SEATTLE -- When rookie right-hander Luis Ortiz got the call to the Major Leagues, getting his chance in the bigs wasn't something on his mind at the moment.
He was thinking about the end of the season, which was fast approaching, as his season with the Triple-A Norfolk Tides had just ended.
Ortiz had been just traded from the Brewers' organization to the Orioles just before the non-waiver Trade Deadline on July 31, his second trade in the past three seasons.
"I was thinking about going home," said Ortiz, a native of Sanger, Calif. "It's a long season, getting traded again and what I had to do this year. Then this happened, so it's a blessing."
It was a blessing that left him a little lost for words.
When Ortiz was selected from Norfolk, he was was the No. 7 prospect in the Orioles system, according to MLB Pipeline.
His trade to the Orioles in exchange for infielder Jonathan Schoop came with a promotion to Triple-A from the Brewers' Double-A affiliate. But the right-hander didn't miss a beat, going 2-1 with a 3.69 ERA in six starts for the Tides.
Overall this season, Ortiz is 5-5 with a 3.70 ERA over his stops in Double-A and Triple-A.
This second trade definitely served as motivation for the right-hander.
"Getting traded again, I kinda knew what I had to do," he said. "Just one team wanted me more. [So I] went to Triple-A and did what I had to do."
The only question now is how much he might have left. He's already pitched 99 2/3 innings this season.
But the prospect of having his season extended for another month didn't seem to bother Ortiz.
"Oh, yeah, I have plenty of innings left," Ortiz said with a broad grin. "I barely got to my max of 100 innings this year. I feel real good about this year and really healthy."