Photo: Redleg Nation Staff
Nick Martinez was outstanding in his final start of the year, but took the loss in a 1-run, 8.0 inning outing because the Cincinnati Reds offense disappeared over the last week of the season. That outing represented the longest of his season and career in the big leagues. And it capped off an outstanding season and an even better month of September. People took notice of his strong final month and voted for Martinez as the National League’s Pitcher of the Month.
During September Nick Martinez made five starts for the Reds and he allowed just three earned runs in his five starts that covered 32.2 innings. That’s good for an ERA of 0.83. He allowed just 18 hits, no home runs, walked just four batters, and he struck out 30 of the 119 hitters that he faced during the month. Opponents managed to hit just .161 and with their four walks only had a .195 on-base percentage. They didn’t hit for any power, either – even outside of not homering. In his five games during the month he allowed just six doubles, leading to a .214 slugging percentage for the opposition in September.
While it was a good season for Martinez, the final month of the season took things to another level and helped him drop his ERA to 3.10 on the season and push his innings total to 142.1 for the year. He would split the year between the bullpen and the rotation, but finished the year making starts for the Reds. In total he made 16 starts and 26 relief appearances.
The right-handed pitcher has a player option for 2025. If he wants to stick to a 1-year deal then he can take the option for $12,000,000. Given the season that he just had that seems very unlikely as he almost assuredly could get more money and more years by testing the free agent market.
