Angel In The Outfield
Talk about a bounce-back stretch for the Guardians. After suffering a 10-game losing streak that made the start of July a month of horrors for fans, they have rattled off eight wins out of their last ten games, salvaging any opportunity to get back into the wild card race as the trade deadline looms in the distance. A big part of that turnaround in July has been due to the play of Angel Martinez, who has jump-started the turnaround after shaking off a slump dating back to June that had haggard not just him but everyone on Cleveland's roster. The biggest reason: he found his power stroke.
Through the course of the first half, the 23-year-old's season could be characterized as "fine, if it's more in a utility role," and the numbers reflected that. In 79 games, he slashed an unremarkable .236/.290/.390 while bouncing around the diamond from centerfield and 2nd base. He, at least, showcased his versatility and athleticism as a fielder, even if his bat would at times be hot and cold. The one sign of life was his growing power, and to illustrate it, we will use isolated power per Fangraphs (which measures raw power by only taking extra base hits into account), which was already at a career high of .154, a 46-point jump from .106 in 2024. A big reason for that is that he is pulling the ball more with authority, turning a lot of the batted balls that used to be singles the year before into doubles and home runs, especially in July. His 48.9% pull rate has paid major dividends as he's hit seven doubles and four bombs with 12 RBIs, many of them in key spots when the Guardos have needed them most. All of this allows for him to be rocking a ridiculous iso of .278 in the process. Martinez has been especially deadly against left-handers, which this team has needed all the help it can get from the weak side of the platoon. He has slashed .311/.347/.522 with a wRC+ of 139. With Cleveland facing lefties every 5 minutes, it has given them a more formidable bat to deploy in certain lineups.
For a team and fanbase that is looking for positives from any young hitters, Angel Martinez's July has been a positive. Has it been perfect? No, you can argue that he still needs to exercise some patience (he's only walking 3% of the time), so he's not so dependent on getting on base via hits, but it's hard not to see that the process has started to match the results. For a player with great hands who can reach any ball even to his detriment, Martinez understanding his nitrozone and which balls he can crush has opened up more possibilities for a young player still learning at the big league level. There's still more season to go, but I look forward to what Angel Martinez continues to become with more opportunities.