This Member of Guardians Young Core Needs More Attention

The theme of the Cleveland Guardians' offseason was to find ways to give their young core more opportunities as they continue to develop at the big-league level.

That came at the expense of passing and losing out on free agents because Cleveland couldn’t guarantee playing time to them.

Of course, that young group includes Chase DeLauter, CJ Kayfus, George Valera (once he’s off the injured list), Juan Brito, and eventually, Travis Bazzana.

However, there is one other player on the Guardians' roster who should be grouped into this young core and deserves more recognition and attention: Angel Martinez.

Martinez made his MLB debut all the way back in 2024 and already has almost 700 career plate appearances under his belt. Because of this, it’s pretty easy to forget that he’s still just 24 years old; it’s rare that a Guardians prospect makes their debut at 22 years old.

For reference, Martinez is still younger than DeLauter, Valera, Kayfus, and Brito, and only one year older than Bazzana. 

That means all the development that the group of prospects was doing in the Minors, Martinez was doing at the big-league level at the same age, and that’s really starting to show through the first few weeks of the 2026 season.   

Through Cleveland’s first four series of the season, Martinez has a .895 OPS, including two doubles and a home run. Yes, it’s a small sample size, but there are some other encouraging signs that the switch-hitter is developing before our eyes.

One of Martinez’s biggest criticisms over the last two seasons is how much he chases and strikes out. Martinez has shown an improvement in each of those categories this season, recording a 35.7 percent chase rate (Yes, it’s still high, but progress nonetheless) and a strikeout rate of just 17.1 percent.

There are still some areas that need more refinement, but Martinez is improving, and that should be the focus. 

Manager Stephen Vogt has even taken notice of the work Martinez has put in to lead to this strong start.

“It's fun for Angel, and he has been working tremendously hard,” said Cleveland’s skipper. “He worked hard all winter. We saw it in spring a little bit.”

Martinez may not have the top prospect label that some of the other members of Cleveland’s young core have. 

However, based on what he’s already accomplished in the big leagues and the clear development Martinez is showing, he’s proving he can be a piece to the Guardians’ future. 

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