Martinez a real eye-opener on mound early in Orioles camp

SARASOTA, Fla. -- He has a four-pitch mix that features a four-seam fastball, sinker, splitter and slider. His heater frequently hits 100-102 mph. He says he even touched 104 once while playing in Japan.

His name is Rodolfo Martinez. He’s a 30-year-old right-hander among the Orioles’ non-roster invitees in big league camp this spring, and he’s been an early surprise standout since pitchers and catchers reported to Ed Smith Stadium last week.

Martinez turned some heads on Sunday, when he threw live batting practice on the main field against some of Baltimore’s top prospects. He struck out both Enrique Bradfield Jr. (No. 4 per MLB Pipeline) and Samuel Basallo (No. 13 overall prospect) and got Dylan Beavers (O’s No. 6) to fly out.

“That comes over from the Dominican [Winter League], when I played over there with Escogido, and thankfully, I’ve been able to carry over some of that,” Martinez said via team interpreter Brandon Quinones. “I feel really good.”

So, where did this 6-foot-2, 200-pound righty with long dreadlocks come from exactly?

Martinez signed with the Giants out of the Dominican Republic in 2013. He spent six seasons in San Francisco’s system, climbing as high as Triple-A Sacramento, where he made one appearance in ‘19. He had solid numbers in High-A (3.93 ERA in 100 appearances), but he was less successful in Double-A (6.23 ERA in 47 games) and Triple-A (four runs in one inning).

Then, the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, and Martinez was among the cuts as the Giants condensed their roster for the alternate training site in the 2020 season.

Martinez spent the next four years pitching in the D.R., Japan and Mexico, the latter of which he went to during the 2024 season. He had a 5.79 ERA in 19 relief appearances for Acereros de Monclova in the Mexican League, then recorded a 5.23 ERA in 14 games for Leones del Escogido in Dominican winter ball.

The numbers may not pop out, but the stuff does. That’s why there was interest from clubs to bring him back to the United States.

“There were several teams, including the Yankees,” Martinez said. “But I decided to sign here because I felt like I had a good opportunity to perform and help the team win.”

The Orioles have had recent success in finding hidden pitching gems from seemingly nowhere. It happened in 2024, when 35-year-old right-hander Albert Suárez posted a 3.70 ERA in 32 games (24 starts) after spending the previous five seasons in Japan and Korea.

Perhaps Martinez could be in consideration for a bullpen spot at some point and have a Suárez-like big league breakout for the O’s in 2025.

“You never want to get overly excited in Spring Training, especially early, but when a guy’s throwing high 90s with a high split like that and a slider he can throw for strikes, that does open your eyes,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “I had never seen him throw before [Sunday], and that was exciting.”

Sugano session

Japanese right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano threw his first bullpen session of O’s camp on Tuesday, three days after he arrived following a long trip from Tokyo. The 35-year-old threw about 35 pitches to catcher Gary Sánchez.

Sugano made quite a strong first impression. At one point, he threw a splitter that made himself smile. Sánchez then said something that prompted a chuckle from catching instructor Tim Cossins. Two pitches later, pitching coach Drew French exclaimed, “Good,” in response to another offering.

Sánchez, who was consistently nodding his head in approval, called it a "perfect" session by Sugano. The coaches liked what they saw from the Nippon Professional Baseball veteran, who threw four-seam fastballs, curveballs, splitters, cutters and sinkers. Sugano also has a slider that he did not throw.

"Everything was easy. Threw a lot of strikes, which is typical for a lot of Japanese pitchers, and he looked great," Sánchez said via Quinones. "Specifically with the fastball down in the zone, it felt like I could close my eyes and the ball would land in my mitt. Honestly, the command and the way he controlled his pitches was really impressive.”

Added French: "It's everything that was advertised when we started vetting him in free agency."

It is not yet known when Sugano will make his Grapefruit League debut, but it won’t be Saturday, when the Orioles host the Pirates for their spring opener.

Westburg on the left side

Last year, All-Star infielder Jordan Westburg split his time fairly evenly between second base (53 games) and third (67). Expect to see the 26-year-old at the latter more often this spring.

“He’s still going to get some reps at second base, but I would say it’s probably going to be more time at third than second,” Hyde said. “But still keep second there in his back pocket.”