Cleveland Indians
Following the 1979 season, Orta signed a five-year deal with the Cleveland Indians. With the Indians, Orta became a full-time right fielder, and soon emerged as one of the better fielding right fielders in the league. He maintained a .987 fielding percentage in his two seasons in Cleveland, and his eleven assists in 1981 tied for second among A.L. outfielders.
On June 15, 1980, he tied an A.L. record for the most hits in one game with six. The feat raised his season average to .339, and likely played a part in his being named Cleveland's sole representative at the 1980 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. He did not, however, appear in the game.
With prospect Von Hayes ready to assume an everyday major league job in right field, Orta became trade-bait at the 1981 Winter meetings. On December 9, he and two minor leaguers (Jack Fimple and Larry White) were sent to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Jack Perconte and former Rookie of the Year winning pitcher Rick Sutcliffe.
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