Minor League Baseball

Toronto Blue Jays Young Infielder Named Best Power-Hitting Prospect in Organization

Orelvis Martinez, fighting to make the Jays roster as an infielder or a designated hitter, was shown some love by MLB Pipeline recently.
Brady Farkas|
Toronto Blue Jays second base Orelvis Martinez (13) hits a home run during the fourth inning against the New York Yankees at TD Ballpark on Feb 22.
Toronto Blue Jays second base Orelvis Martinez (13) hits a home run during the fourth inning against the New York Yankees at TD Ballpark on Feb 22. | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

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Toronto Blue Jays

Toronto Blue Jays prospect Orelvis Martinez was named at the organization's best power hitting prospect on Thursday by MLB Pipeline.

Martinez, 23, is fighting to make the Jays roster as a third baseman or a designated hitter.

Martinez’s 86 home runs from 2021 to 2023 were most in the Minor Leagues over that span, and he went deep 17 times in 74 games for Triple-A Buffalo a year ago in a campaign shortened by a banned-substance suspension. Those dinger totals don’t come by accident, the right-handed slugger is capable of posting incredibly high exit velocities (like a 115.2 mph max in Triple-A) and his swing is geared to lift and pull. He should push for MLB playing time in the first half.

Martinez was ranked as the No. 89 prospect in baseball in 2024, per MLB.com. He played 74 games for Triple-A Buffalo last season, hitting .267 with those 17 homers. He also served an 80-game suspension last year for PED use.

He did make his major league debut, going 1-for-3 in one game.

In addition to Martinez, Ernie Clement, who was a Gold Glove finalist last year, is in the mix at third base as well. Addison Barger could potentially find himself there also.

The Blue Jays are coming off a year in which they went 74-88 and finished last in the American League East. They are figuring to be much better this year after additions of Max Scherzer, Jeff Hoffman, Yimi Garcia, Anthony Santander and second baseman Andres Gimenez.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is the senior writer for “Minor League Baseball on SI’’ and the host of “The Payoff Pitch’’ podcast, which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. Follow Brady on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady.

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