Martínez was born in Granada, Nicaragua, the last of seven children to Edmundo and Emilia Martínez. The family was poor, but he helped his parents on the farm that raised food for the family. He was scouted by Ray Poitevint of the Baltimore Orioles on December 10, 1973 for $3,000. He spent three years in the minor leagues with three separate teams. He went 15-6 with the Miami Orioles in 1974 with a 2.06 ERA. The following year, he spent time with Miami, Asheville, and the Rochester Red Wings, going 12-4 with the former and 4-1 with the middle while having no wins and losses with the latter. He went 14-8 with the Red Wings for 1976 with a 2.50 ERA before being called up by the team late in the season.
Martínez made his debut on September 14, 1976 against the Detroit Tigers at Memorial Stadium. He replaced Dave Pagan in the top of the fourth inning with the Orioles trailing 7–5. He pitched 5.2 innings while allowing no runs on four hits, one walk and five strikeouts as the Orioles rallied in the seventh to win 9–7 and give Martínez his first career win. In four games pitched with the team, he went 1–2 with a 2.60 ERA in 27.2 innings. He had 18 strikeouts and eight walks.
The following year, Martínez went 14–7 with a 4.10 ERA in 42 games (of which he started 13) in 166.2 innings, with four saves and five complete games. He had 107 strikeouts and 64 walks.

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