Carlos Martínez (pitcher, born 1982)
{{Short description|Dominican baseball player}}
{{Distinguish|Carlos Martínez (pitcher, born 1991)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{similar names|Carlos Martínez (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
| image =
| name = Carlos Martínez
| caption =
| position = Pitcher
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1982|5|26}}
| birth_place = Villa Vasquez, Dominican Republic
| bats = Right
| throws = Right
|debutleague = MLB
| debutdate = April 3
| debutyear = 2006
| debutteam = Florida Marlins
|finalleague = MLB
| finaldate=May 16
|finalyear=2009
|finalteam=Florida Marlins
|statleague = MLB
| stat1label = Win–loss record
| stat1value = 0–1
| stat2label = Earned run average
| stat2value = 4.11
| stat3label = Strikeouts
| stat3value = 15
| teams =
- Florida Marlins ({{mlby|2006}}–{{mlby|2007}}, {{mlby|2009}})
}}
Carlos M. Martínez (born May 26, 1982 in Villa Vasquez, Dominican Republic) is a former relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Miami Marlins. Marlins' fans nicknamed him K-Mart.{{citation needed|date=October 2014}} Martínez bats and throws right-handed. He made his major league debut on April 3, {{mlby|2006}}.
Playing career
{{BLP sources section|date=May 2022}}
The Marlins signed Martínez out of the Dominican Republic in {{Baseball year|2000}}, as an undrafted free agent. He began his professional playing career the following season, at the age of 19, for the Dominican Marlins in the Dominican Summer League. Initially, he was a starting pitcher; he started in 14 of his 15 appearances, accumulating a 4–7 record with a 4.50 ERA.
In {{Baseball year|2002}}, the Marlins converted Martínez into a reliever. In his first season in the United States, he played for the Gulf Coast Marlins, finishing with a record of 1–2, an ERA of 1.11, and seven saves. In {{Baseball year|2003}}, he again played in 3 games for the Gulf Coast Marlins and one for the Jamestown Jammers, but his other 15 games were for the Marlins' South Atlantic League affiliate, the Greensboro Grasshoppers; there, he went 0–3 with a 2.95 ERA and one save. He also spent the whole {{Baseball year|2004}} season with Greensboro; in 40 games, he went 2–3 with a 3.17 ERA and 6 saves.
Martínez moved to the Jupiter Hammerheads of the High-A Florida State League for the {{Baseball year|2005}} season. There, he became the team's closer, earning 22 saves to go with a 4–5 record and 3.12 ERA. He was also able to see some time with the Marlins' two top minor-league affiliates; he played in one game for the Double-A Carolina Mudcats, earning the save, and two games for the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes.
Martínez started the 2006 season in relative obscurity, since he had played only three games above Single-A prior to that season. However, in spring training, he impressed the Marlins greatly, giving up only one run and two hits in 8{{fraction|2|3}} innings for a 1.04 ERA. As a result, he beat out another hard-throwing young reliever, Travis Bowyer, and former Atlanta Braves closer Kerry Ligtenberg for a spot in the Marlins' bullpen in 2006; both Bowyer and Ligtenberg had been expected to make the team. The Marlins, who fielded a very young team in 2006, started the season with nine rookies on their Opening Day roster, including five players with no major league experience: Martínez, Dan Uggla, Eric Reed, Reggie Abercrombie, and Ricky Nolasco.{{cite web |url=http://florida.marlins.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060331&content_id=1379420&vkey=news_fla&fext=.jsp&c_id=fla |title=Notes: Marlins set for season to begin |last=Frisaro |first=Joe |date=31 March 2006 |work=MLB.com |access-date=16 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312071429/http://florida.marlins.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060331&content_id=1379420&vkey=news_fla&fext=.jsp&c_id=fla |archive-date=12 March 2007 }}
Martínez appeared in 12 games with the Marlins in 2006, going 0–1 with a 1.74 ERA in 10{{fraction|1|3}} innings of work. He allowed no home runs, struck out 11 batters, and walked six. His loss came in his first game of the year on April 9. Martínez pitched in three games in four days from April 13 to April 16; he was then placed on the disabled list with an injured elbow and did not play with the Marlins again until June 4. After returning to action, he pitched 3{{fraction|2|3}} scoreless innings over six games. He made his last appearance of the year on June 22, when he allowed one hit, but did not retire any batters. He then went back on the disabled list, having aggravated his elbow injury; the Marlins shut him down for the season shortly afterward so that he could undergo Tommy John surgery. He returned to the Marlins on August 3, 2007, and pitched 1 inning while striking out 1 batter and giving up 2 earned runs.
Martinez was outrighted to Triple-A New Orleans on June 4, 2009, thus taking him off the 40-man roster.
Pitches
Martínez throws a 96 mph four-seam fastball along with a split-finger fastball, a two-seam fastball, and a slider. [https://web.archive.org/web/20060321045659/http://florida.marlins.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060319&content_id=1355575&vkey=spt2006news&fext=.jsp&c_id=fla]
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Baseballstats|br=m/martica03|brm=martin008car}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, Carlos}}
Category:Albuquerque Isotopes players
Category:Carolina Mudcats players
Category:Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States
Category:Florida Marlins players
Category:Greensboro Bats players
Category:Gulf Coast Marlins players
Category:Jamestown Jammers players
Category:Jupiter Hammerheads players
Category:Major League Baseball pitchers
Category:Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic