BALTIMORE -- Over the course of a Major League season, there will be many individual sparkplugs for a team. That¡¯s the nature of a 162-game campaign.
But of late, there¡¯s been one player who has made a difference in the Guardians¡¯ lineup, and they¡¯re hoping he¡¯ll stick around for a while.
That, of course, is outfielder (and proto-utility man) Angel Martínez, who was optioned to Triple-A Columbus less than a week before the season started, only to find himself getting recalled 19 days later.
On Tuesday, it was Martšªnez who lit a spark for the Guardians, tallying three of the club¡¯s 11 hits (and two runs) en route to a series-opening 6-3 win over the Orioles at Camden Yards.
"We had that last year when Angel came up, and he brings a ton of energy,¡± manager Stephen Vogt said. ¡°He makes things happen. He's running all over the field, putting balls in play. What I love about Angel is, he takes what the pitcher gives him, and that's tough to defend.¡±
Martšªnez was recalled on April 9 to deepen Cleveland¡¯s bench after center fielder Lane Thomas was sidelined following being hit by a pitch on his right wrist the day prior. In the week since, Martšªnez has shown up and showed out, having gone 8-for-14 (.571) in his first four games of the year.
Part of what makes Martšªnez stand out is his all-around skills, and his speed -- his speed at learning, that is.
Martšªnez came up as an infielder, signed by Cleveland as a shortstop on July 2, 2018. It wasn¡¯t until last season when the Guardians approached Martšªnez and asked him to start learning the outfield -- he hadn¡¯t played a single game in the Minors as anything other than an infielder or DH until then.
But Martšªnez adjusted quickly, and though he initially DHed, then played some infield, it was in the outfield that Martšªnez found his home. He bounced between Triple-A and the Majors some last summer before he was recalled on Sept. 14 -- as an outfielder.
¡°We asked him to play more outfield last year, and he came up and played a lot of center field for us,¡± Vogt said. ¡°He's gonna get some reps in right and he's gonna get some reps in center and in the infield. The more positions you can play, the more your bat can get into the lineup. And Angel¡¯s definitely worked his backside off on his defense.¡±
¡°It's really impressive, for him just to be able to adjust and command the outfield,¡± left fielder Steven Kwan said. ¡°Center field has to be the captain out there, and he does that very seamlessly. His arm¡¯s showing off, he's showing off his range, and he's hit. He's been huge for us so far.¡±
Kwan, the Guardians¡¯ leadoff batter, has a front-row seat to both Martšªnez¡¯s offense and defense. Against Baltimore, Kwan reaped the benefits of some of Martšªnez¡¯s bottom-of-the-order hitting, particularly in a key three-run top of the fifth.
Hitting seventh, Martšªnez opened the inning with his first career triple as the wind caught the ball, sending it bouncing off the wall just out of reach of Orioles right fielder Tyler O¡¯Neill. Three batters later, Kwan launched his third homer of the season, a two-run jack just inside the right-field foul pole.
¡°They're getting on base, they're creating havoc -- that makes my job easier,¡± said Kwan of the bottom of the order. ¡°The pitcher's thinking about them, trying to keep them close, and then they make a mistake and hopefully we make them pay.¡±
Martšªnez did give the Guardians a scare in the bottom of the ninth, when a fly ball to shallow right field made a weird bounce and appeared to hit his wrist. But Martšªnez kept the ball in front of his body the whole time, holding the runner at first and preventing a double. He was checked out by the training staff but remained in to finish out the game.
That play epitomized the heads-up athlete Martšªnez is, a player who -- even when the ball gets lost in the lights, does what he can to prevent notable damage. That¡¯s the player Martšªnez is, and Cleveland wouldn¡¯t have it any other way.
¡°Always looking for sparks throughout the year,¡± Vogt said. ¡°So when you get someone -- whether they're coming back from Triple-A, coming back from an injury -- a lot of times, they bring in a renewed energy that really sparks the team. And every time we've gotten Angel to us, he's done that for us. And just hope -- hopefully we can keep him there.¡±