Red Sox supporting Martin through anxiety-related issue
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BOSTON -- After placing trusted reliever Chris Martin on the 15-day injured list due to anxiety on Wednesday, the Red Sox put their support behind the veteran right-hander and applauded him for being open about what he is going through.
Martin, who hasn’t pitched for Boston since May 30, first brought it to the club’s attention last weekend, according to Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow.
“He kind of brought this up over the weekend and obviously we made the decision to put him on the IL with some symptoms related to anxiety,” Breslow said. “Being respectful of the situation, he felt like it was manifesting in some physical ways that were keeping him from competing at the level that he's used to in terms of fatigue and energy and recovery and sleep and some of those types of things.”
In recent years, and across sports, athletes have been increasingly more transparent about mental health issues, making it less of a stigma for those who go through it. The Red Sox have doubled down in their efforts in recent years to help players and team employees who are dealing with issues related to mental health.
“I think there are a couple of things that are important to get across,” Breslow said. “I think we should applaud Chris' willingness to speak up and confront this challenge head-on. As an organization, we fully support that and have a bunch of resources here, including a behavioral health program that's intended to help players and staff address situations like this.”
Since 2022, Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran has been open about his mental health struggles both on social media and in interviews. Blaze Jordan, the club’s No. 19 prospect per MLB Pipeline, also revealed his battles with anxiety in an interview last offseason.
“As an organization, we've spent significant time and resources in ensuring that we have built out a best-in-class operation, and that's headed by Dr. [Richard] Ginsburg,” Breslow said. “He does a great job. And my hope is that the relationship that he and the rest of the staff have built with our players is part of the reason that players like Chris have felt comfortable coming forward.”
Red Sox manager Alex Cora is grateful for how much teams are invested in the mental health of players compared to during his playing career.
“The fact that he was honest about it, that’s very important,” Cora said. “We know that we're in a business or we live in a society where mental health is very important. We feel the pressure of a lot of things, and sometimes we swallow our pride or we swallow our problems and we're not open about it.”
Cora related it to situations he dealt with as a player.
“I remember playing the game, going 0-for-4, going to the apartment, turning on the TV at midnight, watching the game and going 0-for-4 again. Then in the morning, watch the game again and go 0-for-4 again,” Cora said. “I feel like at that time, at that moment, the family suffered. It suffered a lot. As you guys know, [my daughter] Camila is the daughter of divorced parents. Probably early in my career, I didn't help my family to be as strong as it should be because there were a lot of demons, a lot of stuff going on in between the lines and in the clubhouse and out of baseball.”
According to Breslow, Martin has felt some progress in recent days, but both parties felt it made sense to give him some more time.
The move was made retroactive to June 2, and Martin will first be eligible to be activated on June 17.
“As of now, the plan is for him to stick around [the team],” Breslow said. “The plan is to give him some latitude with that. This is a situation where he feels like he’s close [to being ready to pitch], he’s still interested in the physical activity that’s going to prepare to be ready for when he comes off and not the type of situation where he feels like he needs to step away immediately or indefinitely.
“But these are tricky. I’m not a medical expert and I don’t think it would be fair for me to predict exactly how it will play out, outside of saying he’s comfortable speaking about this. He brought this up to us. He feels like even in a short amount of time, he’s made significant progress.”