Martin likely to 'officially' be closer -- for 1st time in career
Kennedi Landry
@kennlandrySURPRISE, Ariz. -- Chris Martin has never officially been a closer. "Officially" is the key word.
Throughout his nine-year Major League Baseball career, Martin hasn't been a full-time closer -- but he did collect 22 saves over two seasons with the Nippon Ham Fighters in 2016-17.
¡°Honestly, I still wasn¡¯t really like the closer,¡± Martin said ahead of the Rangers¡¯ first workout for pitchers and catchers on Wednesday. ¡°It was funny because their guy [Hirotoshi Masui] who had been closing for them for forever, sent himself to the Minor Leagues because he was struggling. They never told me I was the closer and I closed for the last two months. The next year I came in after that, they never told me I wasn't the closer. I was the set-up guy then.¡±
Now, at age 38, Martin could be the Rangers¡¯ closer come Opening Day.
The club lost three high leverage arms to free agency this offseason: Kirby Yates (1.17 ERA in 2024), David Robertson (3.00 ERA) and Jos¨¦ Leclerc (4.32 ERA). In addition, right-hander Josh Sborz will be on the injured list to start the year.
Enter Martin, who is by far the most veteran reliever of the Rangers¡¯ rebuilt pitching staff -- unless Jesse Chavez makes the big league club after signing on a Minor League deal -- and also the one with the most career saves -- all 14 of them.
Martin had a 3.45 ERA in 45 relief appearances for the Red Sox in 2024. But the season before, he had a career showing in Boston -- to the tune of a 1.05 ERA in 51 1/3 innings. He finished 12th in American League Cy Young Award voting that season.
But despite having never been a full-time closer, Martin is sure he can step into that role -- or work as a setup man -- for Texas in 2025.
¡°If that's what [manager Bruce Bochy] needs, then you know that's my job,¡± Martin said. ¡°I'm not the boss. I just try to go out there and get outs. That's how I always looked at it, hopefully I do it. ¡ I think I've always left it up to the manager. Whatever they need is what I want to do. I've been pretty open about it with every manager. With closing, you still gotta get three outs. It¡¯s just the last three of the game, so it can be a little more nerve wracking, but I've been around a bit now and I understand it's just another three outs, whatever the run situation is.¡±
The Rangers have other high leverage options as well, from Jacob Webb to Robert Garc¨ªa to Shawn Armstrong, all newly acquired relievers as well.
It¡¯s not set in stone that Martin will be the closer, even if things are pointing that way at the moment.
¡°I have not [had a discussion with Martin about closing], but we will as we get a little deeper in spring, as we look at our situation in the bullpen,¡± Bochy said. ¡°We have some open spots down there, including a high leverage situation. It can be by committee. He's an option. He's a good option too. Early on we'll be looking at the teams we're playing, the pockets that they have. We might want to get the matchups we want. So by no means are we getting locked in on any roles right now. I think we're going to stay flexible with that.¡±
In terms of that flexibility, Bochy doesn¡¯t think it¡¯ll be hard to maintain that for the guys in the bullpen. Bochy is obviously an experienced manager and is used to being the one to define roles.
Relievers can also be particular about how and when they¡¯re used. But Bochy doesn¡¯t foresee issues on either end.
¡°They're fine with not having a defined role,¡± Bochy said. ¡°They're used to it, including Chris. He's used to pitching a seventh, eighth inning. He hasn't really been a closer. They all have great attitudes. They¡¯re like, ¡®Hey, we're there to get outs and use us where you need us to help win a ballgame.¡¯ And that's how that works. Now, if you get some guys that just have a hard time with that and they want that defined role, you're going to run into some problems there. I don't see that happening with this bullpen.¡±