5/05/26
Martinez saw playing time during his sophomore season at a Mission League rival, but made the move to Alemany for his junior season, and after his time in the transfer sitout period, he has quickly made an impact on the Alemany program's run to the playoffs. This was my first look at the physical RH hitting 3B, who shows plenty to like about his profile at the plate and ability to stay long term at the hot corner. At the plate, the strength in his frame shows up when he makes contact with a heavy barrel that hits the ball with authority, mainly geared towards the middle of the field at present, with a strong hit tool that entered the game with an average near .500 in nearly all Mission League at-bats. But with his ability to use the ground during the turn and the strength in the profile, there should be consistent homerun power for him in the future to match. On the defensive side, Martinez moves with body control at the hot corner, showing clean feet and sound hands to be able to come downhill with control, move laterally with quiet actions, and retreat to adjust to a difficult hop, while showing plenty of arm for the spot and accuracy. He shows a sound internal clock to play under control when the play dictates or with tempo when the play dictates, and still be able to record the out. It’s a small sample size of four at-bats, one INF/OF, and six innings of in-game defense, but I walked away intrigued with the profile that Martinez possesses at the current moment and how he can continue to develop on it over the coming summer, fall, and spring seasons of his high school career.