Joey Ortiz's Leg Kick Has Lost Its Conviction—and With That, His Power

Before the neck injury that briefly took him out of the lineup and then lingered throughout last summer, Joey Ortiz demonstrated power, bat-to-ball skills, and a keen eye at the plate that had many fans salivating over their return from the Corbin Burnes trade. With DL Hall's injury trouble, Ortiz has been the sole source of value for the Crew from that deal to date. He entered the Brewers organization with a reputation as a strong-to-elite defender from the left side who could also crush the ball, if a little too often on the ground. He was also reputed to have a swing-happy approach—something he got away with in the upper minors because of his bat control, although it did impede his walk rate.

Ortiz showcased all of that defensive acumen virtually right away, on top of a bat that sparked to life. Through June last year, the new third baseman had a 135 WRC+, with a 13.9% walk rate, seven home runs, and 22 extra-base hits—12 of which came in May, when he really broke out.

Then disaster struck, and Ortiz strained his neck. He changed his batting stance to a more open one, trying to relieve the tension in his neck, but lost all power production as a result. He couldn't hit the ball hard, and had to work to stay productive by just putting balls in play, not striking out and managing the injury until his neck felt better. So let's have a look through the stance changes and see where that leaves Ortiz today:

Beginning of 2024:

Here is Ortiz pulling a home run at 107 mph off Luis Gil (who was on fire at this point). Notice Ortiz starts slightly open, but with his torso aligned directly with the pitcher. He's fairly upright, without a lot of knee flexion or hinge at the hips. Overall, he's in a strong position to impact the baseball.

It's a similar story against now-Brewers teammate Quinn Priester, again noting the powerful, but not crouched, knee flex and the upright torso position as he looks to pull the ball with authority from that open stance. He clears his hips brilliantly and uses all that torque to create a ton of power. Leave the ball up on the inner third of the plate at your peril.

The other notable point is the bat being quite flat through the hitting zone. It's not an uppercut by any means, despite the slight upward trajectory. This is a swing geared for line drives. He also had a big leg kick, something he timed up exceptionally well. Ortiz's eye at the plate and his bat speed let him use the bigger leg kick well, and it triggered a strong chain of momentum for him.

Post-Neck Injury 2024:

After his neck injury, Ortiz opened up his stance to avoid straining his neck looking at the pitcher, and it seemed to affect his ability to clear those hips. Dragging the foot back into position for his leg kick, then getting it down left him struggling to find the timing in his swing. That led to a lot of ground balls and weak fly balls. The left foot isn't rotating or rolling open with his hips at impact—a clear sign that he's struggling to generate that turn from his torso and translate that torque into bat speed. Indeed, his swing was much slower for about two months after he returned from the neck issue.

He still has the big leg kick, despite the timing difficulties with his more open stance, but has lost some of the rhythm he had with that pre-pitch movement earlier in the year.

April 2025  Fast forward to this season and Ortiz has completely calmed down his pre-pitch movement. Gone is that big leg kick, with more of a half-hearted planting of the foot, and it seems to have thrown off his entire mechanical signature, as well as his timing. Ortiz is struggling to create the chain of energy through his body into bat speed, and he can't get the barrel to the ball on time as a result. He's swinging slower; struggling to pull the ball with authority and in the air; and seems to have an infield fly ball every other at-bat.

Note this is against Brent Suter. Ortiz isn't having to shorten his leg kick for some flamethrower, Suter's fastball sits at 89-90 mph. The loss of the leg kick (a move that facilitated so much success for a healthy Ortiz last season) is confusing. It may be due to his attempts to manage the neck injury later in 2024, or perhaps to faltering confidence, but Ortiz isn't finding those higher bat speeds as effectively as he did in 2024.

The Brewers, with their current lineup production, can ill afford a black hole at shortstop. Ortiz has shown himself capable of so much more than even average production, and should be able to contribute at a strong level if he can rediscover the rhythm and aggressiveness of his pre-pitch movements. If he can't, you wonder how long the Brewers will be able to continue with Ortiz as their everyday shortstop.