Martini zeroing in on bench role on Reds' roster

PEORIA, Ariz. -- There appear to be two open bench spots up for grabs on the Reds' Opening Day roster, and Nick Martini is doing all he can to lock one of them up. The outfielder/first baseman is trying to perform under the pressure of uncertainty.

“It’s been going pretty well. I’m just doing the best I can to play hard every day and whatever happens, happens," Martini said. “I think in my position, I’ve been through a little bit of everything. I don’t think there is too much pressure but there is some, for sure.”

This spring, Martini has posted a slash line of .156/.293/.438 with three homers and 11 RBIs in 13 games.

The 33-year-old has one thing going in his favor: his brief period of contributions for the Reds near the end of the 2023 season. After his call-up on Aug. 23, he hit six home runs with 16 RBIs over 29 games and 79 plate appearances.

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Included were some big-moment drives. On Sept. 1, Martini hit a game-tying homer before the Reds notched a walk-off win over the Cubs. On Sept. 5 vs. the Mariners, as a pinch-hitter, he hit an eighth-inning, game-tying three-run homer ahead of another walk-off win.

“I hope that they think that I can still contribute and have good at-bats in the big leagues. I’m confident that I can," Martini said.

No decisions have been made about the final roster spots. Martini seemed like a candidate to be the 26th man before his chances improved when utility players Josh Harrison and Tony Kemp were among camp cuts on Monday. With TJ Friedl and Matt McLain both headed for the injured list to begin the season, another roster spot has opened.

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“Especially as a player in the situation he was in, showing what he’s capable of doing at the Major League level, of course that’s going to be important and factor in what happens this year," manager David Bell said of Martini ahead of Thursday's loss to the Mariners.

Cincinnati could use a left-handed hitter with power to come off the bench. It could also use a backup first baseman.

Those are boxes Martini can check. So can non-roster invite Mike Ford, who also remains in the mix.

Martini began in pro baseball as a seventh-round pick of the Cardinals in 2011. It took another seven years to reach the Major Leagues, as he debuted with the A's in 2018. His career took him to brief big league stints with the Padres (2019) and Cubs (2021), but he never became established.

In 2022, Martini spent the entire season with NC Dinos in South Korea's KBO. The Reds signed him to a Minor League contract just ahead of Spring Training in 2023, but he was not invited to big league camp and sent to Triple-A Louisville.

Bell has known Martini since he was a coach for the Cardinals from 2015-17.

"He has a reputation in the game for really being able to hit," Bell said. "He has great at-bats. He’s got a really solid approach. He knows what he’s doing. If he makes our team, in the role of being a pinch-hitter and coming off the bench at times, it doesn’t seem to change anything for him. He just knows what he’s doing.”

Martinez returns to Cactus League action

Nick Martinez, who will be in the Reds' starting rotation, pitched 3 2/3 innings vs. Seattle and allowed three hits, three earned runs, issued four walks and surrendered a home run, striking out four.

It was the first time Martinez gave up any earned runs this spring. He hasn't been in a Cactus League game since March 8 before he dealt with discomfort in his right ribs.

“Ribs are fine. My oblique is fine," said Martinez, who has a 3.12 ERA in three spring games. "No more poking going on in there, so that’s good."

Martinez gave up all three runs in the first inning. After center fielder Stuart Fairchild lost Jorge Polanco's fly ball in the lights for an RBI double, Cal Raleigh hit a two-out, two-strike two-run homer to right field.

“I thought we made some good adjustments after that first inning," Martinez said. "Overall, I didn’t really execute with two strikes as well as I wanted to. But we made some good adjustments with the sequencing after that.

"Toward the end there, I was kind of in between pitches and I lost a little of conviction and was kind of thinking a little too far ahead in the pitches. That’s where it unraveled a little bit for me. Not the outing I wanted, but I think it was necessary."