The plan all along for Julio Pablo Martinez, assuming all went well during his first taste of organized baseball in the United States, called for him to finish 2018 in the Arizona Fall League.
When the Texas Rangers assigned the Cuban to their short-season Class A team in Spokane, Wash., they did so to get him acclimated to life in the U.S. and in the minor leagues.
The baseball would need some getting used to, too, as the game is more structured and played at a faster pace than in the Serie Nacional. But the rebuilding Rangers, shy on advanced minor-league talent, wanted to see how Martinez would fare against some of the best prospects in the game.