NEWSLETTER
[adinserter block=”1″]With no big league Cubs baseball yesterday, and with the highlights from the home opener getting a bit stale (pfft, just kidding – this will never get stale), I wanted to wake us all up this morning with video of Eddy Julio Martinez’s first home run in the Cubs’ organization.
The 21-year-old outfielder from Cuba was one of the Cubs’ biggest international signings last year, and was the subject of a great deal of disagreement among scouts and pundits. Some believe he’s a future superstar, whose pursuit ended in a mere $3 million bonus because of bad timing and awkward negotiations. Others believe he simply doesn’t have that much upside, won’t be able to play center field, and is extremely raw at the plate.
It’ll be a good long while before we’re able to say which side of the debate is correct (and the reality will probably fall somewhere in the middle), but for now, we can enjoy Martinez knocking the first homer of his Cubs career:
Plenty of @SBCubs firepower! Eloy Jimenez hit a walkoff HR, and before that Eddy Julio Martinez hit his 1st MiLB HR: pic.twitter.com/J1Ud4tQZpk
— Carl Deffenbaugh (@CarlDeff) April 12, 2016
It’ll be fun to follow Martinez as he develops in that loaded South Bend outfield alongside Donnie Dewees and Eloy Jimenez. That the Cubs were willing to send Martinez directly into full-season ball, even after his long layoff, is probably a good sign for how they’ve evaluated his talent internally.
