By Aaron Cheris

MADISON – The Rocket City Trash Pandas are pleased to announce that outfielder Orlando Martinez has been named Southern League Player of the Week for the period ending on Sunday, June 19.

The award gives the Trash Pandas six Southern League weekly awards over the first 10 weeks of the season and their second Player of the Week after Trey Cabbage earned the honors on May 1. The other four awards were Pitchers of the Week, with Brett Kerry (April 17), Chase Silseth (April 24), and Coleman Crow (May 22 and June 12) shining brightest in the 2022 season. Martinez previously received Player of the Week for the Trash Pandas late in the 2021 season, taking home the award on August 22.

Martinez played in six games against the Montgomery Biscuits last week at Toyota Field and was sensational, hitting .476 (10-for-21) with one home run, 12 RBI, four runs scored, a double, a triple, and a stolen base while posting a .810 slugging percentage. Martinez recorded a hit in all six games while driving in multiple runs in four of them. His 12 RBI last week led all of Double-A and tied for third in all of Minor League Baseball while his batting average also led the Double-A ranks.

The 24-year-old out of Cuba was at his best in the clutch moments for the Trash Pandas on their way to a first-half North Division title last week. On Saturday night, he stepped to the plate with the bases loaded, two outs, and Rocket City down 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh. He delivered by lining a double into the right field corner, scoring all three runs to give the Trash Pandas the lead in a 6-4 win. On Sunday, he came through again with an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth for a key insurance run as the Trash Pandas clinched a playoff spot with a 7-2 triumph.

Martinez is playing in his fifth professional season after signing with the Los Angeles Angels as an international free agent in 2017. For the season, he is batting .287 with four home runs, 30 RBI, 20 runs, and seven doubles in 35 games with the Trash Pandas.

Martinez and the first-half champion Trash Pandas (39-24) hit the road for their final series of the first half with a six-game set against the Birmingham Barons beginning on Tuesday night. First pitch at Regions Field is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Josh Caray will be on the call for 103.9 FM THE UMP and 730 AM SportsRadio.