By: Francys Romero.
Always, when it comes to baseball, there is something we do not see and do not know about it. It might be a simple statistic that we cannot read or a light movement that we do not appreciate in time. Everything will always have a secret side. Perhaps this is the explanation to the season that Cuban Leonys Martín has had the in the majors in this 2014.
Leonys, born in Corralillo, Villa Clara, came to the MLB system in 2011 and in the same season he transited from the A subsidiary to the great Texas Rangers team with which he signed for 5 years and 15.5 million dollars. In that season he only had 8 at-bats. The scout reports on Leonys recorded him as a potential leadoff hitter in the majors, a runner and defender above average with occasional power. The next year he had to continue working from the minors where he had an impressive offensive line 359/422/610 and was promoted to the majors again accumulating 46 at bats. The Rangers cataloged it as the prospect 4 throughout the franchise in 2012.
After a 2013 with good records and playing most of the time in center field for the Rangers, Martin began to establish his value in baseball. He hit 260/313/385 with 8 homers and 49 RBIs, while had a WAR (wins over replacement) of 2.7 and graduated as a base stealer with 36.
For the Rangers this has been an eventful catastrophic season full of injuries which have taken them from contenders to last place in the Western Division with 92 games lost. They established historical record of 61 players in a single season and have had to bear the disclaimer in the last days of their iconic manager Ron Washington, the same that had led them to two World Series in the past.
However, 2014 was the year of Leonys Martin. He found stability in the very beginning of the season in April, averaging 283/333/379, career highs since joining the majors. He tried to steal 40 times and has reached safely in 29. He also had 10 walks over the previous year and moved from 62.8 percent to 65.0 percent of swings made. Martin made 7 errors in defense and field numbers route (UZR) is remarkable: 8.9in 1.167.1 innings played. It ranks sixth in stolen bases in the American League and ranked 21st in batting average.
But the secret side of Leonys in this 2014 lies in his contribution WAR or wins over replacement for the team. With a WAR of 4.7, has surpassed his previous victories index by 2.0; he is the second Cuban that brings more victories brings to his team behind José Dariel Abreu and above compatriots as Puig, Alexei Ramirez or Yoennis Cespedes.
