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Rafael Ortega takes route 66 to center field

Rafael Ángel Ortega García was born May 15, 1991, in El Tigre, Venezuela. He plays all outfield positions but has mostly appeared in center field as a Chicago Cub, where he has done well enough that he is probably penciled for a role on the 2022 team, though his production has fallen off some recently.

He’s the third of the elder ‘rookies’ (he isn’t a rookie technically but Frank Schwindel and Patrick Wisdom are) to make his mark on the team. On January 30, 2008, Ortega was signed as an amateur free agent by the Colorado Rockies, and played in their minor-league system with some success, until he made his major league debut with the Rockies on September 30, 2012.