Over the past month, the Cincinnati Reds pitching staff has faced numerous challenges. Numerous pitchers who may not have anticipated to start have been thrust into starting duties by injuries. There should be two of these players on the team the next year.
For the Reds, Nick Martinez and Jakob Junis have been outstanding. The Reds pitching staff has remained relevant despite the loss of its starting rotation due in large part to their adaptability. Both pitchers have the ability to start games out of the bullpen, and they are both developing into reliable backups. Additionally, they both do a very useful task that the Reds have desperately needed for years.
In 2024, Martinez has been the Reds’ top pitcher who isn’t Hunter Greene. During the first half of the season, Martinez was extremely useful due to his combination of high-leverage bullpen work and rare starts. Martinez, however, stepped up and has been Cincinnati’s most dependable healthy starter since the rest of the Reds rotation was down.
A somewhat unexpected addition to the team was Junis. The majority didn’t think Frankie Montas would be able to get major league players in any kind of trade. Junis has exceeded all expectations. He was rather rough on his initial appearance as a Red, but he has since calmed down. Despite his two emergency starts, he has played nine innings of shutout baseball in total. You can count on Junis to pitch throughout several innings when he enters a game.
As manager, David Bell has yearned for this because he has attempted to develop a rotation of relievers that can pitch more than one inning. Fernando Cruz is making the most recent attempt, and it ought to end. Some men are just not cut out for it. Martinez and Junis are suited for it.
They excel at restricting walks as well. Baseball Savant ranks Martinez and Junis ninth and tenth, respectively, in terms of walk rate. These guys have a stingier walk rate than all but eight MLB pitchers combined. The Reds have had trouble giving up free passes out of the bullpen for the greater portion of my life. Junis and Martinez don’t.
Junis has a probable picked-up $7 million mutual option expiring in 2025. It is a welcome increase from this year’s $4 million, but the wild card will be if he believes he can make more.
Martinez has a $12 million player option expiring in 2025. It appears that he might choose to exercise his right to free agency and sign a starting pitching contract with another team. That could dash my aspirations because I believe his greatest value lies in his versatility as a starter and reliever. Everything is dependent upon his goals.
Notwithstanding the difficulties, I think the Reds ought to re-sign both of these players for the following season.
