Tuesday, May 19

Welcome back to the Guardians Beat newsletter. My name is Tim Stebbins, and this is my second season covering Cleveland for MLB.com.

DETROIT -- Angel Martínez was thrilled to be recognized on Monday as the third Guardians player to win American League Player of the Week honors this season, amid his continued stellar stretch at the plate. He's also taking it as motivation to not grow complacent and to keep working.

“I’m just very happy,” Martínez said Monday afternoon at Comerica Park. “It just gives me a lot of energy to keep going and to keep focusing through the season.”

Martínez went on to go 2-for-5 with an RBI single in the Guardians’ 8-2 win over the Tigers in the opener of a four-game series.

Martínez has been one of the best storylines for the Guardians so far this season; the 24-year-old has continued to show signs that we’re witnessing his breakout. This past week, he hit .368 (7-for-19) with one double, four home runs, seven RBIs and three stolen bases. 

Martínez was tied for the MLB lead in home runs this past week, and he was tied for the AL lead in extra-base hits. He entered Monday having gone deep in four of his past five games, and he had logged an RBI in a career-best six straight games. That marked the longest streak by a Cleveland player 24 or younger since Grady Sizemore (six games, May 18-24, 2006).

“I don't like to get too high because then the focus goes away,” Martínez said. “But it feels pretty special, that all the work that I've been putting in is finally showing up.”

That’s been a constant refrain from Martínez this season and something he has continued to point to as a key to his success. He knows he’s had some, but also that it doesn’t guarantee him anything ahead. Alternatively, if he goes through a down stretch, he doesn’t get hung up on it.

“Just set my mind to always focus on the next pitch, the next game,” Martínez said. “That’s it.”

Martínez entered Monday slashing .266/.312/.510 with eight doubles, nine home runs and eight stolen bases. It’s been a remarkable step forward from 2025, when he slashed .224/.269/.359 with 23 doubles, 11 home runs and eight steals over 139 games. There's a lot of season left, but at his current rate he could challenge for a 30-30 season.

Stephen Vogt was thrilled by Martínez getting recognized on Monday. Part of the Guardians manager's message to Martínez was in a similar vein as the mentality the outfielder is carrying during his own success: Let’s keep it going.

“It's so cool. I'm so happy for Angel,” Vogt said. “He's worked so hard to get where he is. The reality is that if you don't earn tomorrow, it goes away. That's the message for all of our young players. Angel specifically, I feel like he and I have such a good relationship. 

“[The message is] like, ‘Cool, good for you. I'm really happy for you, but let's keep going. It's been two months. Let's turn this into six months and then turn it into 10 years.’ And you do that by earning it today for tomorrow. Angel’s been doing that.”

Martínez’s locker in Detroit is directly next to Ramírez -- who’s won AL Player of the Week nine times in his career, including on April 19 this season. Their lockers are often aligned that way, including at Progressive Field. Ramírez has taken Martínez under his wing, and Martínez said the likely future Hall of Famer is a mentor to him. 

Martínez and Ramírez trained together in Cleveland and in the Dominican Republic this winter. If there’s perhaps one person who saw Martínez’s start to this season coming, it’s Ramírez.

“I’m not surprised with Martínez,” Ramírez said through team interpreter Agustin Rivero over the weekend. “I know what his ceiling is, and I know he’s going to be that type of player. I'm not surprised by what he's doing. I knew he was capable of that."

Ramírez entered Monday with 24 stolen bases in 168 career games against the Tigers, his third most vs. a single opponent. Which team does he have the most steals against?

A. Twins

B. Royals
C. White Sox
D. Rangers

After this week’s seven-game road trip to Detroit and Philadelphia, the Guardians will host the Nationals and Red Sox in a six-game homestand beginning Monday. There are several giveaways and special ticket packages scheduled, including a City Connect Plush Blanket giveaway on Monday (first 15,000 fans) and Bark in the Park Night on Tuesday. Friday includes Phantom Fireworks and Sugardale Dollar Dog Night, and there is an Austin Hedges Jersey Giveaway (first 15,000 fans) on Saturday. More information on tickets and promotions is available here.

• It’s games like Sunday when you can really dream on the potential of a Guardians’ lineup full of hitters who are coming into their own at the plate. Read more >>

• Ralphy Velazquez (MLB Pipeline’s No. 59 overall prospect) is joining Triple-A Columbus after his stellar start to the season with Double-A Akron. Read more >>

“It came from how close we were as a group. That breeds natural chemistry. The guys that were new -- whether it be a guy that we signed that offseason prior or a guy we traded for at the Deadline -- fit in seamlessly. It made it easy to go out there when it was game time and all have the same goal. It wasn’t any individual egos that were kind of detracting from the overall goal of the team, which in all honestly is pretty rare.” -- Corey Kluber, on the chemistry and unity of the 2016 team

C. White Sox

Ramírez has 34 steals against Chicago (178 games), 26 against Minnesota (185) and 21 against Texas (65), his most against a non-AL Central opponent.

To subscribe to Guardians Beat, visit this page and mark "Guardians Beat" from our newsletter list. Make sure you're following the Guardians or that they're checked as your favorite team.

View Online

© 2026 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. MLB trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball. Visit MLB.com. Any other marks used herein are trademarks of their respective owners.

Please review our Privacy Policy.

You (mlb-newsletters@mlb.com) received this message because you registered to receive commercial email messages or purchased a ticket from MLB. 

Please add info@marketing.mlbemail.com to your address book to ensure our messages reach your inbox. If you no longer wish to receive commercial email messages from MLB.com, please unsubscribe or log in and manage your email subscriptions.

Postal Address: MLB.com, c/o MLB Advanced Media, L.P., 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.