The headline position battle in spring training for the Cleveland Guardians is between Brayan Rocchio and Gabriel Arias for shortstop. However, another prospect is forcing the organization to take notice of him.
This would be Cleveland's 10th-ranked prospect (MLB Pipeline) Angel Martínez.
Martínez has played in five games through the first week of spring training action and has received nine at-bats. In those appearances, he's already hit one home run, a double, recorded five total hits, and only struck out twice.
There's no one else more important to notice your production than the manager and Stephen Vogt has recognized Matínez's value
"Angel has had a great start to spring this year," said Vogt. "You know, his at-bats have been really well, but his baserunning has been outstanding. He's gone first to third a number of times now. He's playing really well, and made some good plays in the field. I've been really impressed with Angels camp so far."
Martínez split his time between Double-A Akring and Triple-A Columbus in 2023. He finished the season in Columbus and hit .268/.320/.401 with an OPS of .721 in 37 games. It feels safe to say that Triple-A is where Martínez will start the season, but at some point, the Guardians will have to give him a shot if he keeps swinging the bat like this.
It still feels like Rocchio or Arias will be the Opening Day starter at shortstop. However, Martínez is certainly keeping the pressure on both of them considering neither has made a lasting impression.
The best thing for a prospect to do is to make your manager take notice of the little things you're doing to impact winning. That's exactly what Martínez is doing and Vogt has acknowledged it.
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