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WATCH: Orelvis Martinez singles for his first big league hit
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Photo credit: © David Richard - USA Today
Ryley Delaney
Jun 21, 2024, 21:00 EDTUpdated: Jun 21, 2024, 21:19 EDT
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Ladies and gentlemen, Orelvis Martinez is here.
On Tuesday, the Toronto Blue Jays placed Bo Bichette on the 10-day Injured List. In his place, the team called up the best power-hitting prospect in the organization, Orelvis Martinez.
After being left out of the lineup on Tuesday and Wednesday, Martinez made his big league debut on Friday against the Cleveland Guardians.
His first professional at-bat went as expected, striking out on four pitches, whiffing on the off-speed stuff to go down swinging. Well, his second plate appearance went significantly better, as he lined a 1-2 pitch into centre field for his first big league hit, a single.
If you’ve watched Orelvis Martinez throughout the years, you’ll know he’s not much of a singles hitter, opting instead for the long-ball.
In 2021, his 28 home runs between Single-A and High-A led the organization. As a 20-year-old in Double-A, his 30 home runs were second at the Double-A level, and of course led the organization. However, his .203/.286/.446 slash line had some worried about his profile, considering he also struck out often (28.5 K%) and seldom walked (8.1 BB%).
It was heading into the next season where the organization and Martinez changed his approach, opting to be patient and try to shoot the ball the other way when he didn’t chase power. Of course, Martinez led the organization in home runs with 28 between Double-A and Triple-A , but also increased his slash line to .243/.340/.496 while walking 12.5% of the time and striking out 23.4% of the time.
Prior to the call up to the Toronto Blue Jays, Martinez slashed .260/.343/.523 with 16 homers in 246 plate appearances, along with an 8.9 BB% and a 24.2 K% for a 119 wRC+. Martinez’s 102 home runs since the start of the 2021 season doesn’t just lead the organization, but all of minor league baseball, surpassing St. Louis’ Luken Baker’s 96 home runs. For context, Martinez is 22 while Baker is 27. 
Don’t get me wrong, there’s still work to be done to improve. The hit tool is still lacking behind both the raw power and game power, even if it has improved the past two. Not just that, but Martinez commits a ton of errors at second base as he’s still getting familiar with the position.
However, that power is special, hopefully, he can keep being a well-rounded hitter in the big leagues.
As always, you can follow me on Twitter @Ryley_L_D.

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