Mario Martínez (minors05)

Mario Omar Martínez Mendoza

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 220 lb.

• High School U.E. Aquiles Nazoa

• Born November 13, 1989 in Barquisimeto, Lara Venezuela

BR register page

Biographical Information

Mario Martínez peaked at AAA and has been on the Venezuelan national team.

He was signed by Seattle Mariners scouts Bob Engle and Emilio Carrasquel in July 2006. Unlike many Latino signees, he started off his career in the US minors rather than the Dominican Summer League or Venezuelan Summer League. He hit .281/.311/.352 for the 2007 AZL Mariners with 36 runs in 53 games, fielding .938 at short. He tied Dom Duggan and Hilton Richardson for 9th in the Arizona League in runs, despite his low OBP.

Martínez batted .319/.344/.462 for the '08 Pulaski Mariners and fielded .906 at the hot corner. He scored 43 runs and rapped 15 doubles in 64 games, though he only drew 10 walks. Baseball America named him as the league's #5 prospect. He was among the Appalachian League leaders in hits (80, 3rd, behind Jon Gilmore and Jon Waltenbury), runs (4th), doubles (9th) and average (8th, between Jordan Kendall and Niko Vasquez). He split 2009 between the Everett Aquasox (.308/.340/.437, 20 2B in 71 G) and Clinton LumberKings (.214/.264/.314 in 61 G). His 21-game hitting streak was the longest in the Northwest League that year. He missed the Northwest League top-ten in average, .001 behind Tommy Mendonca. He tied Jeff Clement for third in the M's chain with 33 doubles, behind Alex Liddi and Prentice Redman. His 7 triples tied Nate Tenbrink and Julio Morban for 8th.

Making his Venezuelan League debut, he was 0 for 2 for the 2009-2010 Cardenales de Lara. Back with Clinton for 2010, he hit .239/.270/.384 with 114 K to 17 BB. He reached double-digit homers (12) and drove in 66. He fielded .944 and Baseball America rated him as the best defensive third baseman in the Midwest League. He was 9 for 19 with 4 walks, 3 doubles, 3 runs and 2 RBI that winter for Lara. With the 2011 High Desert Mavericks, pitchers continued to exploit his larger strike zone (19 BB, 137 K). He hit .278/.313/.419. He was 8th in the California League in strikeouts, between Keon Broxton and Rashun Dixon. In 2011-2012, he had a reverse of his prior winter, going 1-for-18. Returning to High Desert in 2012, he batted .283/.308/.486 with 21 home runs and 80 RBI. He cut his strikeout total by forty but only had 13 walks. He fielded .930 at third. He missed the Cal League top-ten in homers by one behind George Springer. He tied Carlos Peguero and Mickey Wiswall for 4th in the Seattle system in dingers, was 6th in RBI (between Luis Jimenez and John Hicks) and 8th in total bases. He was in between the level his two extreme winters in 2012-2013, going 3 for 13 with a double, four runs and a RBI.

Let go by Seattle in March 2013, he was picked up two days later by the Detroit Tigers. He batted .234/.265/.391 in 35 games for the West Michigan Whitecaps, driving in 22, then was released in May. He was again not unemployed for long, as the Boston Red Sox signed him two days later. Sent to the Greenville Drive, he hit .285/.328/.424 with 54 RBI in 76 games the remainder of the way. He was 2 for 14 with a double, walk, three runs and a RBI that winter for Lara. He spent all of 2014 in the Boston system, hitting .268/.288/.395 with 28 doubles for the Salem Red Sox and getting into one game (0 for 1) for the Pawtucket Red Sox. He tied for 7th in the BoSox chain in two-baggers and was one shy of making the Carolina League top-ten in that department.

Lara traded him with Jimenez to the Bravos de Margarita for Carlos Rivero and Cesar Hernandez. He hit .263/.298/.413 for the 2014-2015 Bravos, getting his longest winter league opportunity. backing up Alberto González and Adam Duvall at third and Eliezer Alfonso at first. He was back with Salem in 2015 and was relatively steady at .271/.322/.392 with 23 doubles, moving from third to first and fielded .996 there (he had played first on and off over the years). With Venezuela for the 2015 Premier 12, he started at third in their first three games. He had Venezuela's first extra-base hit in a Premier 12 with a double off Brennan Bernardino of Mexico but was 0 for 10 otherwise in the first three games and lost his starting spot to Ray Olmedo, who moved over from 2B, with Renny Osuna entering the lineup at second. He did not get another at-bat, but scored a run as a pinch-runner for Francisco Caraballo in a loss to Japan; his run tied it in the 9th. He fielded .900 for the event.

He was 1 for 11 for the 2015-2016 Bravos. He moved to Italy's Parma club that winter. He hit .266/.349/.383 and fielded .953 in the 2016 Italian Baseball League. He was 0 for 3 for the 2016-2017 Águilas del Zulia to end his Venezuelan League career. In the 2017 IBL, his batting line for Parma was .191/.250/.349. Starting at third for Venezuela in the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games, he hit .188/.188/.250 with one run in five games, fielding .938.