Joey Ortiz always hit at New Mexico State, especially when he finished with a .422 average in 2019, his Draft year. But his numbers were taken by the scouting industry with several grains of salt given the hitting-friendly environs of his home park and the relative lack of competition in the Western Athletic Conference.

He also was somewhat overshadowed by sophomore teammate Nick Gonzales, who had an OPS north of 1.300 and would go on to be a Top 10 pick the following year. Sure, Ortiz made contact and got on base, but there was concern then that the lack of impact might keep him from being more than a utility guy.

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It wasn’t his bat that had area scouts interested anyway. While there were questions about Ortiz driving the ball enough to be a regular, no one had any doubts about his ability to play shortstop. He had a 60 (a plus grade) on the 20-to-80 scouting scale for his defense on his 2019 Draft report on MLB Pipeline. Scouts raved about Ortiz's hands, his first-step quickness, his instincts and the leadership skills he showed with the Aggies as the captain of the infield. Then-Orioles area scout John Gillette championed that glove work, while Baltimore’s analytics department did see some offensive potential in his right-handed swing. It was a good scouting-analytics marriage and likely why the O’s took Ortiz in the fourth round.

During his climb up the organizational ladder, Ortiz’s defense has been as good -- if not better than -- as advertised, and his grade has been bumped up to a 65. But when Ortiz entered pro ball, he did so with a below-average 35 for power. He hit one homer in 56 games with Class A Short-Season Aberdeen during his summer debut in 2019, then missed most of the 2021 season with a non-throwing shoulder issue, but maybe that .449 slugging percentage he posted in the 35 games he appeared was a harbinger of things to come.

Because while the Orioles believed Ortiz would likely touch the big leagues by fielding his way there, even the bullish analytics folks could not have predicted how far the infielder’s bat has come. He started slowly in 2022, but came on and finished with 19 homers, raking when he got to Triple-A for the first time. He was off to a .359/.389/.500 start over his first 16 games with Norfolk this season before his first callup to the big leagues.

Ortiz brings what is now considered Major League average pop (a 50 on that scouting scale) to the Orioles' lineup. That can be attributed to a good amount of added strength, using his body more efficiently in the box and employing a more direct bat path consistently.

All of this background is meant to say that the Orioles should expect to see a right-handed hitter who still makes a ton of contact and can get on base, but now lifts the ball in the air more and hits it a lot harder than he used to, erasing questions of his ability to have an impact.

The front office also loves Ortiz's hard-nosed approach; he’s the type evaluators call a "gamer." If the big league team needs him to play shortstop every day, he’ll immediately become one of the better defenders at the position in the American League. Since that’s unlikely to happen, it should also be noted that he’s shown an ability to slide seamlessly over to second base and can even handle the hot corner if needed.

How long Ortiz sticks around remains to be seen. But he’s the type of player who does all the little things, the kind who ends up on winning rosters in some kind of role, with the upside of one day being the everyday shortstop in Baltimore.