After receiving an 80-game suspension for violating the MLB’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program in late June, Toronto Blue Jays infielder Orlevis Martinez made his return to the field Sunday afternoon with triple-A Buffalo.
Martinez’s suspension doesn’t end until Sept. 23, but he was eligible to begin a minor-league assignment over the final 15 days of the punishment.
Batting sixth and playing third base for the Bisons, the 22-year-old went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles, an RBI and a strikeout during Buffalo’s 9-3 win over the visiting Lehigh Valley IronPigs.
Both of his knocks came down the left field line, the first coming off his bat at 96 m.p.h. in the third inning and the second at 80.8 m.p.h. in the sixth.
Martinez recorded his first hit on a changeup from Lehigh Valley’s starter Tyler Phillips, scoring outfielder Will Robertson. His second double came on a slider from reliever Freddy Tarnok.
In just one game with the Blue Jays’ big-league club this season, the six-foot-one righty went 1-for-3 with a single before being handed his suspension.
According to a mid-season update by Baseball America, Martinez is now considered Toronto’s top prospect and the No. 78 prospect in all of baseball — the Blue Jays’ only representative in the top 100.
In triple-A this season, Martinez is now hitting .264 with an .877 OPS, 16 doubles and 16 home runs.
According to a report from Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling on Friday, Martinez will not return to the Blue Jays major-league roster when his suspension ends this season.
