Chris Martin

Martin's first season with the Red Sox was possibly the finest of his career. The 37-year-old led qualified relievers with a miniscule 1.05 ERA, while his 3.82 Win Probability Added was 5th and the highest mark for a non-closer. After posting the most strikeouts of his career in 2022, Martin's strikeout rate (23.1%) dropped by nearly 10 percentage points last year, but he continued to induce plenty of grounders (51%) and rarely issued a free pass. The right-hander's 4.0% walk rate was 2nd-best among relief pitchers, as Martin continues to be one of the premiere setup men in the league. Some ratio regression is expected in 2024, but Martin's overall consistency from year to year should yield plenty of holds and the occasional ancillary save for Boston.

In his age-36 season, Martin tallied a career-high 56 innings between the Cubs and Dodgers. He impressively led qualified relievers with a 2.2% walk rate, issuing just five free passes all season. He also boasted a career-best 32.9% strikeout rate, leading to a 30.7% K-BB percentage that was fourth-best among relievers. Martin was especially dominant in the second half, with a 1.67 ERA, 0.63 WHIP and 39:1 K:BB over 27 innings. The right-hander mixes six pitches, but his mid-90s 4-seamer (45% pitch usage) was his best offering, with 45 of his 74 strikeouts coming via the heater. He threw more cutters (32%) last season, but the pitch wasn't as successful as his split-finger (9%) has been. Martin only has nine career saves, but his strong second half shows he could handle closing duties whenever Kenley Jansen is unavailable.

Martin has had one of the more impressive late-career breakouts in baseball. Through 2018 (his age-32 season), he owned a poor 5.31 ERA in just 78 career innings. In 2019, he emerged to post a 3.40 ERA in 55.2 innings for the Rangers and Braves, a number he backed up with a 30.1 K% and 2.3 BB%. 2020 was much the same for the veteran righty, who rode a 30.3 K% and 4.5 BB% to a 1.00 ERA in 18 frames. It did take some good fortune to get to that number, including his .171 BABIP and 84.9% strand rate, but his 2.36 FIP indicates he was still dominant even after accounting for that. There were a few worrying numbers for Martin -- his GB% plummeted from 50.0 to 39.0 while his fastball velocity dropped from 95.7 to 94.1 mph -- but the overall picture here is of a strong high-leverage reliever. He could fall off at any point given his age but should remain near the top of the closer depth chart in Atlanta until that happens.

Two seasons ago, Martin was pitching in Japan after failed stints with the Rockies and Yankees. In 2019, he emerged as a viable setup man, racking up 18 holds and four saves in 58 appearances between Texas and Atlanta. The right-hander established career bests in nearly every category including FIP (3.24), WHIP (1.02) and strikeout rate (30.1%). Martin limited baserunners by posting the second-lowest walk rate in the league among qualified relievers (2.3 BB%). That number was not an aberration; he maintained a similarly-stingy 2.8 BB% in 2018. Relievers who strike out over a batter an inning while demonstrating elite command/control are hard to find -- especially when they have a five-pitch arsenal as Martin does. The 33-year-old returned to Atlanta on a two-year, $14 million deal, and while closing seems unlikely with Mark Melancon and Will Smith heading up the relief corps, it's not out of the question.

Martin pitched in Japan the past two years after disappointing stints with the Rockies in 2014 and Yankees in 2015. The 31-year-old had a 1.12 ERA and 91:13 K:BB in 89.1 innings of relief with the Nippon Ham Fighters over the past two seasons. He'll work in middle relief after signing a two-year, $4 million contract with the Rangers.

Martin was traded to the Yankees toward the end of the offseason last year, but struggled to make much of an impact in the majors, as he pitched to a 5.66 ERA in 20.2 innings. He was released by New York at the beginning of the 2015 offseason with the intention of signing with the Nippon-Ham Fighters of Japan, so he'll likely be off the fantasy radar entirely for at least the 2016 season, if not beyond.

Martin made his debut with the Rockies as a 27-year-old last April, completing an improbable journey to the majors for the reliever, who had been a full-time warehouse worker just four years earlier. Unfortunately for Martin, the feel-good story didn’t continue during his 16 appearances with the Rockies (6.89 ERA, 1.66 WHIP), and his surface numbers weren’t overwhelmingly better over his 26.2 innings at Triple-A, either. There were some positive things to take away from his time with the Rockies, however. On the strength of a mid-90s fastball he was often able to keep low in the zone, Martin generated a 60.8% groundball rate. Moreover, the right-hander’s .408 BABIP and 3.77 FIP indicate that he could become a passable MLB reliever with a little better luck. He’ll get another look in the Colorado bullpen this season, though it’s unlikely he’ll rank high on the totem pole for saves.