Q&A: Martinez ponders 2024 campaign, future with Reds

This story was excerpted from Mark Sheldon’s Reds Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CINCINNATI -- The case could be made that the Reds' pitcher of the year in 2024 is Nick Martinez.

That's based on Martinez's ability to work in any situation -- starter, long relief, short relief -- and, of course, perform well. Most recently as a starter for much of the second half, the 34-year-old has been the glue that held the rotation together.

In 10 starts since he returned to the rotation Aug. 5, Martinez is 5-1 with a 2.60 ERA, eight walks and 50 strikeouts over 55 1/3 innings. That includes a 4-0 mark with a 0.73 ERA in 24 2/3 innings over his past four starts.

Martinez signed a two-year, $26 million contract with the Reds on Nov. 30, 2023. It includes an opt-out clause after this season, which would make him a free agent and would allow him to explore what again could be a lucrative market for starting pitchers.

I recently spoke to Martinez about his first season in Cincinnati, how he was utilized and whether he could be here for a second year.

MLB.com: I know the team didn’t reach the postseason as it expected, but how did this year play out for you compared to your thoughts when you signed?

Martinez: I feel that this is a playoff team that didn’t play to those expectations this year. I do believe the bones are here for a playoff contending team that can make a run deep into the playoffs. I look around. You have your ace locked up in Hunter Greene. We have our two lefties in [Nick] Lodolo and [Andrew] Abbott. They had some growing pains this year but can definitely contribute to a playoff team. They’re playoff-caliber pitchers who, in my opinion, have to make that last push to show they can do that.

From a position-player standpoint, you have Elly [De La Cruz], Spencer [Steer], a contact guy in TJ [Friedl], who can also run into some homers. You have a really good structure for the lineup. You have a homegrown catcher [in Tyler Stephenson], who I think they should extend. He’s shown he can take charge of a full staff and still produce at a high level. That’s very rare. The year didn’t turn out the way we expected to, but that’s baseball. But the most important pieces are here to be a playoff team.

MLB.com: How did you like being in this clubhouse, this ballpark and this city?

Martinez: I love this clubhouse. These guys are awesome. They made this season fly by for me. We’re always getting together, whether it’s golf, dinner, drinks, poker tournaments, breakfast. We’re always looking for ways to hang. That’s my favorite part of the big leagues.

MLB.com: You pitched in a lot of different ways this season -- starter, bulk reliever, high-leverage. How do you feel about how you’ve been used? Was it how you expected? Or better?

Martinez: Maybe a little bit different out of the bullpen, not in a bad way or anything. With the type of injuries we had in San Diego [in 2023], when I was in the bullpen, I was the eighth-inning guy. Here, we didn’t have those, and that’s a good thing. I was interchangeably getting some length late in the ballgame when they needed it, like a bulk guy. It’s what I signed up for. I don’t have a problem with how they used me at all.

MLB.com: Circling back to you saying "the bones are here" to contend, you’re also in a situation where you can opt out of your contract. Do you have a future here? What is going to happen after the season? You have that choice.

Martinez: I still view it that I have a future here. When I signed, my mindset was I was going to be here for two years. I haven’t talked to my agent [Scott Boras] about what that looks like for next year. I’d like to still focus on this year, but it doesn’t mean I’m trying to run out of here. It’s a tricky situation for sure. It’s a delicate one that I have to communicate with my agent in terms of what I want. If what I want lines up here, and I think it does … there’s a more delicate issue that I think needs to be talked about. I don’t know when that happens during the offseason, just talking about what it might look like and go from there. I wouldn’t look at it as me trying to pitch here and then get out of here.