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Righthanded pitcher Luis Ortiz, the Rangers' first round draft choice in 2014, was just promoted to AA Frisco over the weekend. He made his Texas League debut in an early game this afternoon against the San Antonio Missions, and it would be hard for it to have gone much better.
Ortiz went 6 IP, needing just 80 pitches (60 strikes) to work that deep, striking out six batters and walking one. Ortiz allowed just one run, in his final inning of work, when he allowed a two out double to Yeison Asencio, which brought home Jose Rondon. Ortiz was apparently throwing in the mid-90s, with at least one radar gun getting him as high as 98 mph, and his slider was reportedly generating a lot of swings-and-misses.
Ortiz was promoted along with 21 year old lefthanded Yohander Mendez, who also had a nice debut this past Friday, striking out 6 in 5 IP with 3 runs allowed. Ortiz and Mendez are two of the three youngest pitchers in the Texas League, and have two of the highest ceilings of any of the Rangers minor league pitchers.