Joey Ortiz is proving that sometimes a position change is all it takes to unlock a player's potential.
When Cooper Pratt was called up to the big leagues, Ortiz shifted from his natural shortstop position to third base. Rather than letting the move affect him, he embraced it — and the results have followed.
Over the last 20 games, Ortiz is hitting better than .300 with four home runs.
The turnaround may have started with one swing. His two-run home run in the eighth inning against the Reds broke the game open and helped lift the Brewers to a comeback win. As he rounded the bases, the emotion was impossible to miss.
Watch: Joey Ortiz's move to third base sparks one of the hottest bats in the Brewers lineup
"Yeah, it was an exciting thing. A lot of it was you getting a good plan before I was going to hit. I think the coaches Murph did a great job of keeping my plans simple as I was going up and you know luckily I was able to thank God I was able to execute the plan. I gotta get ahead, took a good swing, and yes, I blacked out from there. I don't know, I don't really remember all the emotions and stuff, but it was exciting," Ortiz said.
Ortiz said the position change has never been a distraction.
"Yeah, like I said, it doesn't matter where I'm at; wherever the team needs me is where I'm gonna play, and that's all I really care about, but you know the team wins that night I'm playing third, second, first, wherever they need me like it. I don't really care," Ortiz said.
He credits his improved performance to mental focus and work in the batting cages.
"Think it's mental, and then having confidence really, and then just building a consistent swing. I think a lot of the work that I've done in the cages with the hitting coaches. It has helped out a lot with being consistent with pitches and swings and stuff like that," Ortiz said.
And if baseball hadn't worked out, Ortiz had an entirely different career path in mind.
"I mean, I grew up watching First 48 with my dad, and I've always been interested in that type of stuff, and I actually was going to school to be a homicide detective, so I was it. It's all in the realm of things I like, things I like to do," Ortiz said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
