Uncommitted Spotlight: '27 SS/2B Zion Martinez
May 9, 2025
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VENTURA, CALIF. - The Uncommitted Spotlight Series continues on as we are nearing the completion of the 2025 CIF High School season and the start of the summer circuit coming rapidly. With that in mind Prep Baseball California will begin to highlight some of the top uncommitted class of '27 athletes that college programs should be following throughout the remainder of the spring schedule and diving into over the summer. The player featured today is one of the top players in the state of California and figures prominently in our Class of 2027 Rankings.
We invite you to get to know them through the eyes of our Prep Baseball California staff of scouts both through our in person looks at players and/or the data-backed numbers collected at our events with our partnered companies. TrackMan, Blast Motion, and VALD Performance provide comparable data to project and evaluate players. All of these systems come together to give a clear picture at what colleges will get when a players steps onto their campus.
Today, we shine the Uncommitted Spotlight on the profile of the #66 ranked player in California as we look at SoCal '27 SS/2B Zion Martinez of Norco High School in Riverside, Calif.. The talented Inland Empire product has put together an outstanding sophomore season after sitting out the first 11 games of the season in the Transfer Sit Out period. Martinez played in 17 games this spring with 65 plate appearances and 51 official at bats the lefthanded hitter slashed .431/.531/.569 with eight BBs on the season adding four doubles (third on team) with one homer (third on team) driving in 16 runs (second on team) and scored 18 runs (second on the team) with a total of 22 hits (fourth on team) in about 2/3 of the teams games. Martinez committed just one error on the spring posting a .982 fielding percentage in 55 chances with 34 assists (second on the team) turning four double plays.
Martinez began his journey on the Prep Baseball California stage by attending the 2022 SoCal Rising Stars game as a 7th grader and then returned to the 2023 SoCal Preseason All State Underclass and 2023 Inland Empire Rising Stars ID which lead to an invite to be a member of Team California at the 2023 Prep Baseball Future Games. His dominant 2025 year was kickstarted by an outstanding showing at the Inland Empire Preseason All State.
Martinez checks in at 5'8 162.3 lbs. with an athletic build that has presently wiry strength to it with emerging athletic ability. He ran a 7.49 60 time at the Inland Empire Preseason All State with solid burst off the line posting a 1.83 10 yard split and 4.18 30 yard split with a top end run speed of 18.5 MPH. His arm has consistently shown well with quality actions at SS/2B which projects a future up the middle of the INF with a top velocity of 83 MPH.
At the plate the LH hitter has an athletic operation in the box with explosiveness across the board showing feel to utilize his lower half and has started to tap into his impact profile at the plate. On Blast Motion he posted 23.6 MPH hand speeds, 75.7 MPH bat speed with a solid 19.8 Gs of rotational acceleration across his various batting practice sessions. His Trackman batted ball data has been impressive including a 101.6 MPH max EV, 96.2 MPH avg EV with a 71% Sweet Spot rate, 349' max distance and a 71% hard hit rate and a 71% Fly Ball/Line Drive rate during Inland Empire Preseason All State batting practice.
As well, Martinez took the mound at the Inland Empire Preseason All State where he threw an 80-82 MPH FB with a 68 MPH CB behind it showing 2100+ RPMs of spin. He has not taken the mound in high school competition, but the athleticism to pitch is present.
With intriguing tools across the board from his LH hitting offensive profile that has feel to hit, intriguing present raw power that is flashing in game and an up the middle defensive profile long term there is plenty of reason for College programs to be paying close attention to Martinez over this coming summer.
College coaches and fans dive in deeper on the profile of Martinez by visiting his Prep Baseball profile.
Upcoming Events
| Showcase | State | Date | Location |
| NorCal Rising Stars Game (Invite-Only) | CA | 05/10 | Champions Field - Lathrop CA |
| Ballplayers League Scout Day | CA | 05/17 | McBean Stadium |
| SoCal Rising Stars Game (Invite-Only) | CA | 05/18 | Mater Dei High School - Santa Ana, CA |
| 2025 Future Games Tryout: Fullerton | CA | 05/31 | Fullerton College |
| 2025 Future Games Tryout: Los Angeles | CA | 05/31 | Loyola Marymount University |
| 2025 Future Games Tryout: Malibu | CA | 05/31 | Pepperdine University - Malibu, CA |
| 2025 ProCase - NorCal | CA | 05/31 | Cosumnes River College |
| 2025 Future Games Tryout: Northern California | CA | 06/01 | Consumnes River College - Sacramento, CA |
| 2025 ProCase - West | CA | 06/01 | Loyola Marymount University - Los Angeles, CA |
| Orange County Summer ID | CA | 06/04 | Hart Park - Orange, CA |
| 2025 Future Games Tryout: Central California | CA | 06/07 | Antelope Valley College - Lancaster, CA |
| Sacramento Summer ID | CA | 06/08 | Franklin High School - Elk Grove, CA |
| Central California Summer ID | CA | 07/08 | Ventura College |
| Senior Future Games (Class of 2026) | NATIONAL | 07/22 | LakePoint Sports |
| Future Games (Class of 2027) | NATIONAL | 07/23 | LakePoint Sports |
| Junior Future Games (Class of 2029/30) | NATIONAL | 07/24 | LakePoint Sports |
| 2025 California State Games (Invite-Only) | CA | 07/30 | Fullerton College - Fullerton, CA & Fullerton High School |
Scouting Report
Positional Profile: RHP
Body: 5-10, 175-pounds.
Delivery: Easy, compact delivery. Leg kicks out and up, slight drop before momentum carries forward into extension by utilizing his frame. Aggressive follow through, finishes hard.
Arm Action: RH. Aggressive arm action, long but fast wind up into the pitch.
FB: T82, 80-82 mph. Arm side run, stayed around the zone but lived arm side. T1962, 1861 average rpm.
CB: 68-68 mph. Decent spin, developing pitch, only threw it a couple of times. T2197, 2197 average rpm.
The former Jr. Future Games participant brought his sweet left-handed swing to the Preseason All-State, and he did not disappoint. After a clean defensive workout where he flashed the hands/glovework capable of handling a premium position with an arm (83 INF velo) that was capable of making all throws, it was time to show the gains with the bat. A line drive all-fields approach during BP translated into the gameplay portion where he started his day with a line drive to left field for a base knock. He followed with the event's loudest moment taking a center cut fastball deep over the right field fence for a home run. It’s a short, compact swing with efficient use of the hand speed (23.6 mph) he presently has.
Positional Profile: SS
Body: 5-10, 175 pounds.
Hit: LHH. Square setup, athletic stance. Fluid hands that start low, work with body during load. Small leg kick into stride, finishes with controlled aggression in upper half. Short, whippy swing. Exceptional hand and hip speed, hard contact consistently during round. 74.1 mph bat speed with 18g of rotational acceleration.
Power: 102 mph max exit velocity (96.2 avg.); 349-foot max batted distance.
Arm: RH. INF - 83.00 mph. Fast arm with a longer windup, higher 3/4 slot.
Defense: Quiet, short steps leading up to receiving the ball. Confident and soft glove throughout his round. Mature fielder.
Athletic Testing: 7.49 runner in the 60-yard dash.