KANSAS CITY -- The thread of Richie Martin’s career has been taking the dazzling with the frustrating. At his apex, he can be a physically-gifted stalwart whose athleticism allows him to turn doubles into triples and permits him to play six different positions. With that, though, comes bumps in the road, must-make plays gone for naught.
Sunday was the full Richie Martin experience.
Martin, called back up to the big leagues earlier in the weekend, provided little to cringe at, but an overwhelming amount to admire during the Orioles' 10-7 series-splitting win over the Royals. Sandwiched around a costly error that made right-hander Dean Kremer’s outing look slightly worse than it was was a two-triple day, part of a three-hit performance that also came with a few dazzling plays. They were the highlights that stood out on an otherwise loud three-homer day for the O’s offense.
“You saw the speed on the bases,” said Orioles manager Brandon Hyde. “Got some big hits, really aggressive.”
Impacting a game in varying manners is what made the A’s select Martin 20th overall in the 2015 MLB Draft and what motivated the Orioles to poach him as a Rule 5 Draft pick in 2019. But rarely seeing it in prolonged spurts is what has kept him mostly in the Minors since then.
Martin hopes this latest callup, which comes after he had to be added to the 40-man roster after clearing waivers in the offseason, will be different.
“Just working really, really hard,” Martin said. “Work, and trying to trust the process and trusting in God's plan.”
With six infield assists to pace either defensive corps, Martin showcased some of the defensive electricity that has kept him afloat in the organization while lined up at shortstop. One in particular stands out: a short-hop on a grounder off the bat of Royals second baseman Whit Merrifield that he fielded cleanly. And on Saturday, lined up at second, his game-ending play ranging to his right was made to look simple.
All of this came after Martin chipped away in the Minors for the season’s first two months before joining the Orioles mid-series.
But as has been the case before with Martin, the flashy can come with the trying. A tailor-made double play ball in the sixth inning saw him throw it wildly to Rougned Odor, allowing Bobby Witt Jr. to race around and score, ending a solid afternoon for Kremer perhaps earlier than it should have.
Martin did make up for his mistake with a pair of hits, the latter two being hustle triples in the sixth and seventh innings. It marked the first two-triple performance by an Oriole since Cedric Mullins on Sept. 27, 2020. Only five times has it been accomplished by an Orioles player this century; Mullins has done so twice.
"I love triples," Martin smiled. "Ced's a beast. He's a good guy to follow up."
The Orioles aren’t expecting the world from Martin. He will be a bottom-of-the-order bat as long as he’s with the team, a secondary leadoff hitter who can roam around the infield dirt and outfield grass. And who, when lined up at second, makes for a tantalizing double-play combo with Jorge Mateo.
And especially given the offensive output the Orioles received on Sunday -- home runs from Anthony Santander, Ryan Mountcastle and Rougned Odor that all traveled over 420 feet -- they don’t need Martin to hit the cover off the ball, though he did show signs of that in Spring Training and again with an .823 OPS at Triple-A Norfolk. But they need dependability, with Martin now taking the utility functionality of Chris Owings (who the Orioles placed on unconditional release waivers during Sunday’s contest) and trying to put to execution years of toiling in the Orioles’ system.