Ladies and gentlemen, Orelvis Martinez is here.
On Tuesday, the Blue Jays called up the 22-year-old infielder to replace Bo Bichette, who was placed on the 10-day Injured List. That begs the question, who is Orelvis Martinez?
Martinez signed as an international free agent during the 2018 period for a signing bonus of $3.5 million, the fourth-largest bonus they’ve handed out behind Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s $3.9 million bonus, Adeiny HechavarrÃa’s $4 million bonus, and Enmanuel Bonilla’s $4.1 million bonus.
The infielder made his professional debut in 2019 in the Gulf Coast League (now Florida Complex League) as a 17-year-old, slashing .275/.352/.549 with seven homers in 163 plate appearances for a 150 wRC+.
Martinez became a prospect worth monitoring in 2021, slashing .279/.369/.572 with 19 homers in 326 plate appearances with the Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays. He had a brief stint in High-A Vancouver that season, adding nine more homers in 125 plate appearances, but slashed just .214/.282/.491. Interestingly, he has yet to play in Canada.
Toronto saw it fit to challenge the then 20-year-old in Double-A. On a surface level, his .203/.286/.446 slash line in 492 plate appearances, along with an 8.1 BB% and a 28.5 K% for a 96 wRC+ wasn’t great. However, he hit 30 home runs, tied for the second most in Double-A, only behind 27-year-old Quincy Nieporte and tied with 23-year-old Lenadro Cedeño.
After a rough first month to start the 2023 season with New Hampshire, Martinez ended up slashing .226/.339/.485 with 17 homers in 292 plate appearances for a 122 wRC+, earning a promotion to Triple-A. More impressively, his BB% increased from 8.1% to 14%, while his K% dropped from 28.5% to 20.5%. He became a top 100 prospect once again.
The second half of Martinez’s season was spent in Buffalo, where he slashed .263/.340/.507 with 11 homers in 246 plate appearances, along with a 10.6 BB% and a 26.8 K% for a 105 wRC+.
Once again, Martinez repeated the level to begin the season. In 269 plate appearances in Triple-A, Martinez slashed .260/.343/.523 with 16 homers in 269 plate appearances, along with an 8.9 BB% and a 24.2 K% for a 119 wRC+. After a terrific start to his year, he cooled off in May before once again picking it this month.
The question is, where will Martinez play? The 22-year-old has played 298 innings (or 36 games) at second base, committing 12 errors as one of the easier positions on the dirt. He’s naturally a shortstop, but his third base numbers are better, playing 128 innings at the hot corner and making just two errors.
Moreover, Spencer Horwitz has been playing second base since his call-up, and with Bichette’s injury, Isiah Kiner-Falefa is likely to get the majority of the playing time at shortstop. Meaning that Martinez will likely play third base for the time being.
As always, you can follow me on Twitter @Ryley_L_D.
