Angel Martinez continues to be one of the Cleveland Guardians' best surprises this season.
Angel Martinez, going up against future Hall-of-Fame Max Scherzer, went down 0-2 in his second at-bat of the game on Friday night.
A year ago, that at-bat would likely have ended with the Cleveland Guardians hitter striking out after chasing a breaking ball low and out of the zone, and the Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher certainly tried his best to make sure that happened, but it didn’t.
Martinez worked the count, fouled off pitches that were close, and didn’t bite on anything that looked like a ball.
After being on the verge of walking back to the dugout after going down on strikes, Martinez, all of a sudden, was in a 3-2 count, forced Scherzer to throw a strike on the 11th pitch of the at-bat, and crushed his second home run of the game.
After the game, Stephen Vogt said, “It might have been one of the best at-bats I've seen [from him]. Just to work the count, work the pitches, foul off, fight for the next pitch, and then get one you can handle…there's less chase than there was last year.”
Cleveland’s skipper is exactly right; this easily was one of the best at-bats Martinez has put together at the big-league level, and it alone is a microcosm of the development and growth the 24-year-old has made so far this season.
In 2025, Martinez had a chase rate of 39.8 percent. He couldn’t help but swing at a pitch that looked like it ended up in the zone. This year has been different, though; the switch-hitter is being much more selective in the pitches he swings at.
Martinez has also improved his whiff-rate from 21.4 percent last year to 16.1 percent (91st percentile) this year.
Plus, both of Martinez’s homers off Scherzer came from the left side of the plate against a right-handed pitcher, which was an area in which he also struggled a lot last season. After logging a .545 OPS off right-handers in 2025, Martinez has improved that to a 1.023 OPS in 2026.
Apr 24, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Cleveland Guardians center fielder Angel Martínez (1) celebrates hitting a home run against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning with teammates at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images“He's able to handle fastballs and off-speed and using the whole field,” said Vogt of Martinez’s left-handed approach
“I think you watch him take batting practice, He's working on driving fastballs to the opposite field, and that's going to help you get to the inside part of the ball.”
An argument can always be made that it’s still a small sample size and Martinez still has more to prove, and that’s fair.
However, it’s also hard to deny that the 24-year-old has made meaningful growth since he entered the league, and we’re seeing that play out before our eyes.
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