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Scouting grades: Hit: 45 | Power: 55 | Run: 30 | Arm: 45 | Field: 45 | Overall: 45Ortiz attended high school and trained at the Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy in his native Puerto Rico before following the program's pipeline to Florida Southwestern State JC. Signed for $20,000 as a nondrafted free agent in 2021, he didn't do much in his first full pro season but has taken off since shortening his left-handed swing and beginning to wear contact lenses during games. He led the Minors in slugging (.619) and ranked fourth in homers (33) and OPS (.990) in 2023, then shook off a rough first half in Double-A last season to slash .309/.412/.636 with 15 homers in his final 43 games.Ortiz's strength and bat speed create well-above-average raw power. He began to tap into it more in games by toning down his approach, which allowed him to hit the ball in the air and with premium exit velocities on a more regular basis. Strikeouts always will be part of his package but he's showing more discipline than he had in the past and will draw his share of walks.Because Ortiz is a well-below-average runner with fringy arm strength, there's a lot of pressure on his bat. He's an adequate defender at first base who needs to cut down on his errors. He looked better than expected in right field during the Arizona Fall League and in Double-A, but the outfield corners are still a stretch.
Ortiz has plenty of power from the left side of the plate and produced a strong enough season in 2025 to earn a spot on Texas’ 40-man roster. He’s a bigger-bodied player and will likely fit as a first base-only defender whose value comes from his bat. There are still holes in his game, and he’s probably more of a second-division player, but lefthanded power is in short supply, making a flier worth the risk at the back of a deal.
Abi Ortiz is a thick-bodied first baseman with big power, cut from similar cloth as Jesús Aguilar, but much shorter at 5 feet 10. Ortiz doesn’t strike out excessively at all, even with a power-over-hit approach, and despite his size, he’s played some right field, just not all that well. Aguilar played parts of 10 MLB seasons and hit over 100 homers in the big leagues, with one 3.3 WAR season accounting for all of his career total, and I could see Ortiz having a similar career in which he bounces around a bit, has some 20-homer seasons and maybe draws enough walks to be a starter on a second-division team. He finished the year in Triple A and then led the Puerto Rican Winter League in walks. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him make the Nats’ roster out of spring training.
Nestico thinks he gets to the majors in 2026. Maybe they will consider him for 1B in ST? He put up a .943 OPS in 43 games in AAA last year with 9HR in 138ABs.
