Martinez impresses in MLB debut
Right-hander helps Oakland split Detroit doubleheader
DETROIT — Needing a spot start for their doubleheader in Detroit, the Oakland Athletics received a pinpoint performance.
Adrián Martínez drew the Game 2 assignment and, in his major-league debut, worked 51⁄3 scoreless innings in a 4-1 A’s win that secured a split Tuesday after the Tigers won 6-0 in Game 1.
One of two prospects Oakland received from the Padres in the Sean Manaea trade this spring, Martínez, 25, arrived with little fanfare. He reached Triple-A last season and barely cracked the top 20 in the Padres’ prospect rankings this spring. He joined Oakland so late, via the April 3 trade, that manager Mark Kotsay didn’t see Martínez pitch before the season began.
His debut was impressive. Martínez averaged 94 mph and touched 96 mph with a fastball that had tailing action. He deployed a diving changeup and a slider. Twenty-one hitters faced him and totaled four singles. Martínez filled the strike zone, throwing 55 strikes on 79 pitches and issuing no walks.
“He came up and shoved,” infielder Sheldon Neuse said. “He was pitching to contact and he trusted his stuff and it was easy to play defense behind him, staying involved, active the whole time.”
Any nerves were not evident. Martínez rocked subtly on the mound before delivering each pitch but in rhythmic motion. He hopped toward the A’s dugout after striking out Javier Báez to end his first inning. Báez swung and missed at a slider to end the at-bat. He whiffed at two more his second time up facing Martínez before swinging over a changeup for another strikeout.
The changeup is Martínez’s money pitch. He threw 22, getting seven swinging or called strikes with five put into play at an average of 82.9 mph. The Tigers did not fare much better against his other offerings. Just five of 17 balls Detroit put in play had exit velocities above 95 mph, defined by Statcast as hard-hit. Martínez recorded six outs on the ground and four on pop-ups.
“He’s got a pretty electric sinker, good velocity behind it, seemed to be getting on some of the hitters,” Kotsay said. “And then I believe it’s a screwball, that we call a change, that’s a real good out pitch. But that two-pitch combo with the slider he was mixing in seemed to keep these guys off balance.”
Martínez is the 18th rookie used by the A’s in their first 30 games — the eighth to make his major-league debut. Kotsay lifted Martínez with one out in the sixth and spoke an extra moment with the right-hander, who smiled before starting back to the dugout.
“He went up to me and said he was very happy with me,” Martínez said through an interpreter. “Really grateful for the organization and they’ve all been very supportive.”
Kotsay said he told Martínez: “‘Great job.’ He, I think, wanted to give us all hugs — which I would have taken a hug, but I had to get the ball. All in all, what a day for him.”
Martínez said he received two baseballs and the lineup card from his debut, in which he secured his first win.
“I was a little nervous starting off the first inning,” Martínez said, “but I was able to shake it off and, after I threw that first pitch, I was able to keep on going.”
On offense: Shut out in the opener, the A’s manufactured scoring in Game 2. Neuse singled against Alex Faedo, stole second base, took third on a throwing error and scored on a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning. Neuse is 4-for-5 on steal attempts this season; the A’s are 17-for-20.
“It’s offense, man, you’ve got to be able to create it,” Neuse said. “Runs are at a minimum right now and it’s not like we’re not hitting the ball hard. We’re just not scoring the runs. Got to create them any way we can.”
Singles by Sean Murphy, Ramón Laureano and Kevin Smith forged a 2-0 lead. Cristian Pache, who began the game hitting .163 and struck out in his first two at-bats, singled home a runner from third in the seventh. Laureano had two hits, his first since returning from suspension. He singled in the ninth, advanced on Smith’s sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch and scored on Luis Barrera’s sacrifice fly.
Kemp’s catch: Second baseman Tony Kemp provided the defensive highlight of the day for the A’s, going airborne for a backhanded catch of Jeimer Candelario’s two-out liner in the eighth. Upon landing, Kemp sat and stared openmouthed at the A’s dugout.
“I shocked myself,” Kemp said, “I’m not going to lie.”
“The reaction was priceless,” Kotsay said. Neuse said the play “may be top five all year.”
Kemp played all 18 innings of the doubleheader and said he told Smith around the sixth in Game 2: “OK, I’m starting to feel it now.”
“Honestly, I was just happy the inning ended right there,” Kemp said.