Jays’ Martinez sets homer record for Fisher Cats

Orelvis Martinez has been hitting homers at a prodigious pace all season. Now, it’s led him to the record books.

Baseball’s No. 73 overall prospect crushed his 28th home run of the year to set a new single-season mark for Double-A New Hampshire in a 6-1 win at Hartford on Sunday afternoon.

Martinez’s record-setting home run came in a key moment as the Fisher Cats broke open a scoreless game in the sixth inning. After Luis De Los Santos hit an RBI double to get New Hampshire on the board, Martinez brought him home on a two-run smash to left field.

The dinger was Martinez’s only hit of the day but continued a powerful stretch for the infielder. Though he has just seven hits over his last 12 games, six of those have gone for extra bases with four leaving the yard. Martinez clubbed two homers on Aug. 16 to pull even with New Hampshire’s previous franchise-high mark of 27, set by Chip Cannon in 2006 and matched by Eric Thames four years later.

Martinez has been a power threat throughout the Fisher Cats’ season. Though his 2022 batting average sits at just .208 and his on-base percentage is .286, the slugger boasts a .479 slugging percentage thanks to his 28 homers and 15 doubles in 99 games played. Still young for the Double-A level, Toronto’s No. 3 prospect won’t turn 21 until Nov. 19.

Not only did the 28 homers set a new franchise record for New Hampshire, it also matched Martinez’s total from last year, when he led all Single-A and High-A hitters in that category. This year, he’s tied for fifth among all Minor Leaguers and five shy of the MiLB lead, which belongs to Cardinals prospect Moises Gómez, who has hit 33 between Double-A and Triple-A.