The Arizona Diamondbacks are making their final preparations for the 2025 campaign, where they will be hoping to emerge as a sneaky playoff contender in the loaded National League West. Ahead of Opening Day, the front office decided to take care of a bit of contract business, as they handed Justin Martinez, a promising young reliever, a nice contract extension on Saturday night.
Martinez briefly broke into the majors in 2023, but he struggled, posting an ugly 12.60 earned run average over 10 innings of work. In his first full season of work in 2024, though, Martinez was one of Arizona’s top options out of the bullpen, as he saw his ERA drop over 10 runs to 2.48. He also racked up 91 strikeouts and eight saves over 72.2 innings of work. The future is bright for Martinez, and the Diamondbacks opted to secure his future by handing him a five-year, $18 million contract extension.
“Arizona hard-throwing right-hander Justin Martinez has agreed to an $18 million, five-year contract even as he continues to compete for the role of Diamondbacks closer,” ESPN reported.
Diamondbacks lock up promising young pitcher in Justin Martinez
With Paul Sewald bolting for the Cleveland Guardians in free agency, Arizona needs a new closer this season, and Martinez finished second on the squad in saves last season. Veteran relievers A.J. Puk and Kevin Ginkel are the other candidates to close out games to start the season at least, but neither of them have much experience in the ninth inning either.
There is a bit of risk when it comes to making Martinez the closer since he’s only 23 years old and has just one strong season of work under his belt, but he may just be the best option of the bunch right now. Regardless of whether he earns the gig out of the gate, he figures to be a key piece of the Diamondbacks bullpen for the next few seasons now that he’s received a nice pay raise ahead of the 2025 campaign.
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