Trash Pandas outfielder named Southern League Player of the Month

The Minor League Baseball season is just a month old at this point, but the Rocket City Trash Pandas are already making noise, especially outfielder Orlando Martinez, who was named Southern League Player of the Month for April.

Check out what Martinez accomplished in the first month of the season:

Player of the Month honors

Martinez finished the first month of the season leading the Southern League in runs batted in with 22, but that’s not all he accomplished in April on his way to being named the league’s Player of the Month:

• His.333 batting average led the league for the month
• He led the league in hits (24), total bases (44) and triples
• Was second in the league in OPS (.991), slugging percentage (.611), and home runs (4)
• Recorded nine multi-hit games over the 19 games he played in

Setting team records as well

In addition to the league marks Martinez set during April, he also made some Trash Pandas team history during the month.

In April, he passed Torii Hunter Jr. with the most games played in team history and eclipsed both Preston Palmeiro’s doubles mark and Ray-Patrick Didder’s triples record. Martinez currently holds the Trash Pandas franchise record in nearly every offensive category including games played, at-bats, slugging percentage, hits, runs scored, home runs, RBI, doubles, triples, and total bases.

In the first game of a doubleheader at Chattanooga on April 29, he homered in each of the first two innings while driving in five runs to pass Mitch Nay for the Trash Pandas’ all-time home run record. Martinez now has 25 home runs over 162 total games with the Trash Pandas from 2021-23.

He became the fifth Rocket City player to be named Southern League Player of the Month. David MacKinnon and Mitch Nay accomplished the feat during the 2021 season while Trey Cabbage and Logan O’Hoppe did so in 2022.

Martinez, 25, was originally signed by the Los Angeles Angels as an 18-year-old from Cuba in 2017.

The Trash Pandas return to Toyota Field May 16 for a 12-game homestand that includes series against the Birmingham Barons and Chattanooga Lookouts.

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