There’s a player in Major League Baseball who is having one of the best second-half surges in the league, and you probably haven’t been hearing about him. That player is Joey Ortiz of the Milwaukee Brewers.
Ortiz has been one of the most productive players, not just on the Brewers, but in the majors over the past few months. That has not always been the case for the young infielder.
Ortiz, a shortstop by trade, has been in the Brewers system since early 2024, when he was part of the return in the blockbuster Corbin Burnes trade. This trade sent Burnes, a Cy Young favorite, to the Baltimore Orioles, and Ortiz, pitcher DL Hall, and a draft pick to the Brewers.
Since 2024, Ortiz has been a staple in the starting lineup for Milwaukee. He made the Brewers’ opening day roster in 2024 after the trade. He mostly played third base that season, as the Brewers still had star shortstop Willy Adames up the middle. After Adames signed with the Giants prior to the ‘25 season, Ortiz landed more firmly at the shortstop position, while maintaining his infield positional versatility.
Ortiz began the ‘26 season as the Brewers starting shortstop. He did split some time with newcomer David Hamilton, but the spot was mostly his. That changed when the Brewers called up highly-touted prospect Cooper Pratt, who has mostly taken over the starting shortstop duties while he has been available. This left Ortiz in a platoon, mainly at third with Hamilton.
Ortiz hasn’t been anywhere near consistent with the bat in his time as a major-leaguer. He is a career .239/.307/.364 hitter, totaling a career OPS of just .665. His bat, however, has not been the reason he has stayed in the lineup. Ortiz can flash the leather with the best of them, playing gold-glove caliber defense wherever he lines up in the infield. He has compiled 37 outs above average across his four big-league seasons. Many Brewers fans and media have dreamt of how incredible it would be to pair Ortiz’s glove with offensive production above, or even at, league average.
Brewers have kept trying to squeeze some offensive production out of a player who gives them so much in the field. He had a solid start to his career in Milwaukee, hitting .239 with a .726 OPS in 2024. Those offensive stats dipped mightily in 2025 when he had to take over at short. His batting average remained similar, but his OPS cratered to .593.
2026 seemed like it was more of the same for Ortiz, who was abysmal at the plate his first two months, hitting under .200. June was more of an average month for him, but come Independence Day, it all took a huge upswing.
After starting the season incredibly poorly, he has taken off. His numbers are back to a very respectable .255/.318/.387.
July 4th, 2026 was the inflection point for Ortiz. Before that, his batting average hovered around .200, and he represented a black hole at the bottom of the Brewers’ lineup. Since then, his average has skyrocketed to .324, and in the 46 games he has played in that time frame, he has clubbed 45 hits and six of his eight home runs. In the second half, his OPS is .925.
That amount of games is nowhere near a small sample size, as it represents over two months of the season. To compare that to other superstars of the game, there are currently only five players whose OPS is above .900. Those players are: Yordan Alvarez, Pete Crow-Armstrong, James Wood, Shohei Ohtani, and Willson Contreras. These are All-Stars and MVP-contenders, and while that is a full-season stat compared to Ortiz’s second half, it does put into perspective what those numbers can mean if they are maintained for long periods of time.
Throughout his career, Ortiz has been hampered by some upper-body injuries that have forced him to change his approach at the plate for extended periods of time. In 2024, Ortiz had a neck injury that landed him on the injured list. After coming back, he dealt with lingering effects, changing to a wide-open batting stance to reduce the risk of re-injuring his neck. Earlier this season, he dealt with a back/shoulder injury after a game against the Twins. That injury also cost him multiple games, albeit without an IL stint. Perhaps he finally feels comfortable with his batting stance and general plate approach.
The more important part of it for Ortiz comes down to his mindset. Pat Murphy, the Brewers skipper, reportedly sat down with Ortiz before the call-up of Pratt, who would be taking over the starting shortstop duties. Ortiz wanted to do whatever helped the Brewers win, even if it meant giving up the starting role and moving to third. This was mid-June, less than a month before he broke out.
Many have pointed out how Ortiz seems to be more confident at the plate when he is playing third base compared to shortstop. The numbers do back that up, as in 2026 he is hitting .306/.342/.550 while at third, versus .233/.313/.307 while at short.
The only remaining issue for Ortiz is that he hasn’t been starting. Even with those eye-popping stats, he remains in a platoon with Hamilton, mostly at third base. Ortiz hits righty and Hamilton lefty, and they each get the start against opposite-handed pitchers. This has led to Hamilton getting more playing time, as the team has faced more right-handed starters than left-handed.
What is curious about this managerial decision by Murphy is that Ortiz has reverse splits this season. He is hitting better against righties than against lefties. I have never been a person to really criticize managerial decisions, especially not those of a back-to-back Manager of the Year, but I am a little stumped by this one. Especially given Ortiz’s monster run recently and some of Hamilton’s defensive struggles, it seems like Ortiz should be getting the benefit of the doubt most days.
Regardless of decisions by Murphy, it is clear that what Ortiz has been doing, both at the plate and in the field, should not be ignored. We’re getting to the point where this may be more than a fluke or a hot streak; we could be witnessing a breakout.
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