Reds outfielder/designated hitter Nick Martini underwent surgery yesterday to repair ligament damage in his thumb, manager David Bell informed the team’s beat (X link via Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer). A firm timeline for his recovery wasn’t provided, but Bell noted there’s still a chance Martini could return before season’s end.
Martini was placed on the injured list over the weekend due to an issue in his left thumb. He suffered the injury when he jammed his thumb on a headfirst slide into second base the day prior. The 34-year-old Martini got out to a blistering start in 2024, ripping a pair of Opening Day homers and batting .290/.303/.677 through his first 11 games. He then fell into a prolonged slump before being optioned to Triple-A Louisville on May 7.
Martini has twice been optioned to Louisville this season, and both times he’s laid waste to upper-minors pitching. In 60 plate appearances, he’s delivered a .340/.467/.681 batting line with four homers and as many walks as strikeouts (11). That certainly suggests the thumb hadn’t been bothering him prior to that ill-fated slide and that the bulk or entirety of the damage came on that one isolated play.
The overall .212/.272/.370 slash that Martini has turned in this season for the Reds is quite a ways below par, but he has a history of drawing walks and posting solid OBPs at the MLB level. In 575 MLB plate appearances, Martini is a .252/.336/.400 hitter. He’s also consistently been an OBP machine in Triple-A, where he’s slashed .295/.400/.451 in 2246 career plate appearances.
Martini will get big league pay and service time while he mends from that surgery. The injury could also give the Reds some 40-man roster flexibility, as it seems quite possible based on Bell’s nebulous recovery timeframe that he’ll require 60 days on the injured list.
So an underachieving AAAA player is off the roster? Maybe Hinds will fully take advantage of this situation and not turn out to be another Aquino for the team. Seeing what Hinds can or cannot do could be a silver lining for a rather injury-plagued year.
Strangely, I had edited this post before it ‘ran out of edit time’ and it didn’t save my edits. I made it sound less like me being an ass than this original one. Yipes.
Maybe you just need a Martini?
Martini should always hit doubles, don’t you think?
Fraley is back today, joining Steer, and Benson. Slater was just activated and is in the lineup as is Hinds (activated 3 days ago) . Possible that Martini would have been optioned to Louisville if not for his thumb and probable he would be optioned in a couple weeks when Friedl is ready.
9activated 3 days ago)
Can someone please explain why when I log in it takes to me to Hockey News and Rumors? It then takes longer than it should for me to come back here to post while telling me I can’t post. Because I’m not logged in. Then I try to log in again and it tells me I’m already logged in. I mean WTF. I know I’m old but don’t F with me when I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing to log in.
Anyways. Rant over. I don’t care if Hinds is Aquino Part Duex. That’s what this offense needs. Someone else besides the only 4 who have been able to stay healthy to help carry the team. They are not selling off based on GM speaking about not selling off. So I’m fine with Hinds hitting above expectations considering his AAA numbers.
MLBTR: Nick Martini will have his leg amputated on Monday.
David Bell: “We don’t see any reason why Nick Martini can’t return by the end of the year”