Fernando Martinez arrives in camp - "I can hit"

Fernando Martinez arrived in Port St Lucie this morning looking to hit the diamond after being shut down by the Mets, just shy of two weeks ago. F-Mart will meet with team medical staff prior to returning to active duty.

Jessie Sanchez of MLB.com, filed this post about F-Mart's injury as well as his heroic game winning homer.

The Caribbean Series is over for Mets prospect Fernando Martinez.The right-handed-throwing outfielder is nursing a sore right elbow and will fly to New York on Thursday night for a checkup. He said he is taking anti-inflammatory medication.

"I felt my elbow tighten up the day before yesterday [after throwing]," Martinez said. "It was a little swollen. It's better. I feel I can play again. I don't think I need to fly to New York to get a check up but the Mets want me to."

On Tuesday, Martinez hit a two-run pinch-hit homer in the top of the seventh inning to push the Tigres de Licey past Puerto Rico's Leones de Ponce, 2-1. It was his only at-bat of the series. Last season the 20-year old combined to hit .292 in 90 games for the Mets' Gulf Coast League team and Double-A Binghamton. He was also slowed by a hamstring injury.

Flash back to video of F-Mart's Caribbean Series blast here.

Update from Mike Rose - Fernando Martinez just walked by with a big smile on his face saying "I can hit." The doctors must have just cleared him for that and he was headed out to the field with a bat.

Read Mike's post here.

NY Mets represented by three of Sporting News Top 50 baseball prospects

It's good to see Daniel Murphy crack the top 10.

Sporting News Top 50 baseball prospects:

8. Daniel Murphy, 2B/OF, New York Mets. Murphy performed well in left field during a late-season call-up, but second base may be a better fit for the Mets' needs. After hitting .313 in his short big-league stint, Murphy was one of the stars of the Arizona Fall League, where he showed great plate discipline and an above average glove at second. Murphy doesn't have much power, but he has a great approach, superb pitch recognition and tremendous bat control.

40. Fernando Martinez, OF, New York Mets. Martinez is a top talent but his impact in 2009 is hard to gauge. Despite plus bat speed and great hands, he has been plagued by injuries and inconsistency. If Martinez can stay healthy, he could realize his potential and eventually win a big-league job.

43. Jonathon Niese, SP, New York Mets. The Mets' rotation could have at least one open slot and Niese is the best internal candidate for the job. While he's not overpowering, Niese has three effective pitches and is learning how to mix his offerings and set up hitters.

Fernando Martinez out of Caribbean Series with sore elbow

MEXICALI, Mexico -- The Caribbean Series is over for Mets prospect Fernando Martinez.The right-handed-throwing outfielder is nursing a sore right elbow and will fly to New York on Thursday night for a checkup. He said he is taking anti-inflammatory medication.

"I felt my elbow tighten up the day before yesterday [after throwing]," Martinez said. "It was a little swollen. It's better. I feel I can play again. I don't think I need to fly to New York to get a check up but the Mets want me to."

On Tuesday, Martinez hit a two-run pinch-hit homer in the top of the seventh inning to push the Tigres de Licey past Puerto Rico's Leones de Ponce, 2-1. It was his only at-bat of the series. Last season the 20-year old combined to hit .292 in 90 games for the Mets' Gulf Coast League team and Double-A Binghamton. He was also slowed by a hamstring injury.

Source: Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com

NY Met Fernando Martinez not in lineup day after hitting game winning 2-run BLAST

After his pinch-hit homer Tuesday, Fernando Martinez was not in the Domincan Republic lineup Wednesday in the Carribbean Series. Instead, Timo Perez was in left where he went 0-4 and left 4 on base in the DR’s 12-9 loss to Mexico.

Source: Toby Hyde, Mets Minor League Blog

Fernando Martinez Bomb Is Difference Maker In Dominican Victory Over P.R. in Caribbean Series

MEXICALI, Mexico -- Fernando Martinez hit a two-run homer and the Dominican Republic's Licey Tigers beat Puerto Rico's Ponce Lions 2-1 for their first win in the Caribbean Series on Tuesday.
Puerto Rico is 0-2 in the tournament.
The New York Mets prospect came into the game to pinch-hit for Salvador Paniagua in the seventh inning and hit it off Lions reliever Jose Vaquedano.

“I wasn’t looking to hit a home run,” Fernandez told MLB.com. “I wanted a line drive. But thank God the ball went out.”

Source: AP

Check out video of the blast here.

F-Mart Cracks Keith Law's Top 100 Prospects #16

When Keith Law speaks, all of baseball listens!

Let not your heart be troubled, no if ands or buts about it, Fernando Martinez is an elite MLB prospect. The Mets are extremely fortunate to have F-Mart as part of their organization. Please keep in mind he's only 20 yrs old and still growing physically and in baseball awareness. Keith points out, F-Marts inability to stay on the field/healthy is his biggest issue.

There was a time when another young Met phenom shared the same fate, where the injury bug would constantly find him...His name is Jose Reyes. My have times changed.

Here's Keith Law's evaluation of F-Mart: To view the top 25 prospects click on link to the left.

Martinez's big issue is staying healthy; he has yet to reach 400 plate appearances or play in 100 games during any of his pro seasons, excluding winter ball. This is a shame, because Martinez has a special bat and the injuries plus some aggressive promotions have obscured it. Martinez offers huge power potential, putting on a display in BP, but it has only briefly started to emerge in games. He has very quick and strong wrists, letting the ball travel on him before exploding quickly and making solid, hard contact. In the field, he's looking more likely to end up in right field; the Mets have one of the game's best center fielders in the big leagues and don't need to groom Martinez for that position. His pitch recognition, while good for his age, hasn't progressed over the last two years, and the more he's pushed up the system the less likely it is that the skill will develop. Martinez has now played the equivalent of a full season in Double-A before his 20th birthday, and the Mets are faced with the difficult decision of whether to promote him to Triple-A because he has "graduated" from the lower level or return him to the Eastern League for the third consecutive year so he can work on his plate discipline and, maybe, catch his breath.

FERNANDO MARTINEZ - A TALE OF TWO CITIES

Do not be discouraged grasshoppers!

Adam Rubin post on F-Mart: Fernando Martinez's winter ball season is over. After hitting .314 with six homers and 26 RBI in 153 at-bats for Escogido in the Dominican Republic, the Mets' top prospect moved to Venezuela for Caracas' postseason. However, Martinez hit just 4-for-25 with seven strikeouts and was replaced on the roster by Armando Rios.

Adam Rubin does a fine job in giving a balanced look at F-Mart's body of work for the entire winter. I'll take a sampling size of 153 at-bats over 25 at-bats any day.

Meanwhile, Matt Cerrone takes a more direct approach that ends with praise being heaped on F-Mart by Leones President:

According to El Universal, Fernando Martinez has been let go from Leones del Caracas of the Venezuelan Winter League.

“Martinez is a great player,” Leones President Luis Avila told the newspaper, “but unfortunately he couldn't hit as we hoped. We informed him of our decision yesterday and he took it in a very professional way.”