CINCINNATI (WXIX) – CHICAGO — In the bottom of the second inning last night, Nick Martinez jogged in from the bullpen to replace injured starting pitcher Nick Lodolo (blister).
When Martinez met up with Terry Francona on the mound, the manager cracked a joke: “How’d that bullpen treat you?”
Lodolo landed on the injured list on Tuesday with a blister issue that’s only expected to keep him out for the minimum 15 days. The Reds are filling that spot in the rotation by slotting Martinez back in.
Martinez, “The Wild Card,” has had his role change three times over the last week.
He was a full-fledged starter through Wednesday night, when the Reds dealt for Zack Littell to round out their rotation depth and immediately moved Martinez to the bullpen. Martinez was available to pitch in relief on Saturday, fully warmed up twice on Sunday without entering the game and then replaced Lodolo on Monday. Now, Martinez is a starting pitcher again, at least until Lodolo or Hunter Greene return in a couple of weeks.
Right after the Reds acquired Littell, Francona told Martinez, “My guess is that you’ll be starting again.” Rotation depth is always critical late in the season, and Martinez was still going to be the Reds’ sixth starter. The plan changed before there was even a full turn through the Reds’ rotation.
“I’m not sure I thought it’d be this quick,” Francona said.
Martinez makes it look easy as he flip flops from starter to reliever to starter. But for him, it’s much more of a science than an art. He always wears the Pulse sleeve on his throwing arm when he plays catch and works in the bullpen before games.
“Pulse has an algorithm that allows me to be very efficient and intentional with my throwing program,” Martinez said. “It gives me concrete data for what my workload looks like. You still have to listen to your body. It’s not a clinical thing, and you’re not completely immune to getting hurt. But you can definitely mitigate those risks.”
Pulse lets him tailor his throwing program between outings to whatever the circumstances are asking. The application tracks his throws as well as the intensity, and it also applies information from different biological factors.
It spits out a key number called “The AC ratio” that measures the stress you’re putting on your arm.
“Your acute to chronic workload,” Martinez said. “It takes what you did the last week and maps it out over a month. It spits out a ratio. If that ratio gets too high, then you’re more prone to injury. If it’s too low and I jump into a high-stress game, I’m also at risk of injury. There’s a range that you want to stay in.”
Martinez said that using the Pulse sleeve and learning from the AC ratio is the key to his ability to bounce so quickly between different roles. He always knows how he should be preparing for a game, and he can map out a completely different plan with the push of a button if the circumstances change.
“It’s a major factor in why I’m able to do this,” Martinez said.
“When he gives you an answer, there’s a reason behind it,” Francona said.
There’s hope that this will only be a quick stint in the rotation for Martinez. Greene has a rehab game scheduled for Friday, where he’s on track to throw about 80 pitches. Next steps after that for Greene are TBD.
Lodolo was just getting his left index finger worked on on Tuesday, but the plan for him is to pick up a ball (not a baseball, no seams) and throw on Wednesday to help toughen up that finger. Because the blister didn’t pop, it’s not a huge setback. There was even conversation about not placing Lodolo on the IL, but the Reds made the move because the bullpen needed some help and because Lodolo couldn’t be entirely sure that he’d be ready to pitch again in just a few days. Francona said that he’d bet that Lodolo will be ready to pitch in a game again even before he’s eligible to return from the IL in 15 days.
Without Martinez in the bullpen, that unit takes a hit. Emilio Pagán, Tony Santillan and Scott Barlow have been pitching a ton, and the plan to improve the bullpen revolved around placing Martinez in the bullpen on a full-time basis. If the Reds play a close game vs. the Cubs tonight, then they’ll probably need some less frequent high-leverage options to get some big outs.
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