Rays’ Nick Martinez Credits Aggressive Approach For Exceptional Season

How consistent has Nick Martinez been for the Tampa Bay Rays this season? How about allowing two or fewer runs in each of his 11 starts through the end of May?

“If he’s not the best pitcher this season, he’s definitely top three,” said teammate Yandy Diaz, who blasted a pair of homers against the Angels on Friday evening in support of Martinez’s latest victory. “He’s been great for us the entire year.”

How great? Martinez is 5-1 with a 1.62 ERA. The win at Tropicana Field against the Angels completed a month in which he went 3-0 with a 1.52 ERA in five starts. As sparkling as those numbers are, what might be most impressive was that he issued all of three free passes in 29 2/3 innings.

Martinez has been dictating terms with a six-pitch mix that includes a four-seam fastball and sinker with an average velocity between 92 and 93. While that would break a plane of glass, it is not going to break the radar gun. Frankly, who cares.

“We see a lot of pitchers in today’s game that are blowing high velocity,” said manager Kevin Cash. “Nick gets there a little bit by pitching a little bit more.”

Cash added the opposition has its scouting reports and knows, for the most part, what it will be up against: a sinker and a changeup that Martinez utilizes close to an equal basis, 30 percent versus 29 percent. Not that those reports have mattered.

“They haven’t had an answer,” he said of opposing lineups. “He’s been that sharp with his command and throwing the ball where he wants to.”

Joining the Tampa Bay Rays

Martinez signed as a free agent with the Rays at the beginning of spring training. He agreed to a one-year deal that made him the team’s highest-paid player at $13 million, including a $4 million buyout on a mutual option for the 2027 season. He joined the Rays after two seasons with the Reds, for whom he started 42 of his 82 appearances and won 21 games.

The Miami native, who turns 36 in August, logged a career high 159 2/3 innings with Cincinnati last year, a figure he is on pace to blow by this season. In compiling an 11-14 mark with a 4.45 ERA, Martinez felt he got away from a couple of the ingredients that made him a more effective pitcher upon returning to MLB with the Padres in 2022 following a four-season stint (2018-21) in Japan. Most notably, he felt he became less aggressive on the mound.

“Last year, I kind of got away from that mentality,” he said. “I was probably a little too tricky (in my approach) and that snowballed. It put me in a position pretty early in the season where I felt like I was kind of in survival mode and just trying to create weak contact. I didn’t really have that same aggressive mindset.”

That has changed and the results are apparent with Tampa Bay. Martinez directs much credit to pitching coach Kyle Snyder and those who labor over pitching charts and the like.

“I came into this organization knowing I would be working with probably the best pitching staff and R&D department,” he said. “A lot of it was just trying to take in a lot of information and trying to apply it. (Kyle) does an excellent job not only just showing us the data, but articulating it in a way that’s easy for us to digest and really believe in.”

Martinez has been challenging opposing hitters early and often. More importantly, he has remained locked in and not deviated from a blueprint that has yielded the aforenoted impressive set of statistics this season. Putting faith in those wearing the tools of ignorance, whether Nick Fortes or Hunter Feduccia, has been key as well.

“I’ve been able to maintain that mindset and challenge guys early and often and trusting what the catcher sees, which I want to make adjustments off of,” he said. “It’s something that I’ve done well since I got back from Japan and was a big focus of mine coming into this year.”

His impact with the Rays, the club with the American League’s top record as the calendar flips to June, has been unmistakable. That includes away from the mound.

“He’s been a stabilizing force every fifth day for us,” said Shane McClanahan, who has had a successful return to the Rays’ rotation following a two-year hiatus due to multiple injuries. “Whether it’s inside the clubhouse or on the field, he’s been great. I think we are as close as we are (as a team) because of Nick coming in and allowing us to bond and be together whether it’s dinners or (playing) cards. It’s been a lot of fun and a pleasure to have him.”

Feeling ‘Freer’ in Japan

Martinez opted for Fordham over Georgetown as his high school career at Miami’s Belen Jesuit Prep neared the finish line. He hit .295 in three years as a starting infielder with the Rams – he batted from the left side — and had only five appearances on the mound as a freshman before recording three saves with a 2.75 ERA in 10 appearances as a junior in 2011. The Rangers thought enough of Martinez as a pitcher to select him in the 18^th round that June.

Martinez broke into the big time with Texas in 2014 and in all or part of four seasons with the club went 17-30 with a 4.77 ERA. That is where his MLB resume pauses as he left for Japan and the Nippon-Ham Fighters in 2018, an experience that provided a fresh canvas personally and professionally.

“I just matured by leaps and bounds mentally and physically while gaining a better understanding of who I am,” said Martinez, husband to Kimberly and a father of three daughters: Vera, Stella and Amelia. “I became a father for the first time, and that lends a different perspective.”

Pitching in Japan also lent a different perspective on the mound, and to the point it cleared Martinez’s mind in allowing him to be the best version of himself.

“I think (playing abroad) benefits guys,” he said. “I played with a different type of aggressiveness while understanding what kind of stats I have really does not define me. So that kind of gave me a freer feeling to be aggressive and play with the style that I wanted and the style that I liked.”

Martinez is 36-30 with a 3.43 ERA in four-plus seasons since returning to the majors. The difference with the 2026 Tampa Bay Rays is that he has not only been extremely proficient in his approach, but has maintained that proficiency from start to start.

“Once the season began, I was like, ‘Alright, let’s just be aggressive and compete,” he said. “I’ve been able to do that and have kept it going.”