Quick Facts
Biography
Héctor Ortiz Montañez (born October 14, 1969) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball catcher and current coach for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB).
Playing career
Ortiz was born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico and attended Luis Hernaiz Verone High School in Canovanas, Puerto Rico. Ortiz attended Paris Junior College in Paris, Texas, and Ranger College in Ranger, Texas. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 35th round of the 1988 MLB Draft.
Ortiz's career spanned from 1988 through 2005. He spent eight seasons in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization, five in the Kansas City Royals, two in the Chicago Cubs, and one each in the Colorado Rockies, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, and Washington Nationals organizations.
Major leagues
Ortiz appeared in 86 Major League games in 1998, 2000, and 2001 for the Kansas City Royals. He played in 7 games with the Texas Rangers in 2002.
Coaching career
Minor Leagues
Retiring after the 2005 season, Ortiz rejoined the Texas Rangers as a minor league coach. In 2006, 2007, and 2008 he was the hitting coach for the Spokane Indians of the Class A Short Season Northwest League. He was the manager of the Hickory Crawdads of the Class A South Atlantic League in 2009 and their hitting coach in 2010. In 2011, he was the manager for the Arizona Rangers of the Rookie-level Arizona League. From 2011 through 2014, Ortiz served as the Rangers Minor League catching coordinator.
Texas Rangers
Ortiz served as the Texas Rangers first base coach in 2015, 2016, and 2017. In 2018, he served as the major league bullpen coach. Ortiz returned to the role of first base coach of the Texas Rangers for the 2019 season.