MARTINEZ BACK IN CAMP TO GET READY FOR START
By the time Trea Turner’s go-ahead grand slam in Team USA’s quarterfinal win over Venezuela on Saturday landed in the second deck on Saturday night at loanDepot park, Nick Martinez was thousands of feet in the air and en route to the Peoria Sports Complex.
He no doubt wanted to be in Miami. He needed to be back in Padres camp.
“I wanted to pitch and play for them,” Martinez said Sunday morning after rejoining his Padres teammates, “but they went another way and I know I have a season that I have to … prepare for, so I couldn’t really risk waiting around to see if I was going to pitch or not. So (it’s) disappointing. Still happy I got that opportunity and definitely appreciated that I got to put on that uniform and compete again for them.”
Ramping up for a return to the rotation, Martinez appeared in three Cactus League games before joining Team USA for a pool play start against Mexico on March 12. The 32-year-old right-hander allowed three runs in 22⁄3 innings in that game, had not pitched since and was not guaranteed an appearance in Saturday’s quarterfinals or Sunday’s semifinal.
Team USA manager Mark DeRosa pegged Lance Lynn and Adam Wainwright for those two starts.
Martinez would have had to hope for emergency long relief if he was going to get his work in.
The championship is scheduled for Tuesday.
“I just couldn’t risk not pitching the rest of the tournament,” Martinez said. “… Lynn pitched well to bridge to the bullpen guys in (Saturday’s) game. If the same thing happens with (Wainwright) then I’m looking at a situation where I won’t be able to pitch the rest of the tournament and that really sets me back for the season. I wouldn’t be ready to start the season.”
Back in Miami, Team USA manager Mark DeRosa characterized the decision as a two-way conversation.
“We’re trying to win this thing,” DeRosa said, “so I thought it was best for everyone — and he agreed — that he would go back and get ready for opening day with San Diego.”
Toward that end, Martinez climbed the hill in a minor league game on Sunday at the Peoria Sports Complex while the big-league team played the Cubs at Sloan Park in Mesa. He threw four innings, pushing his pitch count to 64 while striking out five against three hits allowed against a Rangers’ Triple-A team.
Martinez is expected to up his innings in one more start before the end of spring training.
“I wouldn’t say that I’m off track,” he said of his mindset moving forward, “but just kind of stay on track.”
Of course, Martinez will certainly keep an eye on the U.S. teammates he left behind in Miami.
“Every game we were getting closer and closer as a group,” Martinez said. “So I imagine they’re going to be a pretty hard team to stop right now.”
‘What an experience’
Martinez wasn’t the only Padre shaking hands and hugging teammates as he returned from the WBC on Sunday. Brett Sullivan also rejoined the clubhouse after serving as Italy’s primary catcher, a stint in which he went 7-for-19 with two RBIs, two walks and four runs scored.
One of three catchers on the 40-man roster, Sullivan accepted his invitation after spending all of 2022 at Triple-A El Paso. The 29year-old has yet to make his MLB debut, but the bar is certainly set high as far as memories on a baseball diamond go.
“It was the best experience I’ve ever had in baseball,” said Sullivan, who has family on his mother’s side that still lives in Italy. “… 60,000 in the Tokyo Dome, the mecca of baseball, that was something special. And then in Taichung, they were bring in stereo systems and they were cheering from the first pitch to the last pitch, that was probably the loudest stadium I’ve ever played in.
“What an experience.” Sullivan replaced Austin Nola after he was hit by a pitch in fourth inning Sunday and went 1-for-2 with a game-tying triple in the eighth inning.