Junior Martina with the Dutch national team shirt
© Honkbalsoftbal.nl
Junior Martina is from UnipolSai Fortitudo Bologna. The first shot on the market and new face of the 2024 season of the Bologna team is served, in a roster that sees the confirmation of numerous protagonists of last season’s winning ride.
Francinel Francisco “Junior” Martina was born on December 12, 1997 in Willemstad, Curaçao, 183 cm. For 86 kg., he hits and shoots right-handed. Community infielder specialized in the role of third base, but also usable in the other infield roles, he already boasts excellent experience. From 2018 to 2022 he collected three seasons in the Minor League and three in the Dutch top league, while in the last season he stood out in the Independent League, demonstrating great defensive skills and extreme solidity behind the plate.
Moved to the Netherlands in his early childhood, it was there that, as he grew up, he divided his time between football and bat and run, the sport he ended up preferring. After a season with DSS Haarlem, he decided to move to Oklahoma (USA) for high school and subsequently enrolled at Western Oklahoma State College in Altus, where he studied and played baseball.
At the college level (NJCAA), he closed his first season, batting .373 in 48 games, with .482 on base and .677 slugging (13 doubles, one triple and 11 home runs) for 47 RBI. In 2019 he repeated the great numbers of the previous season (399/475/673 in 55 games, with 9 doubles, 3 triples and 14 home runs for 51 RBI) and was chosen by the Washington Nationals in the June draft, in the sixteenth round.
The 2019 season saw him involved with the Nationals in 39 rookie league games, presenting himself with an excellent batting average of .338, with 6 doubles, 3 triples and 4 home runs, for a slugging average of .515, but also a remarkable .461 on base; thus in July he deserves the election as “player of the month” and the inclusion in the “All star post season”.
Due to the pandemic, the Minor League championships are skipped in the 2020 season, so Martina returns to the Dutch Hoofdklasse; She played 16 games with Twins Oosterhout, where she stood out by batting .315 with 5 doubles, a triple, a home run and .422 on base.
In 2021 he resumes the conversation with the Nationals by having a solid season in single-A with the Fredericksburg Nationals (North Division), playing 80 games, batting .321, with 13 doubles and 3 home runs. For him also 8 games in advanced single A, with Wilmington Blue Rocks. Also in 2021, Junior Martina made his debut as the third baseman of the “Orange” national team that won the European title, batting .333, with a double and 5 RBI in 6 games. In the same year he also participated in the Under 23 World Cup, which had also seen him as a protagonist in 2018, while previously he had participated in various youth selections in the Netherlands and Curaçao.
In 2023 he moved to the Independent League, playing 92 matches with the Windy City ThunderBolts (Frontier League). He bats .247, but his slugging average is .350, the result of numerous extra bases (15 doubles, 2 triples and 6 home runs), obtaining the remarkable figures of 47 RBI and 48 runs scored, to which he also adds 11 stolen bases. Also last year he also played a race with Curaçao Neptunus.
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2024-03-18 22:39:36
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