On Friday afternoon Nick Martinez made what almost assuredly will be his final outing of the 2024 season. He threw eight innings in a complete game, 1-0 loss against the Cubs. The Cincinnati Reds starter didn’t walk anyone and he picked up three strikeouts on the day.
With his season now seemingly complete, he finishes the year with 142.1 innings pitched, a 3.10 ERA, 18 walks, and 116 strikeouts. It’s those latter two numbers that are important to this article and the record set by Nick Martinez in 2024. I will begin with the disclaimer that this won’t show up in the official record books because to be there a player needs to have qualified for the ERA title and most pitchers today simply don’t throw enough innings to do that these days. Martinez, who spent part of the year in the bullpen, didn’t throw enough innings to make that cut.
But if we push things down to the 140-innings pitched mark, then Nick Martinez’s strikeout-to-walk ratio this year of 6.44 is easily the best by a Cincinnati Reds pitcher in their history. Of the 543 pitchers in the franchise’s history to throw 140 or more innings in a season, only five of them have had a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 4.00 or better.
Johnny Cueto was the last pitcher to reach those marks when he did so in 2015 with a 4.14 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Before him it was Aaron Harang back in 2007 with a 4.19 mark. Gary Nolan got there in 1976 with a 4.19 mark as well. And the previous record holder before Nick Martinez came along was The Ol’ Left-Hander, Joe Nuxhall. Back in 1963 he had a 4.33 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Martinez has a player option for the 2025 season. If he exercises it the Reds will pay him $12,000,000. But after the season he just put up there seems to be no logical reason he would do that. Free agency will earn him far more than that. There’s also the possibility he declines his option and Cincinnati would make him a qualifying offer. How much that is at this point is unknown, but it has been somewhere in the $18-21,000,000 range over the past few years.
What Martinez would do if that were on the table could change his mind about free agency at age 34. Of course at age 34 and coming off of his best season it may also be the last chance he gets at a good, multi-year contract, too.
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