Reds starter Nick Martinez ‘close’ to his old form, but falls to 0-3 on the season

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CINCINNATI — Still in his uniform pants, Cincinnati Reds starter Nick Martinez made his way to the far side of the home clubhouse at Great American Ball Park with a pair of beverages in hand, pulled up a chair and plopped down next to Jose Trevino as the catcher wrapped up a postgame interview.

Martinez, the Reds’ highest-paid player, dropped to 0-3 this season following a 5-3 loss to the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday. Martinez’s ERA actually dropped slightly from 6.06 to 6.00, despite him not making it out of the fifth inning. Martinez allowed four runs, three earned, giving up single runs in all but one inning he toed the rubber.

“They ‘one’d us to death tonight,” Reds manager Terry Francona said following the game. “Normally, when you stay away from a crooked number, you have a chance to win like we did, but they kept getting one. He was around the plate with everything — you almost hate to say it, but maybe too much. You hate to ever tell (a pitcher that). A couple of mistakes he really paid for.”

Martinez had a similar start a year ago, his first season in Cincinnati. Although signed as a swingman, he started the 2024 campaign in the rotation due to an injury to Nick Lodolo, made two starts before Lodolo’s return, went to the bullpen for two appearances and then returned to the rotation for two more starts after Frankie Montas went on the injured list.

Martinez stayed in the bullpen, where he was the Reds’ most consistent pitcher, before returning to the rotation for the final two months of the season, going 5-2 with a 2.42 ERA over his final 11 starts. Martinez went 4-1 with a 0.83 ERA in the final month of the season, with his one loss coming in a complete-game 1-0 loss.

“Sometimes guys have to pitch for a while. I think he’s OK,” Francona said. “I know his numbers aren’t where they will be, but he’s going to be OK. He knows what he’s doing. His stuff is good. It’ll be OK.”

Nick Martinez’s teammates praise his work ethic, with some of the younger pitchers modeling their preparation after his. (Kelley L Cox / Imagn Images)

Martinez has made four starts this season, going 0-3 in those starts. He’s allowed 14 earned runs over 21 innings with 23 hits allowed, seven walks and 19 strikeouts. In his first four starts last season, he was 0-2 with a 6.86 ERA, giving up 16 earned runs in 21 innings on 31 hits, three walks and 15 strikeouts.

“I feel great,” Martinez said. “I’m definitely throwing harder than I would be at this time of year. So physically, I feel great. Mentally, I feel focused.”

While the Reds could add starters like Wade Miley and Rhett Lowder in the next month or so, Martinez has earned more leeway than he had a year ago when he was in his first year with the team. One of the reasons the Reds felt OK giving Martinez a qualifying offer of $21.05 million this offseason was the versatility he offered, being able to move from the rotation to the bullpen and back. It was also the way he did it.

Martinez’s teammates praise his work ethic, with some of the younger pitchers modeling their preparation between starts after Martinez’s routine. The 34-year-old right-hander has an even-keeled personality that doesn’t change with his performance on the field. While some pitchers approach their start day by isolating themselves, Martinez makes his way through the clubhouse before starts, finding people to talk with, pulling up a chair next to teammates. In an environment that can be segregated by position, Martinez is a connector, floating between fellow starters, relievers and position players in addition to coaches and catchers.

Anyone who has been around Martinez stresses that he’s a pro’s pro, handling each situation how anyone in an organization would hope a player would. His slow start this season is no different.

Martinez said he feels good physically, and he felt he made just a couple of mistakes the Mariners capitalized on. In his first three starts, Martinez struggled the third time through the order. That wasn’t exactly the case Wednesday. Instead, it was a single run in four of his five innings.

It’s still the middle of April, and Martinez will have more starts — Francona made that clear — and he already started the work of figuring out what to do before he even took his postgame shower. Talking to Trevino was the first step in figuring out how to get from his slow start to where he was the majority of the 2024 season.

“I would say communicating. Communicating with our catchers (and coaches),” Martinez said. “Just collaborating and seeing what adjustments I can make.”

Even as Martinez settled into the rolling chair in front of Trevino’s locker, the veteran catcher knew whatever was said was going to work toward the goal of Martinez looking like the guy who finished the 2024 season rather than the one who started it.

“I feel like he’s a pitch away — one pitch away, catching that break,” Trevino said. “That’s the good thing about it. It’s one away — a pitch away, a start away, whatever it is. It’s close. It’s really close. It’s coming.”

(Top photo: Albert Cesare / The Enquirer / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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