As part of a series of roster moves, the Toronto Blue Jays will call up one of their top prospects, infielder Orelvis Martinez.
His arrival is accompanied by the departure of Bo Bichette, as the Jays on Tuesday placed the shortstop on the 10-day injured list with right calf strain, retroactive to June 15. Since the other two transactions involve relievers, Martinez's promotion can be considered the corresponding move. He'll be making his major-league debut upon his first game appearance with Toronto.
Martinez, 22, has spent the entire 2024 season to date at Triple-A Buffalo. In 63 games at the highest minor-league rung, he's batted .260/.343/.523 with 16 home runs and time spent at second base and third. For his career, he has an OPS of .833 across parts of five minor-league seasons. In the affiliated minors, he's spent the majority of his defensive innings at Bichette's position of shortstop, but he hasn't played the position in 2024.
Coming into the 2024 season, we at CBS Sports ranked Martinez as the No. 3 prospect in the Jays' system. Here's part of R.J. Anderson's write-up:
Martinez, who received a signing bonus worth more than $3.5 million in 2018, repaired his stock last season by homering 28 times combined between Double- and Triple-A. Martinez's main issues have been his hit-tool projections and his long-term defensive home. He's still prone to an overly aggressive approach that results in a high whiff rate, but it's notable that he posted a career-high walk rate in 2023. The Blue Jays seemed to concede that he's not going to be a shortstop, instead giving him a lot of burn at second and third base. Martinez's chances of sticking on a MLB roster are going to be made or fade based on how often he can tap into his power against big-league pitching. We should start to find out the answer to that question at some point in 2024.
Bichette, meanwhile, has disappointed this year, hitting .237/.286/.342 with just four home runs.
The Jays enter Tuesday night's game against the Red Sox with a record of 35-37 and in fourth place in the American League East.
