With the Toronto Blue Jays no longer sporting a perfect record in Spring Training, the club continues to march towards Opening Day and regular roster players are starting to find themselves in more game action with each passing day. Spring Training also brings opportunities for prospects within the system to showcase their talents, a feat that top prospect Orelvis Martinez knows all too well.
This is his fifth spring where he has seen action with the big league club but this time around, the stakes are that much higher. It’s easy to forget that the Dominican product is just 23 years old, especially since he has been in the farm system since signing as an international free agent when he was 16, but this is a big year for the slugger.
Not only is his option clock ticking because he is on the 40-man roster, but the Blue Jays have space on their roster to carry a power bat like Martinez this season. After missing a good chunk of last year’s campaign due to his PED suspension, not only is he looking to prove that is power is no fluke, Martinez is also looking to make up on missing so much action towards the back half of the season, which would have easily seen him on the big league squad after the club traded away numerous expiring contracts at the deadline.
While Spring Training is just getting underway, Martinez is putting in early work to get recognized out of the gate. He has already found himself suiting up in four games and has seven at-bats under his belt. He has collected three hits – two of which were for extra bases – as well as two walks and three RBIs. The home run was a towering solo shot to right field, clearing the fence at TD Ballpark for a total of 390 feet.
The right-handed batter took a lower offering away from the Yankees southpaw the other way, which is exactly what the club is looking for this winter from their top prospect – not pulling the ball and rolling over for a weak grounder. It’s still early into the spring so the sample size is on the small side but at least from the get-go, things are trending in the right direction for Martinez, who should get plenty of looks this next month as the Blue Jays figure out their bench situation.
The biggest test for Martinez will be watching the strikeouts, as the prospect has struggled with chasing pitches at times and has seen his K% sit comfortably above the 20% mark for almost all of his professional career, ranking as high as 28.5% back in 2022 when he spent 118 games in double-A New Hampshire. He will also need to work on his defensive metrics, as his fielding ability at the hot corner is behind MLB ready for the most part and there isn’t a lot of playing time to be had at second base this time around, but the club could find a way to get his bat into the lineup via the DH spot.
Striking while the iron is hot will go a long way for Orelvis Martinez, who easily enters the most important Spring Training of his career. He is knocking on the door for a shot in the big leagues and the Blue Jays need to find a way to generate more runs this season after struggling to find offensive production from anyone not named Vladimir Guerrero Jr. There is some playing time to be had at third base and in the DH spot and Martinez can find time in this roles if he continues to put the ball in play at a high rate this next month. Some more seasoning in triple-A would do wonders for his fielding but for a Toronto Blue Jays squad in ‘win-now’ mode, his bat doesn’t seem like it has much more to prove in the minors.