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'He's a player': Angel Martinez has been in the middle of Guardians' offensive rebound
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- 'He's a player': Angel Martinez has been in the middle of Guardians' offensive rebound
CLEVELAND — The Guardians have put Angel Martinez in the leadoff spot. They've had him in the No. 2 hole in the lineup. They've thrown him out in center field. They've placed him at second base.
Lately, it hasn't mattered — Martinez has produced regardless of position in the field or the lineup, and he's been one of the key reasons why the Guardians offense seems to have woken up after a summer slumber through June and part of July.
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Martinez has shifted between center field and second base, and he's often been at or near the top of the lineup, largely depending on Steven Kwan 's availability while he dealt with a wrist issue.
He's been trusted with a premium position defensively and a key spot in the lineup. And he's delivered in both cases.
Over the previous two weeks entering the Guardians' July 21 win over the Baltimore Orioles , Martinez was hitting .293 with a 1.010 OPS and had begun to rack up extra-base hits with four home runs, five doubles and 11 RBIs. And he was scorching over the past week, hitting .429 with a 1.214 OPS. That's in addition to a few highlight-reel plays defensively.
It's helped a Guardians lineup transform from the league's worst in June to a unit scoring more than six runs per game over the last couple weeks.
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For Martinez, it's all been in rhythm, like a basketball player shooting when he has the hot hand.
"There are a couple of things that we're working on to keep my rhythm going," Martinez said via a team translator. "I'm obviously not going to tell you what the secret is, but there are some things [that are allowing me to] swing the way I'm swinging right now."
Cleveland Guardians center fielder Angel Martinez makes a diving catch against the Athletics on July 19, 2025, in Cleveland, Ohio.
Angel Martinez stats
Martinez has had some scorching-hot stretches like this in the past, but it hasn't been sustained while his playing time fluctuated. It led to a couple nice weeks followed by some ping pong-like travel between the majors and Triple-A.
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With a clear path for playing time at one of two spots, and with a productive bat in the lineup, Martinez for the time being has a longer leash for extensive playing time.
"I think for Angel, it was kind of up and down, up and down — you'd have some good stretches, but he's really been very consistent over the last month, and obviously the last 10 days have been even better for him," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. "It's hard to take him out of the lineup right now."
Center field has continued to be a revolving door, especially with Lane Thomas struggling to play through foot issues. Second base was left wide open after the Andres Gimenez trade , and while Daniel Schneemann and some others have had some positive stretches, no one has locked the spot down.
Martinez's righty-lefty splits as a switch hitter are still lopsided — .869 OPS from the right side of the plate and .584 OPS from the left — but the Guardians have begun to see progress with his left-handed swing.
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"I can't speak enough about how much he's been working," Vogt said. "You can see the maturation right in front of our eyes."
Martinez has a chance to at least keep his name in the lineup, even if the rest of the details keep alternating back and forth between center field and second base and his spot in the lineup.
"Angel's been doing a great job," Vogt said. "The defense he's been playing in center field, second base — you name it, he's a player."
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Angel Martinez providing a spark for Guardians lineup
