Diamondbacks closer Justin Martinez exits vs. Mariners with right elbow tightness
Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Justin Martinez left Monday's ballgame against the Seattle Mariners with the athletic trainer.
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PHOENIX — Arizona Diamondbacks closer Justin Martinez left Monday’s ballgame against the Seattle Mariners with right elbow tightness, another gutting moment for the club given his importance to the bullpen and a recent wave of pitching injuries.
The right-hander said postgame his elbow felt progressively tighter, as his sinker velocity started to dip over his last couple pitches. The team announced Martinez will have imaging done on Tuesday.
“My elbow was getting tighter in the last few pitches, and I decided to call the trainer to figure out what was going on,” Martinez said.
“I want to be healthy to help the team win, and I feel bad for that because everybody wants to be available to go out there and give 100% of what you have. It is what it is. We just have to figure it out and then come back stronger.”
To make matters worse, reliever Christian Montes De Oca was unavailable on Monday due to right elbow discomfort the team found out about pregame.
He will also have imaging done on Tuesday. Lovullo said his concern level for both is “high.”
“It hurts me personally because I love him,” Lovullo said after seeing Martinez leave with an injury. “To hear the crowd gasp and his teammates inside of the dugout screaming ‘No,’ it’s just not a good conclusion that you’re watching and it’s painful. So we’re going to keep our fingers crossed.”
Martinez struck out the first two batters as he entered to preserve a 4-0 lead at Chase Field. After walking Dylan Moore, Martinez threw two pitches to Donovan Solano before stepping away from the mound and calling out to the dugout.
Jeff Brigham entered the game and gave up two RBI singles, followed by the game-tying home run to Seattle’s Dominic Canzone. Arizona ended up winning the game in the 11th inning on a walk-off grand slam from Josh Naylor.
The Diamondbacks have received lousy news when it comes to pitching injuries of late. Ace Corbin Burnes will have Tommy John surgery on Wednesday, while Cristian Mena (teres major strain) and Kendall Graveman (hip impingement) both landed on the 15-Day injured list in the past three days.
Martinez dealt with right shoulder inflammation earlier this season that landed him on the 15-day injured list for just over three weeks in May. He sat out for five days in April with the shoulder issue, came back and then stepped away after his velocity dropped.
Monday was his fifth appearance since returning from the IL on May 23.
In 15.1 innings pitched this season, Martinez has a 4.11 ERA and 22 strikeouts. He has five saves in six opportunities.
Martinez has had Tommy John surgery as a prospect in 2021, and he said this latest injury felt a bit different. He felt a pop last time as opposed to his elbow getting tighter.
“Obviously, anybody that goes down you don’t like to see,” starter Merrill Kelly said. “Especially when it’s one of your high leverage guys, one of your guys you can trust coming out of the bullpen that is gonna give you competitive outs. And just the person that I’ve gotten to know, Justin, he works his butt off. He really cares. He wants to do well. So I’m hoping it’s not worst-case scenario.”
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Comments
9 Comments
3 TJ's (assuming J Mart is included), almost 4 with Puk and that may still be on the table.
Every pitcher on our staff has regressed, excluding the ageless wonder Kelly.
Starters are getting blown out.
Relievers are getting blown up.
New pitching coach who hasnt been the main pitching coach anywhere else and ALSO seems to have some controversy at his previous stops.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm......
WTF?
Is it the new pitching coach? the trainers? just being on a sports team in Arizona?
It may or may not be because anything the Dbacks pitching coaches or training staff are doing. We're not with the team so we don't know, but I tend to think that this is not a Dback specific type of issue. It's all over professional baseball. ESPN published a report that showed the number of UCL surgeries in the combined Minor and Major Leagues. In 2010 it was 104. In 2024 it was 281. That's a dramatic increase. Some people believe that there has been an over reliance on velocity and spin rate in more recent times. I don't know if that's true, but that theory seems to have some merit. I'm an old guy. In the 70s, 80's, and even into the 90s, if a team had one bullpen guy who could hit 96-97 with his fastball, that was considered a major weapon. Now, most teams have 5 or 6 guys who can do that, and maybe even a guy who can hit 99-100 with regularity. Not sure what the solution is to this, but it seems to me that the problem is reaching epidemic proportions.