Cubs agree right-handed Chris Martin in a one-year deal, according to MLB Network’s John Morosi. The deal includes a $2.5 million guarantee, as well as $500k performance bonuses and a $250k lineup bonus. (Twitter links)
Martin, who turned 36 in June, had clearly not followed a textbook path to the big leagues. For the incredible full story, check out this 2019 article by Tim Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Long story short, Martin thought his baseball career ended with shoulder surgery in 2006. Years later, while working at Lowe’s and UPS, playing catch with a friend made him realize that his shoulder no longer hurt him, putting Martin back on his baseball trajectory.
After returning to the hill in indieball, he signed with the Red Sox in the minor leagues in 2013. After being traded to the Rockies, Martin made his MLB debut in 2014, just weeks before his 28th birthday. He didn’t particularly impress the Rockies that year or the Yankees in 2015, but moved to the Nippon Japanese Professional Baseball League and excelled in the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
He returned to North America in 2018, signing a two-year deal with the Rangers. After a decent first year in Texas, 2019 was a huge breakthrough for him as he went 55 2/3 innings with a 3.40 ERA, a 30.1% strikeout percentage and a mere 2.3% walking rate.
The Braves, who acquired Martin from the Rangers midway through that season, signed Martin to a two-year, $14 million contract through the 2020 season. That year, he largely maintained his strikeout and walk rates at 30.3% and 4.5%, but his ERA plummeted to 1.00 in a small sample of 18 innings.
However, things didn’t go so smoothly for Martin in 2021 as some injuries seemed to limit his effectiveness. In 43 1/3 innings, he still maintained an incredibly low walk rate of 3.3%, but his strikeout rate plummeted to 18.2%. Despite this, he still managed to keep his ERA at a reasonable 3.95 for the year.
He did not make the club’s roster for the NLDS, but was added to the NLCS and ended up throwing 4 1/3 innings in the postseason, continuing to have success without picking strikeouts. His ERA was 2.08 in that small sample, with a strikeout rate of 17.6% and no walks, helping the club win the World Series.
For the Cubs, their big sell-out last year was due to a deadline. Craig Kimbrel, Ryan Tepera as well as Andrew Chafin heading out of town. The bullpen recently got another hit when Cody Hoyer underwent Tommy John surgery. It’s left Rowan Wick as well as Brad Wick as the only prospective bullpen members with more than one year of MLB service. With recent additions Jesse Chavez and now, Martin, they’ve reinforced their fledgling relief corps with veterans.