As though this Toronto Blue Jays season hadn’t been disappointing enough, news of top prospect Orelvis Martinez’s 80-game suspension for violating MLB’s performance-enhancing drug policy on Sunday added a new chapter to a growing collection of things gone wrong.
The Blue Jays’ weekend got even worse later on Sunday as they were swept by the Cleveland Guardians after dropping the finale 6-5. It’s the second straight sweep the Blue Jays have suffered and their losing streak is up to a season-high six.
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Martinez, who made his MLB debut on Friday, began his suspension immediately and will be ineligible to play until the final week of the regular season. Both general manager Ross Atkins and manager John Schneider expressed their disappointment in Martinez’s suspension while offering their continued support to the player.
“Orelvis was upset, disappointed and pretty honest for a young kid when he told us,” Schneider said on Sunday. “He’s obviously humbled and knows he made a mistake. We’re going to support him through the process.”
Losing Martinez under these circumstances is the latest dispiriting development in a season that has had a few of them. Let’s consider some takeaways on Martinez’s suspension and a season teetering on the brink of disaster.
Where does Martinez go from here?
In a day, Martinez went from the high of recording his first hit in his MLB debut on Friday to the low of learning he had received a suspension.
The Blue Jays learned of Martinez’s circumstances on Saturday when he met with Atkins and Schneider. Martinez told them he tested positive for Clomiphene, a performance-enhancing substance, after taking the drug Rejun 50. He said in a statement that the drug was prescribed to him by a fertility doctor in the Dominican Republic. Martinez said he was assured the drug didn’t contain a banned substance. A quick Google search, however, reveals that Clomiphene is an ingredient in the drug. Martinez did not disclose to the team that he was taking the fertility drug, a decision he called a “mistake.”
“We will work with him to ensure that he has learned from this,” Atkins said. “It was obviously a big mistake. We will support him when he returns and all the way through the process.”
The Major League Baseball Players Association issued the following statement on behalf of Orelvis Martinez: pic.twitter.com/67MIRF4T2k
— MLBPA Communications (@MLBPA_News) June 23, 2024
A suspension of this nature is incredibly disappointing for Martinez, who was the best young bat in Toronto’s farm system and a ray of hope in what’s becoming a dark season. It also comes at a time when Martinez had an opportunity to gain valuable experience in the major leagues and potentially play his way into a bigger role.
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The Blue Jays had called up Martinez when shortstop Bo Bichette went on the 10-day IL with a right calf strain last week and they had hoped that even if this call-up was short-lived, it would be a useful learning experience for Martinez’s development. There was a chance, too, that in the second half of the season, there would have been an opportunity for Martinez to play with the Blue Jays if they moved on from some veterans at the trade deadline, which is becoming increasingly likely unless they can turn around a spiralling season.
Now, instead of soaking up information from major leaguers or continuing his defensive development in Triple A, Martinez will be at a team training facility, Atkins said, where he will “focus on how he can improve as a player and a teammate.”
Where do the Blue Jays go from here?
Martinez was part of the recent youth movement the Blue Jays have embraced amid a search to ignite the offence.
The team has called up several of their best-performing prospects and Spencer Horwitz and Addison Barger have been able to have an impact on the MLB roster. Even if Martinez’s initial stint wasn’t meant to be a long one — the manager had previously hinted Martinez would be sent down once Bichette is eligible to return on Tuesday — he looked like a player the Blue Jays hope will provide power for a lineup that has struggled to produce it this year.
Now, the Blue Jays can’t use the “call up Martinez” card to give the lineup a lift and, realistically, there aren’t any more prospects in the team’s upper minor leagues who are likely to offer the type of production the Blue Jays need.
That means if the Blue Jays are going to salvage this season, it’ll need to come from the guys already on the roster. Players like Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., George Springer, Justin Turner, Alejandro Kirk and Kevin Kiermaier need to be better — particularly in the power department — to give Toronto any chance of climbing back into the wild-card race.
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Can it get any worse for the Blue Jays?
To recap recent events:
• they have lost six in a row after being swept by the Boston Red Sox and Guardians
• they lost their top hitting prospect to an 80-game suspension
• closer Jordan Romano was shut down from his throwing program after experiencing elbow soreness, per Sportsnet’s Hazel Mae
• their starting shortstop is on the IL
• starter Alek Manoah was lost to season-ending elbow surgery
All of this is on top of the fact that the Blue Jays have one of the lowest-scoring offences in MLB and their bullpen ranks in the bottom six, per ERA. They’re 35-42, 6 1/2 games out of a wild-card spot and last in the AL East.
“To be at this point has been a disappointment for everyone in the clubhouse. We are frustrated. We are disappointed as well,” Atkins said. “We know the fans’ disappointment. We share that. It has been a very difficult time when you have the expectations and you’re not fulfilling them.”
The AL wild-card race remains crowded, with eight teams vying for two spots, but the Blue Jays have effectively given away any margin for error they had. Their playoff odds are down to 6.4 percent, per FanGraphs.
“There’s still time for us to get things turned around,” Atkins said. “It’s dependent upon a win streak, obviously. But we’re still capable of that. Frustrated, disappointed. I’m the most accountable for that. And that’s what I feel. I look inward. I don’t feel disappointment toward individuals other than myself.”
While, sure, a winning streak could alter their situation, given the state of their roster with key members injured and others mired in season-long slumps paired with the fact that the Blue Jays haven’t strung more than four consecutive wins together all season, there is not much recent evidence to go off that would suggest a winning streak that stops the spiral is around the corner.
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At most, the Blue Jays have a couple of weeks to show some signs of life before the club will need to decide if they are sellers or buyers at the deadline.
For now, the Martinez suspension has made a bad season feel worse.
— The Athletic’s Zack Meisel contributed to this report.
(Photo of Martinez from before the suspension: David Richard / USA Today)