Martinez allowed one walk and struck out three over two scoreless relief innings in Saturday's spring game against San Diego.
Like in his first spring outing, Martinez cruised during his second Cactus League appearance. He's allowed two hits and a walk with six strikeouts through four innings. Martinez entered after starter Brady Singer, but nothing should be read into that. Martinez is projected for a rotation spot.
Martinez allowed two hits and struck out three over two innings in Sunday's spring game against the Giants.
Martinez struck out three in the first inning, using his changeup, a backdoor cutter and a fastball up an away to induce the Ks, per Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. Of his 35 pitches, 26 were strikes, including all 14 thrown during the first inning. "I felt good, really good," Martinez said. "I did a really good job of just attacking the zone and challenging hitters early and often." Martinez has filled a variety of pitching roles in the past, but Reds manager Terry Francona confirmed the right-hander is viewed as a starter by the organization.
Martinez accepted the Reds' $21.05 million qualifying offer for 2025 on Sunday, Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com reports.
The right-hander declined his $12 million player option with the Reds for 2025, but he'll remain with the organization after being extended the qualifying offer. Martinez started in 16 of his 42 appearances in 2024 and had a 3.10 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 116:18 K:BB across 142.1 innings. Given the salary bump he should begin 2025 working exclusively as a starter.
