Athletics Outright Adrian Martinez

Right-hander Adrian Martinez went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment by the Athletics and has been assigned outright to their Triple-A affiliate, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. It’s his first career outright, and he has under three years of service time, so Martinez cannot reject the assignment.

Acquired alongside Euribiel Angeles in the trade sending lefty Sean Manaea to the Padres, the now-27-year-old Martinez has pitched 112 2/3 innings for Oakland over the past two seasons. He worked exclusively as a starter in 2022 and primarily out of the bullpen in 2023, turning in a below-average but passable 20% strikeout rate against a sharp 7.6% walk rate.

However, even playing his home games in the Athletics’ cavernous home setting, Martinez has been far too susceptible to home runs; opponents have tagged him for 21 long balls in the big leagues — an average of 1.68 round-trippers per nine innings pitched. A .321 average on balls in play hasn’t helped his cause, but the home runs are the primary reason for his 5.51 ERA. Fielding-independent metrics are a bit more bullish, due largely to that solid K-BB profile. SIERA pegs Martinez at a much more respectable 4.25 mark.

Martinez averages 93.9 mph on a sinker he throws at a 54% clip, but despite that being his primary offering, he’s been more of a fly-ball pitcher. That two-seamer has only generated grounders at a 41.5% rate, and both of his secondary offerings — a slider (82.6 mph average) and changeup (83.5 mph) — skew more heavily toward airborne contact. The right-hander posted strong minor league numbers with the Padres organization in 2019 and 2021, but his production has taken a sharp decline since being traded to Oakland.

Martinez worked as a starter in Triple-A last year, but he was a reliever in the big leagues and made his first appearance of the 2024 season out of the ’pen in Las Vegas. It seems he’ll look to get back on track in a relief role.