The Guardians announced that infielder Gabriel Arias has been placed on the family medical emergency list. In a corresponding move, the club has recalled infielder Angel Martínez, who will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game.
Martínez, 22, has been a notable prospect in the club’s system for some time. Baseball America ranked him as one of the top 30 prospects in the organization back in 2020 and each year since. In 2022, he hit .278/.378/.471 between High-A and Double-A for a 135 wRC+ while also stealing 12 bases.
The Guards selected him to their 40-man roster after that season, in order to prevent him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft. He had a down year in 2023, slashing .251/.321/.394 between Double-A and Triple-A for a 92 wRC+. This season then got off to a rocky start, as he began the year on the injured list due to a right foot contusion and then suffered a left hamate fracture. He was reinstated from the IL at the end of May.
Despite the injury setbacks, he’s been in good form this year. He has taken 74 trips to the plate with Triple-A Columbus, walking more than he has struck out and hitting three home runs. His current batting line at that level is .333/.438/.550 this year.
Martínez has primarily played the three infield positions to the left of first base, with a brief showing in center field as well. The Guardians have José Ramírez, Andrés Giménez and Brayan Rocchio getting regular playing time at those infield spots with Daniel Schneemann bouncing around to multiple spots and Tyler Freeman getting semi-regular work in center. Arias has been serving in a bench role that Martínez should jump into.
Very quick glance here: thought this said “Angel Hernandez” at first. Was thinking oh boy, what did he do now?
Should be good. The Indians have a strong pitching lab.
What does this have to do with the AAA Pirates affiliate?
@Paleobros
No clue. I thought I read pitcher.
I think Old York is referring to the Cleveland Indians, famously known for being featured in the now-often-censored 1989 Hollywood movie “Major League” starring Charlie Sheen.
@Steinbrenner2728
No, I will always call them by their name that I grew up with.
He doesn’t care about being wrong
Musical C’s goes round and round. When the music stops don’t be left without a chair.
Ah I see.
Old York, I grew up with that name too but things change. They are the Guardians whether you like it or not. Kindergarten stuff right here.
@Guard the Vogt
Incorrect. They are the Indians.
Ok champ. Go to your safe space
@Guard the Vogt
Safe space is for those who needed to force their political viewpoint on others in order to change the name. Nothing scary or concerning about the name or logo.
And yet you can’t let go… So you’re just like them… Grow up. Change is part of life. Great Guardians victory!
@Guard the Vogt
I’m not telling you how to change the team name because of political viewpoints so I’m in no way like them. As I said, nothing Nothing scary or concerning about the original name or logo.
And yet you can’t bear to deal with the name change because it hurt your sensitive feelings because there’s “Nothing scary or concerning about the original name or logo.”
It does sound like you need a little safe space to mourn.
@Guard the Vogt
You’re the one who seems so concerned to bring up the issue to me. I just wrote the name of the team I know. Not sure why it hurts your feelings to a point that you need to defend the name change.
The team you know is the Guardians that’s why it’s brought up, not the Indians lol. I’m not defending the name change at all, just telling you the Cleveland Indians are no longer a team… This isn’t a hard concept to understand
@Guard the Vogt
Hilarious. You reply to me and then put me on mute. They’re the same team. Just because you put lipstick on a pig, it doesn’t change who they are. Really unfortunate that they did that to their loyal fanbase, though. I’ll keep using their actual name.
This move is very well timed. Time to give Martinez a shot and see if he’s ready. I know they love the versatility of Arias, but the guy hasn’t hit worth a damn over the past 3 years – hasn’t even had a hot streak that I can remember.
Glad to see they brought him up. I hope everything with Arias is ok, but he has shown what he is. I’m a bit surprised they didn’t bring up Tena, he is killing the ball in Columbus. Go Guards!
I thought Tena was the next as well. It’ll be tough to give all of Tena, Martinez, Manzardo, Rodriguez, and Noel playing time
Agreed. Arias can stay down and honestly I’m not sold on Rocchio either. He has flashes but I think Tena is the real deal. Not to mention, if they draft Bazzana then Gimenez moves to SS in a year or two.
I agree on Arias but I’ve been a believer in Rocchio for a while so I actually think he’s the guy. He’s already an elite defender but he puts up good at bats (and he’s willing to take walks), and I think the offense will come around. He’s been almost a 2 win player already even with the lack of offense.
It’s a very loose comparison so I’m not at all saying he’ll be the same player, but this is the exact same profile that Lindor had as a young player before he grew into power. Rocchio isn’t a very big guy so the power might never come, but Lindor wasn’t overly big either.
Most everything I’ve read shows the Guardians leaning towards Bazzana as well. Assuming they keep him at 2nd, that would make the infield mix even crazier.
Gimenez, Rocchio, Martinez, Tena, Arias, Brito. You gotta figure they’ll be adding at the deadline and trying to deal from that MIF depth.. but I guess everyone has been saying that for years now.
I think they end up taking Bazzana too but it’s worth mentioning that most of those reports are just people speculating and not actually anything being said from Guardians sources.
I’m personally more of a Condon fan but I’d be excited to get either one of them.
Guarded Indian… Glad you’re not running the team… What’s wrong with Rocchio? You stop at the batting average?????
Evelyn “Angel” Martin was a classic character on The Rockford Files, played by Stuart Margolin.
All very interesting… this could be very simple and Angel will just occupy the bench spot for a few days. Perhaps they give him some playing time and he has the opportunity to force his way onto the roster once Arias is back.
I guess the questions would be do they give him playing time, and if he hits do they send Arias down? It seems Tena, Noel and to a lesser extent Valera are all hitting for power, why not give them a shot?