4 Blue Jays prospects who need to be called up next

Orelvis Martinez

Orelvis Martinez has become hot property for the Blue Jays. Ranked number four in their preseason prospects list, he has now risen to second overall behind Ricky Tiedemann.

Martinez had sown the seeds for a productive season, by hitting two homers and six RBI in 15 at-bats during Grapefruit League play. However, he still had to overcome issues with focusing too much on his power and the big hit.

As per Jays Journal's Edward Eng, the 21-year-old had a terrible April in Double-A New Hampshire, with just five hits resulting in a .089 batting average and .409 OPS. With three homers and 10 RBI the power was evidently still there, but he needed to show more consistent contact with the ball.

Fortunately for everyone concerned, Martinez finally started to improve his approach at the plate. His batting average and OPS shot up considerably to .269 and .950 over the next 56 games, and he earned a deserve promotion to Triple-A Buffalo.

Remarkably, the right-handed bat has proved more consistent with the Bisons compared to the Fisher Cats. In Triple-A he has a .259/.332/.500 slash line and .832 OPS to date, versus .226/.339/.485 and .825 in Double-A.

Martinez has heated up particularly over his past 25 games with a team-leading six home runs, to go along with 22 RBI. This has contributed towards a .269/.336/.570 slash line and .906 OPS during the same period.

Perhaps the only concern -- if you want to call it that -- is how good the Dominican Republic native can be defensively. Certainly the Blue Jays are trying to find out which position is the best fit, with him playing at shortstop and third base all season, as well as time at second base since being promoted to Triple-A.