaps Murphy was trying to motivate his shortstop to respond by publicly calling out his at-bats, or maybe it truly was a moment of authentic exasperation signaling that Ortiz’s leash is thinning. Either way, it’s clear that he still views Ortiz’s extreme passivity as a problem.

“I want to see conviction when he gets back in there,” Murphy said. “Like, ‘I’m not letting this happen. I have a responsibility. I don’t have to get results, but I have to be convicted, I have to be ready, I have to be clear-headed, and I have to be able to fire.”

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[Rilez]

Need to go back to Fridays game for the bigger picture. Look at his final 3 ABs. 

[izzi]

The more I see of Murph, the more I see him as an extremely tough, demanding dude to play for. Ortiz is finally hitting, then this. Tobias Meyers, a steady, good pitcher all last year, gets a short leash (coming off an injury, to boot), Priester has the riot act read to him about his "unacceptable" pitching, Henderson doesn't throw enough different pitches - just gets guys out - sent to the minors, Yoho faltered, sure, but no leash.

But hey, the Brewers keep winning, so if he is that way, it must be working, right? And these are highly paid professionals held to the highest standard...I get all that. But eventually such tactics can become unproductive.

 

 

[Harold Hutchison]

Murphy's approach definitely has not worked with Tyler Black, IMO. He didn't cause Black's hamate injury, but Black's bat really had little to prove in the minors.

[sveumrules]

6 minutes ago, Harold Hutchison said:

Murphy's approach definitely has not worked with Tyler Black, IMO. He didn't cause Black's hamate injury, but Black's bat really had little to prove in the minors.

Black is up to 708 PA in AAA with a pretty pedestrian 114 wRC+ now.

Here's some Brewers farmhands with at least 200 PA in Nashville from 2023-25 who have outproduced him...

Anthony Seigler
(267 PA | 142 wRC+)

Keston Hiura 
(367 PA | 140 wRC+)

Blake Perkins
(201 PA | 132 wRC+)

Isaac Collins
(509 PA | 126 wRC+)

Eddy Alvarez
(257 PA | 124 wRC+)

Jon Singleton
(216 PA | 122 wRC+)

Jared Oliva
(211 PA | 122 wRC+)

Brewer Hicklen
(499 PA | 119 wRC+)

Abraham Toro
(414 PA | 115 wRC+)

When you're a bat only player such as Black, and you are getting outhit by your AAA teammates who are a mix of AAAA lifers, backup infielders, and fourth outfielders...your bat probably has quite a bit more left to prove in the minors.

[Team Canada]

59 minutes ago, Harold Hutchison said:

Murphy's approach definitely has not worked with Tyler Black

I guess you could argue he should have gotten more steady playing time at some point, but he also just hasn't been that great, as noted above, and there's not a great need/fit for him right now either.