Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Hot Corner Prodigy
Episode Date: September 11, 2025Rising Cardinals prospect stuns with journey from Puerto Rico to pro ball. Is Deniel Ortiz the next big thing in St. Louis?JD breaks down Ortiz's impressive path, highlighting his early start in Puert...o Rico, college ball success, and rapid rise through the Cardinals' farm system. The discussion covers Ortiz's draft day experience, adjustments to minor league pitching, and how the Cardinals' development approach is reshaping his game. Key topics include Ortiz's defensive versatility, hitting approach against breaking balls, and potential impact on the Cardinals' future infield.Don't miss this insider look at a potential future St. Louis Cardinals star. Will Ortiz's aggressive style and work ethic propel him to Busch Stadium sooner than expected?Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-st-louis-cardinals/Locked On MLB League-Wide: Every Team, Prospects & More🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/leagues/mlb/Follow on Twitter/X: @JDSPORTSRADIOFollow the show on Twitter/X: @LO_CardinalsSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!5-Hour ENERGYTee up that trip! Enter for a chance to win a dream golf trip for two to any golf tournament* in the USA. Visit https://5HEWIN.com for full rules and entry. No purchase necessary. Excludes the Master’s tournament. Ends October 31, 2025.NutrafolSee thicker, stronger hair with less shedding in just 3–6 months with Nutrafol. For a limited time, get $10 off your first month’s subscription and free shipping when you go to https://Nutrafol.com and enter the promo code LOCKEDONMLB.ZippixGo to https://ZippixToothpicks.com and use promo code LOCKEDON for 10% off your first order. Zippix Toothpicks—energy and focus, anytime you need it.PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONMLB to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.PrizePicks — Run Your Game.Click Link Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONMLBMonarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONMLB at https://monarchmoney.com/lockedonmlb for 50% off your first year.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONMLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Football season is around the corner, visit the FanDuel App today and start planning your futures bets now.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)#ForTheLou #stlcards #mlb #lockedoncardinals #stlouiscardinals Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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The future is now for the St. Louis Cardinals.
And today we are joined by one of their up and coming infield prospects,
Daniel Ortiz here on the show today.
This is Locked on Cardinals.
You are Locked on Cardinals.
Your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked on podcast network,
your team every day.
Hey, they're Cardals fans.
I'm Jady Haffertan and I'm your host for Locked on Cardinals.
Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network coming your team every day.
This is a show that serves Cardinal Nation and gives you all the input.
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All right, we've got a special guest here with us today.
Cardinals infielder, the Neil Ortiz,
joining us coming from his family's home in Florida.
I know last night we had a marathon game
for the St. Louis Cardinals out.
in Seattle, 13 innings.
Do you remember what the longest game you've ever been a part of is?
I know we play some long ones in Peoria.
I think against Daytona, I think we played one.
I think it was like 11 innings, 10, 11 innings.
That's a long day at the ballpark.
You're like just completely wiped out after that?
Yes.
Long day.
That's a long day in the field.
Yeah, 13 years last six of Cardinals.
Sadly, they end up losing that one by a score of four to two.
But moving on, I got the day off today.
They'll be in Milwaukee this weekend.
We want to learn about you, though.
We want to get the info about your background where you come from
and how you became, you know, part of this Cardinals organization.
So born in Puerto Rico, what was the childhood like growing up for you?
Because I'm always fascinated about, you know, what life is like in different countries.
and obviously Puerto Rico a part of the U.S. in a way, but at the same time, you know, a different
country. So tell us about what it was like for you growing up. Well, I started playing when I
was three over there. We started over there. We started very young at a young age. So I started
when I was three. And I play there until I moved all the way to Boston. And like, it's a different
game over there than like how we play in the united stay it's like over there you like your training
like right after school like oh and in the u.s you take like you practice like certain days over there
like you're practicing every single day it don't matter all right now was was baseball just
was that the game that you were always drawn to or did you dabble in other sports when you were young
yeah i only played baseball when i was young i always wanted to play baseball when i always wanted to play
other sports, but at the same time, I didn't because I didn't want to get hurt because I wanted to
play baseball.
Was that something that maybe the parents were also about?
Because that was something my parents did to me.
Yeah.
They're like, it's great you want to play football.
Look, you know you're going to get hurt, right?
It's going to ruin your whole baseball side of things.
So that's probably not a great idea.
My mom, that's what my mom used to tell me, because when I got to Boston, they used to ask.
me, oh, you want to play football?
And I used to be like, Mom, can I play football?
And they wouldn't let me.
She wouldn't let me.
All right.
What were some of the, like, favorite players in idols growing up in baseball when you were coming up as a child?
Who did you look up to?
I like Derek Jeter a lot because my family was like, they used to like the Yankees.
So we used to watch the Yankees when I was younger.
So it was just Derek Geter, Alex Rodriguez, then players.
So that's who I used to watch the most because we didn't have phones.
I was young.
So that's who we used to watch.
So that's who I used to like when I was younger.
Some pretty good ones to keep an eye on.
Have you mastered the Derek Jeter jump throw yet?
You got that in your bag?
I could do it.
If I do it, I think I can do it.
I don't practice that one, but I think I can do it.
I believe you could too. Now, at what point in your youth, did you start to, let's say, separate yourself from the other players and the other kids and stuff like that and thought, you know, hey, actually, I might be pretty darn good at this baseball thing. When did you start to realize that maybe you were a step above everybody else?
I want to say, like, when I came to the U.S., when I was like 13, 14, and I started.
started playing like the older people and I was like, okay, I think I'm pretty good.
I think I can handle this.
So like a 14 that age.
And you were playing against much older kids, like 16, 17 year old, stuff like that?
Yeah.
Gotcha.
Yes, sir.
All right.
Now, were you always, you know, obviously being a fan of Arod and Jeter, Infield was
something you were drawn to?
Was that where you play?
or did you know pitch it all when you were coming up or there was an outfield anything else
other than just infield no i i i always played infill my my dad didn't let me pitch like i will
like i would like i would have liked to pitch but my dad didn't let me pitch he liked like he
because of my arm he didn't want me to get hurt either so that makes a lot of sense you got
you got to take care you kid i understand yeah um so you came to the u.s uh you ended up moving up
to the northeast you said in the Boston area.
That's something that I think people are going to be interested in.
It's like, what was your school situation?
You come to a new country.
How does that all work?
Because it ends up, you're at Walter State Community College, but, you know,
there's not a lot of, you know, people who know about Walter State Community College.
Explain how you ended up getting there and how you ended up, you know, getting into the,
to professional baseball.
Well, how I got to Walter State.
like I started playing in Boston when I got to Boston.
I started playing in this tribal ball team.
It was called the dugout.
And they knew like people in Florida.
So like when when they didn't have like a tournament,
they will send me to come play with this team.
And he knew about like a bunch of schools.
So I didn't like I didn't end up having the grades to go to a division one level.
So we went to the juke.
go route and that's where I decided to go.
And that's where I think where I took like the next step to be like a professional
player.
Like I think going to that to that Jukal helped me a lot.
Yeah, yeah.
You know, everybody's got different routes.
You know, people feel like, oh, he's not at an SEC or Division I school.
Like, no, it's not true.
It's just there's certain, there's different paths for everybody to get where they need to be.
and, you know, Albert Poole, one of those guys that was a community college guy.
So that's great.
You know, I did some, uh, Dukeo before I went D1 as well.
So, uh, totally understand that situation.
Um, then after you got your, you're at school and 20, 24 rolls around and you get taken in
the 16th round by the St. Louis Cardinals.
And I always love hearing these stories about what draft day was like for you because, uh, you know,
everybody's doing something different.
It seems some people are with family.
Some people are trying to ignore the whole.
thing and just kind of keep it out of their mind.
What were you doing on the day that the Cardinals selected you in the 16th round?
I was watching it with my family.
I wanted to see if like my friends also, I wanted to see my friends getting picked up.
So I was watching it.
And when I got my name called, I mean, it was amazing.
Always wanted to be in that position.
And I got to be in that position.
And I was very happy.
my home family was very happy.
How did you celebrate that night?
You go out for a big meal or something?
What did you guys do?
No, we'd just stay home.
We just, it was like the whole family.
We was just home.
We would just have music.
We were just in the backyard,
my friends and everybody.
No, that's awesome.
Was it a surprise that it was the St. Louis Cardinals
that ended up selecting you?
Did you have any idea that they were one of the
teams interested in you?
I, like, me personally, like, I never talk with the Cardinals.
So I never, like, told, like, the day before the draft.
So I didn't think that was the team that was going to pick me.
But when they called, I was happy.
I was very happy.
Right.
You're like, whoever wants me, I'll come play.
Yeah.
I'm sure there was part of you that was like, Yankees, what's up?
You're going to call me?
What's going on?
I don't, I don't care.
I don't, it's not like I wanted to go to the Yankees or no.
Like, that was just my team because that's who my family liked.
But I don't got a favorite team.
Yeah, if you got, if you were going to get selected, though, at least it's one of the, you know, the major old school teams.
If it's not New York, then you got the Cardinals who have the next amount of World Series championships.
So not too far of a drop off there.
All right, we're going to have more with you here in just a moment
because I want to talk to you about your time in the minor leagues this year.
You know, now that you've been to not one but two levels in the minor league.
So we'll have more with Neil Ortiz prospect of the St. Louis Cardinals coming up next year on Locked on Cardinals.
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We are joined by Cardinals prospect,
Daniel Ortiz, who was joining us from Florida right now.
Do you have any Instagram or anything like that
that you want people to come follow to get
any content from you or you just kind of like browsing?
It's my name is Daniel Ortiz underscore 27.
All right, all right.
Go check him out.
Give him a follow.
Because this year was a very exciting year for you, Daniel.
It was your first official year in pro ball.
What was the biggest adjustment for you going from playing in junior college and then
coming into professional baseball?
What was the biggest difference?
I mean, I want to.
I'm going to say like the pitching every single day because in the junior college level, you don't get the same pitch in every single day.
You'll obviously have one guy that is really good that can go to the SEC, but you also have guys that cannot play in that level.
So I will say like the pitching is the like the hardest thing to like to develop in the next level.
from like the Jucco side.
Now you started this year at Palm Beach,
so obviously you're familiar with Florida,
beautiful place to play some ball to be in Palm Beach
to start things off,
where you light it up, bro.
77 games, you go off.
What are some of the things that you picked up at Palm Beach
that allowed you to excel and succeed
as quickly as you did at that level?
Because it was really impressive.
It's just learning how to be in a route.
team learning how to be a professional baseball player.
I feel like that league taught me how to play the game and how to be a professional
player and how to move on, like, and how to play in the next levels moving forward.
Yeah, some of the stats, 10 home runs, 31 stolen bases as well.
If you had a choice, I know this is because you want to do everything.
everybody always does. But if you had a choice, you can hit 40 home runs in a season or you can
steal 100 bases. Which one do you think you would want to do more?
40, 40 home runs, 40 home runs. 40 dingers. All right, 40 dingers. It is nice having that
that combination that you possess. You got power, you got speed. It's something that fans obviously
are going to be very attracted to a player that you're going to want to watch. Somebody who can do
a little bit of everything.
In your eyes, though, because people are going to look at stats and say,
all right, this is what he can do?
But in your eyes, what's another one of your best attributes as a baseball player
outside of home runs and stolen bases?
What's something else that you want people to know?
Like, I'm pretty good at this part in the game, too.
My defense and third base, like, it'll, during this offseason,
it will improve also.
The numbers don't show it.
that is that,
it's that good or that bad.
I mean, it's decent.
But during this offseason,
I will work on that.
And it'll show during the next season.
As I would say that was the thing.
I've also played there over at the hot corner before.
What,
what's the scariest thing?
Is it having to cheat in so much,
like with the speed that some of these guys have these days
and just dealing with those.
missiles down there. What's like the scariest part about playing third base?
I don't just, I would just want to say like speed of the runners because we got players
now that can hit the ball like 115 and they're like. Yeah. They can fly. Like so you got to
play in and then like it's hard playing third base with some some of the players like that.
Yeah. The Cardinals have been very spoiled.
over the years to have guys like Scott Rowland and Nolan Arnado, obviously, two of the best ever do it over at third base.
So big expectations.
Anytime somebody else comes up, you know, like Nolan Gorman's playing there now for the Cardinals.
And, you know, he makes an air and everybody's like, what's he doing?
And you're like, it's not easy.
You guys.
Nolan Arnato makes things look so easy compared to what they really are over there.
Yes, sir.
So here's a weird question for you because, like,
Guys take care of their equipment in different ways.
How many baseball gloves do you currently own?
Like, you know, breaking one in and stuff.
How many you got over there?
I got, this year I had two.
Okay.
Three, three, because I have one first base.
So I had two for third base.
And I use like one half of the season.
Or like one day I will use one jersey.
And then I'll use the other one with the,
what another jersey like that.
Or like a day, like that.
Where I feel comfortable that day?
Yeah, a little style involved.
Make sure everything's mentioned.
Yeah, yeah, you got to look good too.
When you look good, you play good.
That's why I've always lived there.
You get the promotion from Palm Beach to Peoria.
You know, we see these promotion videos online when people are, you know,
getting the call to go up to the major leagues.
But what was your experience like when you found out that you were getting promoted
from one level?
You were going to go from Palm Beach to Pior.
How did they inform you that?
Did you just get called to the office, or how did that work?
I was playing away, and we were on the road, so I had to, like, we were going to be on the
road for two weeks, so I got called up on a Sunday, so I had to leave from, like, from Daytona
from up there, so they called me to the office, and they told me that I was, that there.
happy that I did everything good this year that I learned that I got better over the year
and that I was going to get out of Florida that I was going to Peoria.
So it was amazing.
That's a cool experience.
And, you know, it's kind of weird having to go from Florida to Illinois.
Dramatic difference in the, you know, the type of where you're playing and the climates
and everything like that.
But moving on up, that's the goal of each player.
So that's awesome.
And didn't have a lot of issues when you got to Peoria.
You hit 336 in 30 games.
Did you notice anything different in the style of play from going from one A ball level
to the next one?
Because you clearly adapted to how the pitchers were throwing to you pretty easily
by putting up those numbers right away.
I feel like in high A, they didn't scare to throw the break.
ball, like, more consistently, like, it don't matter.
Two-oh, three-oh, they'll throw that breaking ball.
So they're not afraid to throw, like, the auspute pitches.
So I feel like they throw more, like, consistent in the zone also.
So that helps me, but that helps them also.
So I feel like-
Yeah, it's certainly a learning process because, you know,
That's one thing that we hear about the minor leagues is that, you know, the pitchers aren't normally as good.
So they try to get you to chase more.
They're not around in the zone.
But as you keep going up, you find that they're much better at, you know, being accurate.
There's going to be more movement.
Like you said, they're not afraid to throw breaking balls more at that level.
Yeah.
The Cardals have been putting more time and resources into developing more homegrown talent like yourself.
Is there anything that you notice that stands out about you to the way that they're teaching and developing the young players that has made a difference in your game because we know they hired more coaches and they give more attention to everybody?
Are you noticing that when you're out there?
Yes, sir.
And all the coaches are like they, it's like they work for us and they want us to be the best version of ourselves.
So it's been great this year, like the people that we brought in.
and they want us to be ourselves,
they want us to play the game hard,
they want us to be aggressive.
So I like what we're doing this year.
And it was a great year overall.
Clearly you responded quite well.
Because you had outstanding numbers this year,
which has got a lot of us really excited about the future
in this organization with you in it
and being a part of it moving forward.
All right, we're going to take one more break.
and then we're going to do the nine innings, fun questions, speed round with Daniel Ortiz,
infield prospects for the St. Louis Cardinals. We'll talk more with him next on Lockdown Cardinals.
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We are still joined by Cardinals prospect,
Daniel Ortiz, who was joining us from his home in Florida,
spent some time with the family,
enjoying the off season, but it was kind of.
enough to join us here today. So I appreciate you once again. Let's talk about some fun stuff,
shall we? We've gotten all the technical things out of there. Let's talk about food.
What is your favorite pre or post game meal?
My favorite pre game meal is I like to eat like a chicken cassidia. I like to be like during the game.
I like to be light during the game. So I just, I like a chicken cassidia. Or,
And a smoothie, something like.
Now, do you do any cooking yourself?
Did mom teach you any?
Hey, I don't.
I don't.
I don't.
I don't.
All right.
So chicken cassidia.
Got it.
What is one thing that you have to do to prepare your specific baseball bats for a game?
You get a bundle, you get a box of them.
What's the first thing you're doing with them to get them ready for game time?
I just go heading the cages and just hitting the tea and just, I just like them new.
I like, I like to see them new because I just like, I got new bad, so I'm, they're ready for a game.
All right.
Do you prefer your uniform people who haven't seen any highlights or anything?
I've already seen these, but do you prefer your uniform pants to be knee high, middle,
shin or do you like to keep them long down to your top of your spikes?
I will say like middle shin.
Is there a particular reason why just comfort wise or do you think it looks cool?
I think it looks cool.
I think it looks cool.
Yeah.
And I like all three of them.
I like all three of them.
I use all three of them during the season.
You just kind of switch around depending on how things are feeling?
Yeah, I use all three during the season.
So, but I like, I like this like the half.
any one. All right.
Yeah. Favorite activity
or hobby to
get your mind off of baseball,
which I know is difficult. That's your job.
But when you're trying to get away from things,
what's something you like to do?
When I was in Palm Beach,
I used to love going to the beach
on Mondays. That was my favorite thing
to do. I would just go to the beach on
Mondays and just go on my scooter
and just go up and down
and just do that
for like 30 minutes.
and then I'll go home.
That was my thing.
Well, now you got, because in Peoria,
all you got is a river.
So that's not quite the same as the people.
No, it's not the same.
I got to find something to do in Peoria now.
Yeah.
Or maybe you don't go back and maybe you just go to Springfield next year.
You got to learn a whole new thing.
We never know.
We never know.
Future could take you anywhere when the next season begins.
You get a chance, and this is like fantasy right here,
you get a chance to take one at bat against any,
current major league pitcher. Who would you like to face? Paul Skeens. Paul Skees. You go for the top.
Yeah, you won it hard. You don't want it easy. Yeah, Skeen's definitely a tough one. He,
another five shutout innings last night for Pittsburgh. Dude, dude is something else to tell you that.
We got Halloween coming up next month, guy. Do you plan on dressing up for Halloween? And if so,
what costume are you going to wear?
I don't think I don't, I don't think I'll dress up for Halloween.
I don't think I'll dress up for Halloween.
All right.
Now, I know you stay in great shape.
You're obviously working out.
If you go look at his videos, you know, this guy takes care of himself in the gym.
But if you were to cheat, would you, is there a Halloween candy that you like?
Do you like, like peanut butter cups, something like that?
I do.
You do?
The Reese's Cup.
Those are my favorites.
That's not my favorites.
That's my favorite Halloween candies.
That's the hardest part, too, because as soon as you buy a bag, like, it's hard not
to just house.
I know, right?
Dangerous.
Very dangerous.
Yeah.
All right.
If there was one player that, you know, and people hate doing this because it makes
you think they're like, oh, my gosh, he's got to end up like that player one day.
but if there's one player in the major leagues that you're like, you know, I got a similar
skill set to this particular guy. Is there a certain major league player that you think you kind of
match up with? I would say like, I will say like Migo Cabrera, but he's, he's not, he, he, he don't
steal, he, I don't think he used to steal bases. But I think hitting wise, like Miguel Cabrera.
Okay. It's a pretty good one. I mean, I don't, it's a lot.
dude, triple crown winner. He's pretty awesome. Yeah, Nazi Shabia. He also did the third base to first base thing.
So that's something that you've been working on as well. So that's very interesting.
All right, walk-up songs, walk-up songs. Obviously, it's always a big deal to get your mind, get you mentally ready to go for the event.
What did you roll with this year as your walk-up songs?
I did. Like, he was a Puerto Rican rapper, Omar courts. I just did one of his songs.
And did you do at both levels, same song at both places?
Yeah, I did the same song in both levels.
I didn't want to change it, and everybody told me to not change it.
So I was like, I'm going to just keep it.
When you're getting the results that you were getting, yeah, it's one of those routine
that you were like, I'm not messing with nothing.
Everything's working just fine.
Let's just keep it going.
So I understood.
And the last question for you, our ninth inning, you wore number 37 when you were with the chiefs.
any significance behind the number choice,
or was that just something that was available,
so you took it?
No, yeah, that was the only number available when I got there.
So they told me this, I'm sorry,
but this is the only number we got right now.
So I was, I was fine.
I just wanted to play.
I don't care about the numbers right now.
I just want to play baseball.
All right.
Well, don't worry about the number on the back.
The numbers on the baseball card, though,
very important.
and that has been a really good start to your career.
So we're excited to see you blossom within the organization and continue to make your way up.
And hopefully we get to see you in St. Louis here at some point in the very near future, 21 years old.
So there's plenty of time to get you there.
And we're excited about everything that's going on with you, Danielle.
So I appreciate your time here today, bro.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
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