Diamondbacks place Justin Martinez on injured list: ‘Obviously there’s something wrong’

The Arizona Diamondbacks placed reliever Justin Martinez on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation, the club announced on Thursday.

Additionally, the D-backs moved reliever A.J. Puk from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL with left elbow inflammation and selected left-hander Jose Castillo from Triple-A Reno.

Manager Torey Lovullo told reporters after his team’s 4-3 win over the New York Mets on Wednesday that imaging and a trip to the injured list were in play for Martinez.

Martinez gave an alarming performance at Citi Field, as his stuff did not resemble its typical dominance. He entered the ninth inning with a 4-1 lead for a save opportunity and threw 14 pitches, only five of which were strikes.

His sinker velocity was well below his usual heat. Martinez averaged 100.6 mph on the sinker last year and sat above 100 mph this season before his last two outings.

On Wednesday, Martinez did not eclipse 96.6 mph with the sinker, nor did he throw a single four-seamer. He gave up a home run to Tyrone Taylor on a 95.6-mph sinker in the zone and then walked Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto.

Lovullo removed him from the game and called on Ryan Thompson, who managed the save.

I expect the Dbacks to put Justin Martinez on the IL and get some imaging done to see if there is a reason the velocity is down. JMart says he is healthy and nothing the Dbacks have seen would indicate he is injured. But at this point some rest and tests is the best path forward.

— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) May 1, 2025

Justin Martinez’s recent stretch

Martinez has had an odd couple weeks.

He threw back-to-back games in Miami on April 16-17, looking like himself. He did not pitch again until April 23, with the club describing his ailment as fatigue and then later as shoulder fatigue. The term “dead arm” has been thrown around but not as definitive.

On Saturday against the Atlanta Braves, Martinez’s sinker was down at 97.9 mph. The following day, his sinker and four-seamer were down more than 2 mph from his average, closer to 97 mph flat.

Then it continued to decline on Wednesday.

“I mean, obviously there’s something wrong, right?” D-backs president and CEO Derrick Hall told Arizona Sports’ Bickley & Marotta on Thursday. “We’ve now seen that sample three times and we have to figure it out. We rely on the pitcher, we rely on the player to tell us how he feels. The mystery has been that he doesn’t feel bad. It’s just been what we diagnosed as shoulder fatigue, but I just think it’s probably time to dig even deeper.

“We’ve been obviously having a lot of discussions last night, this morning. We have for the last week, but now we’re getting to the point where something different has to be done.”

The D-backs entered the season counting on Martinez to be a shutdown, back-end reliever along with Puk. They started the year splitting save opportunities to promising results.

After his second Miami appearance, Martinez started the year with seven shutout innings and 10 strikeouts.

He has some of the best raw stuff in the game, deploying that triple-digit heat along with a uniquely deceptive splitter and a slider. The D-backs bet on his continued development before the season with a five-year, $18 million contract extension that includes a couple team options.

Justin Martinez, K'ing the Side. pic.twitter.com/YHifuFxz2e

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 2, 2025

On April 19, the D-backs placed Puk on the 15-day injured list with elbow inflammation. He will not undergo surgery, as he will shut down for two-to-three weeks and resume throwing once asymptomatic. Placing him on the 60-day IL will knock him out for all of May and most of June, at least.

With Puk down, this appeared to be an optimal time for Martinez to handle the bulk of save situations, but something has evidently gotten in the way.

USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported the Diamondbacks are actively looking for bullpen help. He recently tied them to St. Louis Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley.

Diamondbacks select Jose Castillo

Castillo has made five appearances in Triple-A this year, throwing 5.1 innings with one earned run, seven strikeouts and no walks.

The 29-year-old stood out early in spring training before suffering an adductor strain.

He has 40 games of MLB experience, most recently for the San Diego Padres in 2023.

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