Surprise, Arizona —— Entering play on Friday night, Texas Rangers right-handed pitching prospect Greidy Martinez is 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA in nine relief appearances for the Arizona League‘s Arizona League Rangers, with 15 strikeouts against 15 hits and just two walks over his first eleven innings pitched in 2017. I observed the reliever this week in a home AZL Rangers’ August 8 game against the AZL Cubs; below is Baseball Census‘ full Greidy Martinez scouting report, including video.
Greidy Martinez Scouting Report — Video
Our video of Texas Rangers right-handed pitching prospect Greidy Martinez shows his entire relief outing against the AZL Cubs on Tuesday night, where he allowed just one hit and no runs, with three strikeouts, over 1.2 innings of relief work:
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Greidy Martinez Scouting Report — Notes
Old for the rookie level (23) after having spent three seasons in the Dominican Summer League, Greidy Martinez is nevertheless an interesting bullpen arm who fills up the zone and brings quite a bit of deception. He sits 89-92 mph with his fastball, which is relatively straight but well-commanded, and he hides the ball well—especially from righties—getting swings that suggest the pitch looks harder than it really is due to the deception. He couples that with two off-speed pitches that are very advanced for this level: a slider (79-82 mph), and a splitter (83-85 mph). Both have significant downward movement and are tight, with good arm action and (when down in the zone) very late break. Spin is tough to pick up on each pitch, too; during that Tuesday night game, the Rangers’ pitchers and video coordinators charting and tracking pitches behind the plate had trouble discerning the two even with radar gun and spin rate read-outs at their disposal. That’s a testament to Martinez’s late life on each pitch, and the interchangeable way in which he uses them in most counts and against most any hitter.
Slightly built at 6’0″ and just 155 lbs., Greidy Martinez has room to grow into his body even as a 23-year-old, and that should benefit the Texas Rangers assuming he can add velocity along with it. He has something that is very, very difficult to teach, though: legitimate feel for two different power off-speed pitches. Yes, he’s far too old for the AZL and needs to move quickly if he’s to get on the radar at any point in his career, but as a strike-thrower with three pitches and some deception, he ought not be far off from full-season ball anyways. (It’s actually surprising that he’s not there already considering his raw stuff and command profile, though I’m obviously not privy to the Texas Rangers’ internal roster decisions in the low minor leagues.) If nothing else, Martinez shows an actual ability to consistently throw a split-fingered fastball for strikes and down in the zone as a wipeout pitch, and that’s a rare talent at this level of the minor leagues, suggesting advanced development and perhaps a future as intriguing organizational depth. If he can transition even the next few weeks to full-season ball (and then certainly next year), he’d be one to follow and see if his hard-breaking stuff plays up against more age-appropriate hitters.
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