CLEVELAND -- Look up and down the Guardians’ lineup and you’ll find encouraging signs within a young cast of hitters who are developing on the game’s highest stage.
The emergence of Angel Martínez and the potential breakout happening before our eyes continues to be one of the most electric.
“He's growing,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said earlier this week. “He's growing up, becoming a better hitter, becoming more of a complete hitter. … He has elite bat-to-ball skill, and when he swings at the right pitches, he's able to hit it really hard.”
Look no further than Saturday night, when Martínez belted a go-ahead two-run home run in the seventh inning to send the Guardians to a 7-4 win over the Reds at Progressive Field in Game 2 of the Ohio Cup. It marked the 24-year-old’s eighth home run this season, a figure he has reached in only 43 games.
Martínez went deep 11 times in 139 games in 2025. What’s more, the switch-hitter has hit six home runs from the left side of the plate this season, matching his total from last year.
“Honestly, I'm trying to not get too high,” Martínez said. “[Whether] you're having a good day, you have a good week, good month, I try not to get too high. This game can humble you really quick.
“I’m just enjoying the moment, and what happened today, it doesn't matter tomorrow.”
That mentality speaks to the "cerebral" side of Martínez that stands out to Vogt, and the past two days also exemplify how he isn’t riding the season’s highs and lows. He’s learning from each lesson.
Martínez faced right-hander Pierce Johnson in the sixth inning on Friday, when the Guardians trailed 3-1 in their eventual 7-6 loss. Johnson threw a 1-2 curveball in the dirt, which Martínez chased and swung right through for strike three.
Saturday offered Martínez a chance to show what he learned. Kyle Manzardo led off the seventh with a single, which the Guardians were in danger of wasting after Travis Bazzana and Steven Kwan both struck out.
Reds manager Terry Francona brought in Johnson to face Martínez, who now had a better understanding of the shape of Johnson’s curveball. Johnson threw a 2-1 curve down and inside, and Martínez hit it a Statcast-projected 395 feet with a 102.9 mph exit velocity over the right-field wall.
“That was such a huge swing of the bat,” Vogt said. “Angel just continues to develop. We have to keep pushing him. We have to keep pushing him to get better and better.”
Martínez finished 2-for-4, also picking up a hustle double in the sixth. Kwan (who hit sixth in his first start out of the leadoff spot since June 18, 2022) began the inning with a walk against right-hander Luis Mey, before Martínez smashed a ground ball through the vacated left side of the infield.
Kwan advanced to third and Martínez reached second with a headfirst slide. Kwan then scored on a wild pitch, and Martínez came around moments later on a Rhys Hoskins pinch-hit sacrifice fly.
Martínez is obviously not a finished product; no player is at 24 years old. Entering Saturday, his chase rate was 40.8 percent, a tick up from 2025 (39.8 percent). There are some free-swinging tendencies, but there also continue to be signs of progress.
Entering Saturday, Martínez’s whiff rate stood at 18.2 percent (81st percentile in MLB), several notches better than his 21.4 percent rate in 2025 (70th percentile). His hard-hit rate has jumped from 29.3 percent to 38.7.
“I think every young hitter continues to grow and understand, ‘If I can shrink the strike zone, and I can bring that pitcher into the strike zone, I've got a lot better chance to hit it hard,’” Vogt said this week. “We've seen Angel struggle with chase at times. But when he does keep that pitcher in the zone, man, is he dynamic and hits the ball hard.”
Martínez is a switch-hitter who can play all three outfield spots and some infield. He’s athletic, runs the bases well and has power. Those are all intriguing qualities for a player who’s still coming into his own.
Brayan Rocchio and Martínez came up through the Cleveland farm system together. Given the Guardians shortstop’s scouting report, what we’re seeing now may only be the beginning.
“He's been doing this for eight years, [dating to] when he was in the Minor Leagues,” Rocchio said. “It’s something that I know he can be. He’s going to be a superstar.”