Round Rock OF J.P. Martinez Promoted to Texas

ROUND ROCK, Texas – Welcome to The Show, J.P.! The Texas Rangers announced that the club selected the contract of Round Rock Express OF J.P. Martinez on Friday evening. Martinez made his debut last night against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park. The lefty went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.

Martinez appeared in 67 games for the E-Train this year and slashed .312/.427/.565/.992 with 20 doubles, four triples, 12 home runs, 55 RBI, 49 runs scored, 47 walks and 74 strikeouts. He was eighth in the Pacific Coast League in batting average, seventh in on-base percentage, sixth in slugging percentage, third in OPS and second in stolen bases (33).

Martinez started the 2023 season with a 27-game on-base streak. During the streak, the left-hander slashed .333/.472/.505/.977. After he was placed on the 7-day Injured List on May 2, Martinez returned to Round Rock on June 6. He posted the first of two four-hit games on June 20 against the Sacramento River Cats. Martinez went 4-for-4 with two doubles, one home run, five RBI, four runs scored and two walks.

On July 8 against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys, Martinez went 4-for-5 with two doubles, four RBI, one run scored and one strikeout as the E-Train rolled to an 11-6 victory. Martinez was caught stealing only four times this year and was successful stealing bases 89 percent (33-37) of the time. On August 1 at Oklahoma City, Martinez stole four bases for the first time in his career. Entering this season, he had stolen three or more bases only once. In 2023, he stole three bases or more three times.

Martinez earned his Triple-A promotion on July 22, 2022 and finished the 2022 campaign with Round Rock. In 41 games last year for the Express, Martinez hit .199 with seven doubles, two triples, six home runs, 19 RBI, 20 runs scored, 24 walks and 53 strikeouts.

Martinez, a native of Baracoa, Cuba, signed with the Texas Rangers in 2018. In 2019, he was listed as the Rangers No. 2 overall prospect according to MLB.com. The Rangers and Giants will play game two of their series tonight at 8:05 p.m. CT from San Francisco.

The Express and Isotopes will get set for game five of their series at Dell Diamond on Saturday evening with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 p.m. Round Rock LHP Cody Bradford (8-2, 2.74) will face an Albuquerque starter to be announced.

For more information about the Express, visit RRExpress.com or call (512) 255-2255. Subscribe to the E-Train email newsletter and keep up with the Express on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!