Is Orelvis Martinez a fantasy baseball waiver wire stash? Dan discusses the fantasy baseball outlook for re-draft leagues for the rest of the 2024 season.
The Toronto Blue Jays have just one hitter who has hit double digits in home runs this season - Daulton Varsho has 10.
Meanwhile, their No. 2 overall prospect, shortstop Orelvis Martinez, has hit 15 homers so far this season at Triple-A Buffalo.
If the Jays need offense so badly, then what are they waiting for? How soon will we see Toronto wait to promote Martinez to the big leagues?
How High Is Orelvis Martinez's Fantasy Potential?
Martinez is just 22 years old but has already compiled 108 home runs during his minor league career. The power that he could provide from the SS position is legit and separates him from a lot of other middle infield prospects.
Orelvis Martinez launched a moonshot for his 15th home run of the season pic.twitter.com/kVbgB5YTvf
— Daniel Labude (@OrcaBaseball) June 8, 2024
I'm sure Toronto would love to see him cut down on strikeouts a bit and draw a few more walks. And if we are being really picky, he's still just a .242 career hitter in the minors - though he's hit .263 and .257 the last two seasons at Triple-A, respectively.
He's not a big base-stealer, with just 14 stolen bases in his minor league career and zero steals this season. But as far as a run-producer, the sky is the limit for Martinez who absolutely crushes the baseball more often than not when he does make contact.
When Might Orelvis Martinez Get A Major-League Opportunity?
With Bo Bichette entrenched as the everyday shortstop, Martinez would likely have to slide over to second base. That's where Spencer Horwitz is playing, but he can also play first base if they want to keep his bat in the lineup (and they should).
I think Jays fans are dying for Orelvis Martinez to come up and help boost a below-avg offense, and usually the reason you hear is that his 2B def is a work in progress.
But I think it's also this: look at this huge platoon split. Is there room for a lefty-masher only? pic.twitter.com/RptL2IlB4G
— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) June 10, 2024
There's been no official announcement of a timetable for Martinez, but the organization has seen what he can do now at Triple-A for half of last season and this season, so there's not much he needs to prove.
I think we'll see him sometime in July as Toronto needs to bring him up out of desperation for offense if they want to make a playoff push. Or we could see the Jays fall way behind in the standings and go with a full youth movement in the final months.
He's rostered in just 13% of leagues right now on Yahoo. Managers in shallow formats can ignore him for now, but those in deep leagues may want to consider adding him soon if the call to Toronto comes in the next few weeks.
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