The later rounds of the MLB Draft often get fun when teams select prospects related to former players and franchise greats. The Boston Red Sox did just that on Tuesday by selecting D’Angelo Ortiz, the son of Hall of Famer David Ortiz, in the 19th round (No. 567 overall).
Ortiz, 20, hit .328 with an .805 OPS, one home run and 38 RBI in 48 games for Miami Dade College this past season. He also played two seasons in the Future Collegiate Baseball League for the Brockton Rox, batting .325 with a .777 OPS.
David Ortiz was one of the Red Sox’s best hitters in recent memory, compiling a .290 average and .956 OPS with 483 home runs, 524 doubles and 1,530 RBI in 14 seasons. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022, the only player voted in that year.
While his father was primarily a designated hitter and first baseman during his career, D’Angelo is a utility infielder, playing mostly at second and third base.
The senior Ortiz wasn’t drafted, but signed as a free agent by the Seattle Mariners out of the Dominican Republic when he was 17 years old. He was traded to the Minnesota Twins as a player to be named later in a deal for Dave Hollins.
Minnesota released Ortiz after six seasons and he signed with the Red Sox, developing into a Hall of Fame slugger, a key part of three World Series champions and enormously popular figure in Boston sports. If his son ends up playing for the Red Sox someday, that would add to an incredible story.
“From the time I was 3 years old, I knew what a big-league clubhouse was supposed to look and feel like. I got to come to Fenway Park every day and hang out with legends like Mookie Betts and Manny Ramirez,” D’Angelo wrote in a letter to his father (through NESN) after his Hall of Fame induction.
“I got to make friends with guys like Bill Hall, Robbie Ross and Wade Miley, and appreciate them on a deeper level than just baseball,” he added. “Dustin Pedroia basically helped raise me. I had the coolest childhood a young baseball fan could ask for, and that doesn’t happen without you being you.”
