The Red Sox announced yesterday that righty Seth Martinez has been sent outright to Triple-A Worcester. Martinez was designated for assignment three days ago. As someone who’s been outrighted in the past, he has the right to reject the assignment in favor of electing free agency.
The 31-year-old Martinez has tossed 145 innings over parts of six big league seasons. Most of those came with the Astros from 2021-24. In that time, he posted a 3.93 ERA in 137 1/3 innings out of the bullpen. His 20.7% strikeout rate, 9.2% walk rate, and 39.6% groundball rate were all slightly worse than average, and opponents didn’t have much trouble facing Martinez’s low-90s velocity. From 2025 onward, he’s tossed just 7 2/3 big league innings while bouncing around a few teams as a waiver claim and minor league depth signing. He threw a single inning for the Red Sox on Tuesday before they designated him for assignment to clear roster space.
Martinez has been decent, but hardly exciting in the minor leagues. He had a 3.71 ERA in 43 2/3 innings for the Marlins’ top affiliate last year, but while that came with an above-average 28.9% strikeout rate, his walk and groundball numbers were unremarkable. This year, Martinez is up to a 5.55 ERA in 60 innings for Worcester. His walk rate and ground ball percentage are better than average, but now the strikeouts have fallen off dramatically. He’s also uncharacteristically given up 14 home runs, or more than two per nine innings. The profile is that of an depth arm with an unremarkable recent track record, so it’s not surprising to see Martinez go unclaimed on waivers this time around.
Martinez elected free agency when the Marlins outrighted him last September. He could go that route again, though he could also choose to stay with the Sox and bide his time at Worcester. Boston has a stretch of 14 games in 13 days from August 28 through September 9. It’s plausible that they could repeat the cycle of selecting Martinez or another arm for brief stints, then designating them after a few appearances as they go through fresh arms for the bullpen. Active rosters expand to 28 on September 1st, so the Sox will have an extra reliever to work with for the last month of the season as they cement their hold on a Wild Card spot.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images
