This should have been the year for Orelvis Martinez. On a noncontending Blue Jays team with multiple vacancies around the infield, there was never a better opportunity for an up-and-coming prospect to cement a roster spot, not just for this season but well into the future.
Martinez made his big-league debut on June 21, when the Jays were already five games under .500 and about to fall even lower. With shortstop Bo Bichette hurt and infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa soon to be traded, Martinez figured to be in position for regular playing time at second base. All he needed to do was take the job and run with it.
Instead, his first stint in the majors ended as quickly as it began. After just one appearance, the 22-year-old Martinez received an 80-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball’s performance-enhancing drug policy. He was out of sight, out of mind before resurfacing earlier this month on a rehab assignment.
The suspension officially came to an end on Tuesday. The Jays reinstated the Dominican to their 40-man roster and optioned him to Triple-A Buffalo. Outfielder Daulton Varsho, who is out for the season with a torn rotator cuff, was placed on the 60-day injured list to make room on the roster.
Buffalo’s schedule wrapped up Sunday, but Martinez’s season might not be over. No, he’s not getting called up, but the Jays are encouraging him to play winter ball and are optimistic he will opt to spend a lot of time at the club’s player development complex during the off-season to make up for his earlier absence.
“It’s big off-season for him,” Jays manager John Schneider said before Tuesday night’s game against the Boston Red Sox at the Rogers Centre. “We talked about that with him when he was here, when that unfortunate news broke. It’s a big off-season for him to reprove to himself, the industry, everyone that he’s a good player.
“It’s going to take a lot of work, it’s going to take a lot of humility, and he’s going to have to catch up on some at-bats and some reps that he missed.”
Martinez appeared in 11 September games in Buffalo. He hit .304 with a homer, five doubles, a triple and an .882 on-base plus slugging percentage. That upped his season totals to a .267 average, .869 OPS, 17 homers and 49 RBIs in 74 games.
With upside like that, it’s easy to understand why Martinez entered the year ranked among the top 100 prospects by MLB Pipeline, Baseball Prospectus and Baseball America. He was the Jays’ top-ranked position player in the minors and second only to left-handed starter Ricky Tiedemann in the system overall.
The future appeared bright, and then the positive test changed everything. Who Martinez is as a player and who he might become is murky. Was the prolific power he possessed across five seasons in the minors natural? Or was it the by-product of a banned substance?
For now, Martinez has lost the benefit of the doubt and will have to work to get it back.
“O’s a good kid,” Schneider said. “Before this whole thing came up, we never questioned his work ethic, what kind of teammate he was or anything like that. It’s unfortunate that (skepticism) comes with the territory — when you get suspended for PEDs — both internally and externally.
“What we asked of him when the news broke was: You have to meet this head on. You have to be humble and you have to be willing to take some criticism. At the same time, you have to continue to work to show everyone what kind of player you are.”
Martinez dropped down the pecking order, at least temporarily. During the suspension, the Jays acquired Will Wagner from the Houston Astros as part of the deal for lefty Yusei Kikuchi. Wagner took over at second base and hit .305 in 24 games before suffering a knee injury. Barring any setbacks, he figures to enter next year’s camp with an inside track on the starting job.
Where that leaves Martinez is unclear. He’ll be a candidate to start at second for Buffalo while awaiting another shot at the majors. The Jays also don’t have a long-term solution at third base, and Schneider said they’ll be asking Martinez to prepare at both positions this off-season. Who the Jays sign and for how long should determine his next steps.
But there aren’t any guarantees. Wagner moved ahead of Martinez on the depth chart and the emergence of Spencer Horwitz, who also spent time at second this year, adds to the roster crunch. Whether Martinez overtakes either one as a priority will depend on what he does with the bat while — presumably — playing clean.
Martinez messed up this year and it cost him a spot in line. He’ll need a big off-season and an even bigger spring to get it back.
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