Roberto Ortiz Hired to Full-Time MLB Umpire Staff

Major League Baseball hired Roberto Ortiz to its full-time umpire staff. This makes three hires (Ryan Additon, John Libka) and three retirements (Gerry Davis, Brian Gorman, Joe West), with a couple of more announcements to come in the next few weeks.

Ortiz's promotion, reported by The Gondol, is the first full-time appointment of an umpire born in Puerto Rico. Delfin Colon was MLB's first Puerto Rican umpire, but solely served in a fill-in capacity. Ortiz hails from Caguas, PR, and was a teacher in Puerto Rico before graduating from MiLB's Umpire Academy in 2009.

His minor league experience includes stops at the Gulf Coast, New York-Penn, South Atlantic, Florida State, Eastern, Arizona Instructional, Arizona Fall, Pacific Coast, and International Leagues.

Ortiz's first MLB game was May 14, 2016 in Washington DC, and his 2022 hiring to the full-time staff follows 412 total regular season games of major league experience.