T-Rat Talk: Ernesto Martinez

Ernesto Martinez Jr has been one of the hottest hitters in the Midwest League during July. In this edition of T-Rat Talk, Kyle Lobner profiles Martinez and we learn who has helped him get on his recent streak, what his father taught him, and how he learned to do the splits.

Almost every professional baseball player starts their career with success at a young age, but few get the opportunity to do it on an international stage like Timber Rattlers first baseman Ernesto Martinez Jr.

A native of Cuba, Martinez represented his home country internationally for the first time in 2011 when his team went 7-1 and lost in the final game of the 12U Baseball World Championship. Three years later he represented his country again at the U15 Baseball World Cup and won a gold medal when his team beat an American team including future MLB Draft first round picks and major leaguers Brice Turang (Brewers), Hunter Greene (Reds) and Royce Lewis (Twins). Martinez still cites an at bat from that tournament as his favorite baseball memory.

“We were losing by one, and (former Timber Rattler) Justin Bullock was the starter for Team USA, and then they brought in Hunter Greene. At that time he was throwing like 94, 95, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, dude. This guy is throwing flames.’ And then (Miguel) Vargas was behind me, the second baseman on the Dodgers right now, was like, ‘Man, just go do your thing.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, ok.’ And I he threw me the fastball and I hit a double, we tied the game. That was probably my most awesome memory.”

Martinez’s international experiences were just beginning, however. His father, Ernesto Martinez Sr., played ten years in the Cuban National Series before continuing his professional career in France. In 2017 the elder and younger Martinez took the field together for France in the qualifiers for the World Baseball Classic, where Martinez Jr. was the youngest player to participate.

“I think it really helped me,” Martinez said of the experience of playing internationally at a young age. “I mean, when you play around good players and you’re in tournaments where the quality is way beyond yourself, you just, like, try to step up to the level and that pushes you a little bit. So I kind of feel like it’s kind of an advantage over some guys that have never been there. Some of the people that go there have that thing over their head, ‘I’ve been there, I can do this too.’ So that’s been really helpful.”

Now official, newly signed Ernesto Martinez Jr. took batting practice yesterday at Miller Park. 6'6" 230 lb left handed OF/1B w/@EricThames pic.twitter.com/EuwNxaa9QJ

— Sophia Minnaert (@SophiaMinnaert) May 27, 2017

Many of Martinez’s teammates and rivals from those international tournaments have already reached the big leagues, and lately he’s played at a level that suggests he may join them someday. After Friday night’s game Martinez had been on base in 22 of last 23 contests, collecting a hit in 21 of them. He batted .386 with a .460 on-base and .671 slugging over that span, connecting for seven home runs and stealing five bases in six attempts. Martinez credited his teammates with helping him get back on track after a slow start to the season.

“You want me to be honest? I’ve been talking a lot with my teammates,” Martinez said. “I’ve been taking a little bit from here, a little bit from there, and then watching my old videos, some stuff from YouTube, and I feel like I kind of put all of that together and it’s kind of clicking, you know?”

Timber Rattlers outfielder Je’Von Ward has also been hot on the team’s recent road trip, batting .423 with a 1.291 on-base plus slugging across his first seven games in Peoria and Dayton. His contributions to the team may extend beyond that, however, as Martinez specifically credited him with introducing him to the tools he needed to make adjustments to his swing.

“Je’Von is the one who introduced me to a couple of things that I could do, so I started doing it and trusting it because I saw his swing this year and his swing looked pretty good, so I was like, ‘Man, what have you been doing?’ And he told me what he’d been doing, and I saw a couple of videos on YouTube, I saw him, it told me what he was doing and I was like, ‘I’m doing this, one hundred percent,’” Martinez said.

The routine has been paying recent dividends for both players as Martinez has an OPS over 1.100 in July and Ward isn’t far behind him, with a mark just under 1.000.

Through his adjustments, however, Martinez hasn’t lost the opposite field power that has become one of his trademarks. Martinez has a big, strong frame and hits the ball with authority to all fields: Timber Rattlers manager Joe Ayrault has previously noted that coaches in both the first and third base coaching boxes take a few steps back when Martinez is at the plate. He connects for power to his non-pull side in a way that’s unusual to see at the High-A level. It’s a skill he says he learned from his dad.

“He taught me everything I know about making contact with the ball, and a lot of stuff like hitting opposite field. That’s the thing I remember, because he used to be playing in France when I was a kid, so he’d only be in Cuba maybe once a year, or twice, and we’d go take batting practice and I would learn from him how to hit to the opposite field. That’s been the thing for me for the rest of my life,” Martinez said.

Ernesto Martinez goes OPPO TACO for his 3rd home run of the season! 🌮 #tratnation pic.twitter.com/b30WcvymLe

— Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (@TimberRattlers) April 28, 2023

Opposite field power isn’t Martinez’s only unusual skill, however. He’s also a rated chess player, a game he plays most days, and as noted in a 2019 piece during his time with the Rocky Mountain Vibes, he speaks four languages: English, Spanish, French and Haitian Creole. In a skill more likely to be seen on the baseball field, he can do a full splits. It’s a skill he picked up when he learned martial arts as a child.

“When I was really young a taekwondo coach came to me and he was like, ‘hey, you want to do taekwando?’ and I was like, ‘yeah, of course,’ I wanted to learn how to defend myself. And then my mom let me do it, so one day I finished school and went to the taekwando class and they go, ‘hey, here are two plastic sheets, put them between your legs.’ And I was like ‘what is this for?’ And then all of a sudden ‘blap!’ he slapped my legs. That was painful. That’s how I learned,” Martinez said.

Ever seen a backhanded glove flip into the splits? Now you have! 😲@Brewers prospects Russell Smith and Ernesto Martinez combine for defensive wizardry for the @TimberRattlers: pic.twitter.com/Nt3TV7dA6o

— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) April 12, 2023

Martinez has also learned a lot from Timber Rattlers manager Joe Ayrault, who he’s had an extended opportunity to get to know. Ayrault managed Martinez with the Carolina Mudcats in 2021, and has had him with Wisconsin each of the last two seasons. Martinez said Ayrault helped him be comfortable being himself and being aggressive with all of his skills on the diamond.

“I will say this. Before Joe I would be a little bit shy playing baseball,” Martinez said. “Joe told me, ‘just be yourself’ and I would be like ‘are you sure?’ It’s going to be like u15, kind of like ‘I’m gonna run, I’m gonna swing, I’m gonna go my thing.’ It’s been the best part of my career since I’ve been playing for him. He’s probably the best manager I’ve ever had. It’s been great.”

Martinez said his biggest point of pride from this season to date has been the way this Timber Rattlers team has stuck together after some tough times early in the year.

“We’ve been sticking together. We’ve been grinding together, we’ve been playing good,” Martinez said. “I want to keep having this energy every day, with the team. I want to keep having emotions every time I hit something to get to second and someone brings me in, that’s probably the best. I want to kind of go up as high as I can, but for the moment I just want to compete, play against the best teams. I want to prove myself, and win with the team.”