After a two-year stint with the Cincinnati Reds, Nick Martinez is entering free agency. Many are clamoring for the Reds to retain his services, while others are comfortable in letting him walk. Let’s dig into his contributions and whether the Reds should let him walk away in free agency.
Reds Face Decision on Bringing Back Nick Martinez in Free Agency
Martinez’s Role in 2025
In 2025, Nick Martinez appeared in 40 games: 26 as a starter and 14 as a reliever. It was more of the same back in 2024, where Martinez made 42 appearances with 16 as a starter. In these two seasons, he registered 142 1/3 and 165 2/3 innings pitched, respectively.
Martinez was essentially a Swiss Army knife, as he would fill in as the fifth starter when the rotation was dealing with injuries, play the long reliever role when the bullpen needed rest, and come in during high-leverage situations late in the game.
Standing ovation for Nick Martinez after he took a no-hit bid into the 9th
pic.twitter.com/bps1626O5j
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) June 28, 2025
The Last Two Seasons
In 2025, Martinez tallied 165 2/3 innings with a 4.45 ERA. It was good enough for an ERA+ of just 103, ever so slightly above league average. While it is a solid mark, it was much lower than his previous season’s 142 ERA+. In fact, Martinez actually took a significant step back after what could be labeled as a career year in 2024.
Not only was his ERA a full run higher in 2025, but his FIP was also much higher than it was in 2024, as it was at 4.33 compared to 3.21. Furthermore, his 17.0 K% and 6.1 BB% were both worse than in 2024, where he had a 20.4 K% and a 3.2 BB%.
Martinez was still able to limit hard contact in 2025, but he was unable to generate chases as much as he would have liked. In 2024, batters chased at a 33.9 Chase%. In 2025, however, that number dropped to just 24.5%. It was a dramatic drop off that went from a league best to a league worst.
At the end of the day, none of these drop-offs made him a bad pitcher, nor are his 2025 metrics poor by any measure. His 3.99 xERA in 2025 was still solid.
Martinez’s Splits: Starter vs. Reliever
As previously mentioned, Martinez splits time between the starting rotation and the bullpen. In 2025, Martinez threw 145 innings as a starter, accumulating a 4.72 ERA and a 4.46 FIP. Out of the bullpen, Martinez threw 20 2/3 innings with a 2.61 ERA and a 4.39 FIP.
He was at a similar level in both roles, despite the large discrepancy in ERA. With a near-identical FIP, it tells a much better story than an ERA in a small sample size of 20 2/3 innings.
Should the Reds Bring Him Back?
This brings us to the question of whether the Reds should retain Nick Martinez’s services for 2026 and beyond. Martinez is 35 years old, which can be seen as a negative. His game doesn’t depend on velocity, however, and there have been no signs of him not being able to continue his workload as his age continues to climb.
The biggest factor seems to be the price and his role. The Reds have an abundance of starting pitching, with young guys like Chase Burns, Rhett Lowder, and even Chase Petty looking to crack the rotation. If they do bring him back, he would most likely be placed in the bullpen, where he would be used in multi-inning opportunities.
Martinez will likely command north of $10 million a year, and deservingly so. Will the Reds, who aren’t known for spending, be willing to allocate $10 million or more for a bullpen arm? That seems highly unlikely. The Reds have shown the ability to develop bullpen arms out of this air, and they will likely prefer to spend the money on a bat to improve their offense.
Main Photo Credit: © Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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