The Boston Red Sox continue to search the pitching market, with their main needs now being a legitimate No. 2 starter to slot into the rotation behind Garret Crochet, and a left-handed reliever. With approximately one month to go before spring training opens, Boston has an all-right-handed bullpen, except for closer Aroldis Chapman.
At the same time, the possibility has been growing that the Red Sox may trade one of their current rotation mainstays. A recent report by The Athletic revealed that fifth-year right-hander Brayan Bello, seemingly entrenched as Boston’s No. 3 starter, is a “name that often surfaces when teams ask about the Red Sox’s young pitching,” with some indications that the Red Sox have been “quietly shopping” the 26-year-old.
But even as the Red Sox face a degree of uncertainty around their pitching staff heading into the 2026 season, Boston made a low-profile contract agreement with a right-handed reliever, according to a Friday report by Andrew Parker of SoxProspects.com. Red Sox beat writer Chris Cotillo later independently confirmed the move.
The Red Sox brought in right-hander Seth Martinez, 31, who has notched 144 career major league innings over four seasons, all with the Houston Astros. He recorded a career 4.00 ERA while striking out 126 with 57 walks.
Martinez was drafted in the 17th round by the then-Oakland Athletics in 2016 and does not appear to have been ranked among their top 30 prospects at any point.
The Athletics left Martinez unprotected in the 2020 Rule 5 draft, where the Astros grabbed him. They used him in only three games in 2021, when he was ineffective, allowing five runs in three innings. He appeared to find himself the following year, when the Astros won their second World Series.
Martinez posted a solid 2.09 ERA over 38 2/3 innings across 29 games that year.
So what do the Red Sox see in Martinez, who spent most of last year in the Miami Marlins organization, though he made only six appearances with the big league club?
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According to Griffey “G.G.” Geiss, a Red Sox analyst with PitcherList, “a combination of things make this signing interesting, but the headliner is that this is yet another big extension arm (6.9-plus feet) that boasts a deadly sweeper.”
Geiss also highlighted the 78 percent zone-contact rate posted by Martinez at the Triple-A level last season, “sitting in the 88th percentile among qualified Triple-A arms.”
Zone contact, or zCon, refers to the percentage of pitches thrown inside the strike zone on which a batter makes contact. An average MLB pitcher allows an 87 percent zCon rate, according to Fangraphs, meaning that if Martinez can continue his 2025 performance, he will be one of the “higher-ceiling” minor league signings that the Red Sox have made this offseason, according to Geiss.
Martinez also received a non-roster invitation to spring training, according to Parker’s report, giving him a chance to impress manager Alex Cora and potentially see time at Fenway Park in the upcoming season.
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