Angel Martínez keeps showing why the Guardians didn't give up on him

It took Angel Martínez all of three pitches to change the early tenor of the Guardians' game against the Royals on Saturday. 

After starting the at-bat with two sinkers, Royals starter Daniel Lynch IV tried to sneak a changeup past Martínez.

While Lynch hit his spot by putting the pitch below the zone, Martínez was able to get his bat out in front of it and send it to the left field bleachers to stake the Guardians to a 2-0 lead. 

Although it came in a losing effort, he ended up drving all three of the Guardians' runs in the 8-3 loss. Even if the rest of the Guardians offense slept-walked through Saturday afternoon, he was ready to meet the moment.

For most of the past three seasons, the Guardians have been searching for power in their lineup. It’s why they gave Jhonkensy Noel such a long leash and traded for players like Nolan Jones and Lane Thomas

Even though none of those three ended up becoming the long-term power threat the Guardians thought they’d be, Martínez has quietly begun to stake his claim as Cleveland’s premier power bat. 

He may never be a complete player, but Saturday’s swing showed why the Guardians will continue to put up with his flaws so long as he keeps putting balls in the seats. 

Angel Martínez is becoming the kind of power hitter the Guardians desperately need

While Martínez showed flashes of power last season, it was hard to think of him as a roster cornerstone due to how bad he was defensively in center field. 

It’s been a different story this year thanks in large part to the Guardians using him as a corner outfielder as opposed to leaving him out to die in center field. 

His mark of +1 Outs Above Average may not seem like anything to write home about, but it’s miles better than the -9 mark he finished last season with, largely due to how poor of a defender he was in center. 

But it’s been different this year thanks to Steven Kwan playing some center field alongside Petey Halpin. Martínez started in left field on Saturday while Kwan shifted over to center. 

That defensive repositioning has coincided with an even better year at the plate. Martínez has already set new career-highs with 13 home runs and 47 RBI on the season despite the fact that he missed nearly a month of the season due to a foot fracture. 

He may chase at 43% of the pitches he sees, but some of that is derived from the fact he’s a bad ball hitter, as Saturday showed. 

Even if the Guardians never publicly gave up on Martínez, his struggles on the grass last season took away from some of the promise that came from his approach at the plate. 

Now the Guardians have put him in a spot where he's able to succeed at the plate while not letting his defensive struggles overshadow them.

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