Red Sox Prospect No. 35: Edgar Martinez

Editor’s Note: Diehard Magazine is in the midst of its third annual countdown of the top 50 prospects in the Red Sox chain today. Subscribe to our print magazine in order to learn even more on the top 50! Today: The countdown continues with the no. 35 prospect, pitcher Edgar Martinez. (FREE PREVIEW OF PREMIUM AND MAGAZINE CONTENT!)

(Editor’s Note, part II: Some of these profiles will appear out of order over the next few days as we finish the magazine. We assure you every number will be represented and that we’ll be back to a traditional countdown soon!)


On one hand, Edgar Martinez is well ahead of schedule. He’s spent just three full seasons pitching, spent all of last year at Triple-A Pawtucket, is already on the 40-man roster and has comparatively little mileage on his right arm.

On the other hand, he’s growing old for a prospect—Martinez, who was drafted as a catcher in 1998 but switched to pitching late in the 2004 season, turns 27 in October—and he didn’t make the strides the Sox were expecting at Pawtucket last season. So he’ll likely spend another year in Rhode Island, where his goal will be the same as it was in 2007: Work on his secondary pitches and conditioning.

Martinez, a Rich Garces lookalike at 6-foot and 222 pounds, will never be mistaken for Clay Buchholz, but the Sox won’t mind a few extra pounds if he can finally develop the secondary pitch necessary to complement his mid-90s fastball.

“Looking to see a little more consistency with the secondary stuff,” Sox director of player development Mike Hazen said. “Honing in on one secondary pitch is what we’re trying to do with his slider. He has a good fastball and throws strikes.”

Despite his closer-type heater, Martinez has spent the last two seasons working in “priority relief” roles—multi-inning stints intended to help him find that slider. He threw 69 innings in 42 games for the PawSox and tossed two or more innings 18 times. In 2006, he threw 68 innings in 49 games for Portland and recorded two or more innings in an outing 20 times.

But Martinez wasn’t nearly as successful at Pawtucket as he was for the Sea Dogs, for whom he had a strikeout-to-walk ratio of more than 3-to-1 and allowed opposing hitters to bat just .202. Martinez gave up multiple runs 14 times last year on his way to posting a career-high 5.16 ERA and walked 28 batters after issuing just 42 free passes in his first 131 1/3 professional innings.

Given Martinez’ spot on the 40-man roster—and the Sox’ eagerness to cultivate homegrown relievers—he’ll get plenty of opportunities, likely in the same priority relief niche, to make the adjustments necessary to make himself a viable candidate for the big league bullpen. Some quick success could allow Martinez to position himself for a recall should an opening arise in Boston.


Previous prospects ranked No. 35:
2007: Randy Beam, P (released in 2007)
2006: Jose Vaquedano, P (unranked in 2007)


DIEHARD 2008 TOP 50 PROSPECTS
50.) Travis Beazley, P
49.) Beau Vaughan, P
48.)
47.)
46.) Tommy Hottovy, P
45.) Chad Spann, 3B
44.)
43.)
42.) Mike James, P
41.) Jay Johnson, OF
40.) Jeff Natale, 2B
39.) George Kottaras, C
38.) Bryce Cox, P
37.) Daniel Haigwood, P
36.)
35.) Edgar Martinez, P
34.) Andrew Pinckney, 3B
33.)
32.) Jason Place, OF
31.)
30.) Argenis Diaz, SS
29.) Daniel Bard, P
28.)
27.) Adam Mills, P