11:39PM: The Cubs officially announced Martin’s selection and Horton’s move to the 60-day IL.
11:04AM: The Cubs will select the contract of right-hander Corbin Martin prior to today’s game with the Mets, The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney reports. Cade Horton (who underwent Tommy John surgery yesterday) will be moved to the 60-day injured list to open up a 40-man roster spot for Martin, and the Cubs already had an open spot on their active roster after Daniel Palencia was placed on the 15-day IL yesterday.
Horton and Palencia are two of a whopping 10 pitchers on Chicago’s injured list, leaving the Cubs scrambling for extra arms. The situation has given Martin a path back to the majors after the righty signed a minor league deal back in January.
Martin is himself no stranger to injuries, as he missed the entirety of the 2020 season due to a TJ surgery and all of 2023 recovering from a lat tendon surgery. In the wake of the latter procedure, Martin spent all of 2024 in the minors before making his return to the Show to post a 6.00 ERA over 18 innings with the Orioles last season.
Over parts of four MLB seasons, Martin has a 6.54 ERA, 20.7% strikeout rate, and 12.8% walk rate across 75 2/3 innings with the Astros, Diamondbacks, and Orioles. Since his lat surgery, Martin has worked almost exclusively as a relief pitcher, but the role change hasn’t helped alleviate the control problems that have plagued Martin for much of his career.
Martin is out of minor league options, so Chicago would have to designate the righty for assignment and expose him to waivers before trying to send him back down to Triple-A via an outright. Given how the Cubs are hurting for pitching, Martin probably won’t be DFA’ed any time soon if he can provide decent results and eat a few innings out of the pen.
