Martinez drawing lofty comparisons in Jays camp

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CLEARWATER, Fla. — Without the famous last name, the buzz may never quite be the same, but Orelvis Martinez’s bat is drawing some lofty comparisons in Toronto Blue Jays camp.

There’s usually no shortage of hyperbole when it comes to prospects, but these parallels are not that.

The swing and pop in Martinez’s bat are legitimately comparable to Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and it was all on display Saturday afternoon against Philadelphia Phillies stud right-hander Aaron Nola.

In the first inning, it was the American League MVP runner-up mashing a long, no-doubter into the left field concourse at BayCare Ballpark. 

An inning later, Martinez turned on a Nola fastball and hit a rope over the same left field wall.

“To tell you the truth, when I saw Vladdy hitting that home run, I was amazed,” Martinez said through club translator Tito Lebron. “I talked to myself and said, ‘Well, if he did that, I’ve got to do something similar like that, so I’m going to try for that.’”

After the game, Guerrero Jr. called the 20-year-old Martinez’s swing “similar” to his, while also making another interesting comparison with the same Dominican Republic roots.

“When I see him at the plate, I think of Hanley Ramirez,” Guerrero Jr. said after his own spring debut. “Back in the day when he was young Hanley. He's very good.”

Prior to starting at third base on Saturday, Martinez took batting practice in a group with the Jays’ exit velocity kings — George Springer, Teoscar Hernandez and Vladdy — and did not look out of place.

Even more impressively, the sound of the ball off the bat fit in.

Martinez hasn’t even touched Double-A yet, but the Jays are quietly making sure he rubs shoulders with key big leaguers this spring as they send him