{"id":666266,"date":"2026-04-06T11:27:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T11:27:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/666266\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T11:27:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T11:27:16","slug":"riley-martin-earns-first-big-league-call-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/666266\/","title":{"rendered":"Riley Martin earns first big-league call-up"},"content":{"rendered":"

CLEVELAND \u2014 Riley Martin stepped onto the outfield grass at Progressive Field on Saturday afternoon<\/a> and looked up.<\/p>\n

The vastness of the ballpark, even as it remained empty, captured Martin\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n

\u201cMan, this is a lot different than Iowa,\u201d the left-hander said with a smile.<\/p>\n

Martin earned his first big-league call-up Sunday when the Chicago Cubs put right-hander Cade Horton on the 15-day injured list<\/a> with a right forearm strain. A senior sign by the Cubs in 2021 for $1,000 out of Quincy University, a Division II program, Martin\u2019s path to the majors was never guaranteed.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, it\u2019s something I\u2019ve dreamed of as a kid,\u201d Martin said Sunday. \u201cIt took longer than I thought it would, but just kept working and just kept getting after it every single day, and I\u2019m finally here.\u201d<\/p>\n

His major-league dream nearly ended before his journey truly started.<\/p>\n

\"RileyRiley Martin pitches during live batting practice during spring training at Sloan Park on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, in Mesa, Ariz. (Armando L. Sanchez\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Martin didn\u2019t have many offers to pitch in college coming out of high school in Salem, Ill., roughly 75 miles east of St. Louis. Quincy gave Martin an opportunity to continue his baseball career, at least for a few more years. The COVID-19 pandemic cut short what was supposed to be his senior season in 2020. Martin thought that was the end of his life as a pitcher. Once the season ended and graduation neared, he prepared to head to pharmacy school \u2014 until he learned athletes were granted a fifth season of NCAA eligibility due to the lost season. He figured he would give it one more go and embrace the fun of being on the diamond for another year.<\/p>\n

He got stronger before his fifth year and subsequently began throwing harder. Martin also incorporated a four-seam fastball instead of a sinker, and the combination of factors led to a season the Cubs noticed, particularly the upside with stuff that yielded 152 strikeouts in 78 2\/3 innings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a mindset change as well, just trying to attack every hitter and kind of smother them,\u201d Martin said.\u00a0\u201cThe DII grind is no joke. I came from the bottom and just grinded through it, and I think going that route taught me to just keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martin had a feeling something was up this week when Triple-A Iowa pitching coach Tony Cougoule summoned him from the bullpen and told him to see manager Marty Pevey. He was aware the Cubs needed a pitcher to replace Horton on the roster, so there was an inkling he was about to receive good news.<\/p>\n

Martin, who turned 28 last month, joins a Cubs bullpen that needs out-getters, especially if they lose bulk innings from Colin Rea<\/a> should he take Horton\u2019s rotation spot Wednesday in Tampa. A horde of Martin\u2019s family and friends traveled to Cleveland<\/a> for his potential debut, including his parents, his wife and buddies from his hometown.<\/p>\n

His performance in 2025 put him on the big-league radar and earned him a 40-man roster spot in the offseason. He posted a 2.97 ERA, 80 strikeouts and 35 walks over 63 2\/3 innings in 47 appearances for Iowa and was on the cusp of a call-up a couple times last year, manager Craig Counsell said Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlayers get better, and you have to work hard to get better, and you can get better and Riley\u2019s somebody that I think over the course of his career has continued to get better, and that\u2019s what eventually gets you on the map and puts you on the radar,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to really keep showing organizations that you\u2019re moving up and you have to earn those opportunities and that\u2019s exactly what Riley has done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martin felt he had a good chance to debut this year after the Cubs put him on the 40-man roster. His self-assessed \u201cOK\u201d spring performance had Martin believing he needed to keep putting in the work at Triple A to make a big-league arrival a reality.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhenever my name was called, just make the most of it,\u201d Martin said, \u201cso that\u2019s the plan.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CLEVELAND \u2014 Riley Martin stepped onto the outfield grass at Progressive Field on Saturday afternoon and looked up.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":666267,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2399],"tags":[5,735,138,24,4245,161,62127,2540,4,256,4688,3941,33032,27260],"class_list":{"0":"post-666266","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-cubs","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-cade-horton","10":"tag-chicago","11":"tag-chicago-cubs","12":"tag-chicagocubs","13":"tag-cubs","14":"tag-cubs-bullpen","15":"tag-injured-list","16":"tag-mlb","17":"tag-mlb-baseball","18":"tag-mlb-debut","19":"tag-ncaa-division-ii","20":"tag-quincy-university","21":"tag-riley-martin"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116357527127488302","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=666266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666266\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/666267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=666266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=666266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=666266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}