Seth Martinez #61

Grew up in Hereford, Ariz., where he played in the Sierra Vista Little League with IF Darick Hall, who made his MLB debut with the Phillies in 2022...after sixth grade, Martinez moved to Peoria, Ariz., where he attended Sunrise Mountain High School...played three years on the baseball team and two years on the golf team...was a two-time First-Team All-District selection...threw a no-hitter during his junior year...was high-school teammates and in the same graduating class (2013) as Astros NRI at Spring Training, RHP Joel Kuhnel...was also a two-year letterwinner on the Sunrise Mountain H.S. golf team...Went undrafted out of high school and would go on to pitch for three years at Arizona State, where he went 16-6 with a 3.50 ERA in 34 games (31 starts)...was the Sun Devils Friday night starter as a junior in 2016, going 9-4 with a 2.75 ERA, earning First-Team All-Pac-12 honors...Selected by Oakland in the 17th round of the 2016 MLB Draft...signed by A’s scout Scott Cousins...Spent five years (2016-20) in the A’s system before the Astros selected him in the second round of the Minor League phase of the 2020 Rule 5 draft...Changed his arsenal upon joining the Astros in 2021...while with the A’s, had worked with a sinker and a hard slider that resembled more of a cutter...upon joining the Astros organization, the Astros staff, including pitching coach Josh Miller, thought his arm slot was conducive to throwing more of a sweeping slider...Martinez had thrown the sweeper a few times in his career, but now worked to perfect that pitch in 2021...he responded by posting the best strikeout numbers of his career while pitching for Triple-A Sugar Land that season (78K/57.2IP)...The 2024 season is his fourth at Major League Spring Training and his third on the 40-man roster.

2023

Made the Astros Opening Day roster, the first Opening Day roster placement of his MLB career, and went 2-3-1 with a 5.23 ERA (25 ER/43IP) and 45 strikeouts though a career best 35 appearances...Stranded all 17 of his inherited runners on the season, setting the Astros single-season record...the previous record was held by RHP Jose Valverde, who stranded all 11 of his inherited runners in 2009...Worked 1.0+ innings in 11 of his 35 outings on the year, including 2.0+ innings in six games...Made three separate stints with the Astros...was first-optioned to Triple A Sugar Land on July 29...recalled from Triple-A Sugar Land on Aug. 21...optioned to Triple A Sugar Land on Aug. 23...elevated to Astros roster on Sept. 29 and finished the season with the big league club...Picked up his first career save on June 25 at Los Angeles (NL)...tossed a scoreless 11th inning to preserve a 6-5 win...stranded the ghost runner at second base to begin the inning to secure the save...Held righties to a .221 (23x104) average...According to Baseball Savant, he ranked in the 92nd percentile for extension among MLB pitchers...Tossed a career-high 3.1 innings and 52 pitches as part of a 14-inning game on June 9 at Cleveland...Recorded a 2.25 ERA (5ER/20IP) in 19 relief appearances with Triple-A Sugar Land...Did not appear on a Postseason roster, but traveled and worked out with the team as a member of the Taxi Squad.

2022

Pitched in 29 games at the MLB level in what was his rookie season...went 1-1 with a 2.09 ERA...Struck out 38 batters in 38.2 innings, allowing a .187 opponent average...earned two holds and finished seven games without recording a save...inherited 15 runners on the year, allowing only one to score... stranded his first 11 of his IR on the season...among 26 hits allowed, allowed only two doubles and three home runs, keeping damage at a minimum... appeared sporadically throughout year, bouncing between Astros and Triple A Sugar Land...Posted a 17.0-inning scoreless streak to begin his Major League season...the streak spanned 11 appearances, from April 30-June 21, and ranks as the longest by an Astros rookie reliever to start a season in club history (per Elias)...Among AL relievers who threw 20-40 innings, recorded the seventh-best ERA at 2.09...Was dominant at Minute Maid Park, posting a 1.77 ERA in the park compared to a 2.45 ERA on the road...a night owl, owning a 0.71 ERA at night in 18 games...largely used in 7th and 8th innings, as 22.2 of his innings came in those frames...was used almost twice as much against righties, whom he allowed a .125 opponent batting average against...Made two appearances of 3.0 IP (5/17 @BOS and 7/4 vs. KC) and four of 2.0 IP....14 of his 19 games pitched featured him going more than 1.0 inning...While in the Minors, made 12 appearances, posting a 3.55 ERA and striking out 13 in 12.2 innings...Began his season at Triple A Sugar Land before being recalled to ML roster on 4/26...optioned back to AAA on 5/1...was brought back up to Astros taxi squad on 5/12...elevated back to ML roster on 5/17, staying until 8/13 to make room for RHP Lance McCullers Jr... was brought back to Astros ML roster on 8/25 before being optioned back to Triple-A Sugar Land on 9/16...Traveled with the club the entire Postseason, appearing on one roster...was on Astros ALCS roster, but did not make an appearance in the series.

2021

Had a strong first season in the Astros organization, posting dominant Triple-A numbers, which earned him a September callup...Began the year as an NRI at Astros Spring Training, making six appearances with a 7.11 ERA (5ER/6.1IP)...reassigned to minor league camp on March 20...Spent his regular season at Triple-A Sugar Land, making 36 relief appearances for the Skeeters...went 5-3 with a 2.81 ERA (18ER/57.2IP), while picking up seven holds...struck out 78 in 57.2 innings, allowing a .171 opponent batting average...Selected to the Astros Major League roster on Sept. 20 and made his MLB debut that night at LAA (0ER/1IP)...made three appearances (5ER/3IP) before being optioned back to Triple-A on Sept. 26.

2020

Did not pitch in an official game in 2020 due to the pandemic-shortened season.

2019

In 2019, spent time at Double A Midland (16g) and Class A Advanced Stockton (26g), combining to post a 7-4 record with a 2.51 ERA (20ER/71.2IP) and 74 strikeouts in 42 games.

2018

Spent the entire 2018 season at Class A Beloit, where he went 3-5 with a 3.28 ERA (26ER/71.1IP) and 15 saves.