Brianna Wakefield Writes Heartfelt Message to D'Angelo Ortiz

Brianna Wakefield, daughter of the late Tim and Stacy Wakefield, sent Red Sox draft pick D’Angelo Ortiz a heartfelt message of congratulations via Instagram on Tuesday.

The Red Sox selected D’Angelo, the son of legendary Sox slugger David Ortiz, in the 19th round of this year’s MLB draft.

“@dangeloortiz34 all I can say is congratulations! I am so proud of you and so lucky to have grown up with you all in the family room ❤️ what a heartwarming moment of coming full circle #goredsox.”

Tim Wakefield and David Ortiz were teammates on the Red Sox from Ortiz’s arrival in 2003 until Wakefield’s retirement in 2011. Wakefield still holds the team records for games started and innings pitched. Ortiz was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022.

D’Angelo Ortiz is a 6-foot-1, 195-pound third baseman. He is a sophomore at Miami Dade Community College, where he hit .377 and had 35 RBIs last season. Red Sox scouting director Devin Pearson described Ortiz as an athletic, powerful third baseman in an interview with MLB.com.

“It means a lot to the organization,” Pearson said. “But I just want to make it clear that D’Angelo is a prospect and the reason we selected him is because of the relationship that our local scout has had with the player for a long time. And we had him in practice recently and were able to interact with him, we just thought he was a good addition to the organization. And it’s a plus that his father is David Ortiz, but we drafted him as a prospect.”

D’Angelo Ortiz isn’t the only son of a former Red Sox legend to be selected in this year’s draft. Lucas Ramirez, son of Manny Ramirez, was selected by the Angels in the 17th round.

You can contact Khari Thompson at [email protected].