The sunny, 75 degree Sunday afternoon game against Harwich quickly became much brighter for Y-D infielder Avery Ortiz. In the second inning, he received a call from his agent. By the fifth inning, he was selected by the Washington Nationals as the No. 526 pick in the 18th round of the 2026 MLB Draft.
The second-inning call with his agent was short and sweet.
“[My agent] was just saying congrats, the Nationals are picking you up,” said Ortiz.
Ortiz wasn’t officially drafted until the 18th round, which coincided with the fifth inning of Sunday’s game. When he got the call from his agent in the second inning, Ortiz was projected to be drafted in the 16th round. Instead, the Nationals picked high school outfielder Anthony Murphy from California and bypassed Ortiz, leaving his draft fate unknown.
“I’d got called earlier in the day, kind of turned down some offers. Throughout the day, I didn’t think I’d get picked up, and then I got the call,” said Ortiz.
Once he was officially drafted, Ortiz was floored.
“[I] just felt all the joy. Yeah, it was kind of surreal,” he said.
Ortiz, who is playing for Y-D for his second consecutive summer, is a rising senior at Oklahoma State University. His collegiate career has given him a reputation of both an on-base magnet and a power hitter, as he’s recorded a .366 on-base percentage and a .454 slugging percentage.
This summer, he has not shown up as the high-caliber player he was in his college seasons (.186 batting average) but still gets on base somewhat frequently (.314 on-base percentage). In 2025 with Y-D, he hit more frequently than he has this summer (.250 batting average), but got on base less often (.300 on-base percentage).
One of the most attractive parts of Ortiz’s game, though, is his ability to play most positions. At Oklahoma State, he played games as a second baseman, third baseman, shortstop and outfielder, making him a chameleon on the diamond.
Apart from Ortiz, other drafted members of the 2026 Y-D Red Sox include right-handed pitchers Nate Isler and Ethan Sutton.
While the draft represents another chapter in these players’ baseball careers, Ortiz will never forget his time with Y-D.
“This team means everything to me,” Ortiz told sideline reporter Olivia Lambert. “For the short period that I was here, they felt like family. For them to come in, welcome me, and kind of congratulate me, [it] felt great.”
