Miami Marlins claim relief pitcher from Seattle

It's important for teams to have pitching depth, it's also key for the bullpen. Spring Training is of course the time to figure out who will start, and who will ultimately have to settle for bench roles on the team. It's also interesting to see how players are doing in general. In the meantime, The Fish have now added more bullpen depth.

The Miami Marlins added Seth Martinez to the bullpen.

Righty relief pitcher Seth Martinez has been claimed off of waivers from the Seattle Mariners. This is a good move, as the 30 year old debuted in the 2021 season with the Houston Astros. It was a forgettable debut in very few innings. It was definitely better for him in the 2022 season. He pitched to an impressive 2.09 ERA/3.32 FIP, with 8.8 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 29 games and 38.2 innings pitched. He was worth 0.8 WAR for that performance.

In the 2023 season, Martinez pitched to a 5.23 ERA/4.42 FIP, with 9.4 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9 in 35 games and 43.0 innings pitched. This led to an also disappointing -0.2 WAR. The 2024 season saw Martinez pitch to a 3.59 ERA/4.78 FIP, with 6.2 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 44 games and 52.2 innings pitched.

It was definitely alarming to see Martinez's strikeout rate fall so far down last season. It's clear that he's capable of having a good strikeout ability and that his stuff certainly plays. I'm hoping that he can bounce back to his 2022 form, which could be possible if everything goes well for him. While his ERA did improve in 2024, his FIP was worse than in 2023, declining for a third straight season. That is something definitely concerning going forward.

The good news is that Seth Martinez doesn't actually have to be an important part of the bullpen. He will almost certainly just serve as bullpen depth, which is all that he really needs to be. If he delivers then it will be just an added "icing on the cake". Overall this was a good move for the Miami Marlins.