Former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez has not pitched in an MLB game this season, currently sitting in free agency after a brief stint with the Boston Red Sox Triple-A affiliate this season. Some serious allegations against Martinez Thursday indicate he may never pitch in another MLB game again.
According to MLB insider Ken Rosenthal, Martinez has accepted an 85-game unpaid suspension for violating the MLB Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Child Abuse Policy.
Major League Baseball announced today that free-agent pitcher Carlos Martinez has accepted an 85-game unpaid suspension, retroactive to June 19, for violating the league’s Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) September 1, 2022
This is the second time that Martinez has received a suspension from MLB this season. The first was an 80-game suspension for performance-enhancing drug usage. That came a week after he was released by the Red Sox organization back in May.
No exact details have emerged about Martinez’s latest case, but the severity of the case that is against him is enough for many to think that he may never pitch at the MLB level again.
Carlos Martinez was in the Red Sox system for about 10 days this year. This suspension is in the wake of an 80-day PED ban. His career is probably over. pic.twitter.com/x4Zfjgu38O
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) September 1, 2022
What a fall from grace. Loved Carlos and now we have… well this https://t.co/t5j4v0tsg4
— Chase A. Probert (@chase_a_probert) September 1, 2022
Yea his careers probably over as a major leaguer. Loads of talent but dude just couldn’t get out of his own way https://t.co/Ec0xo5p1VP
— Conner O’Brien (@STLBirdsandBeer) September 1, 2022
Turns out Martinez was the head case a lot of #STLCards fans thought he was https://t.co/r2xaRHB5Oo
— John Ashby (@jashby23) September 1, 2022
Well, his career is over. Good riddance. https://t.co/sfis5vgb8w
— Eric Treuden (@ETreuden) September 1, 2022
Even before the suspension, Martinez (seen above during a June 2021 game) had been struggling at the MLB level, posting a 6.89 ERA in 2020 followed by a 4.76 ERA in 2021.
His time with the Red Sox Triple-A roster didn’t go any better for him. He started two games in 2022, and posted a whopping 20.77 ERA during his time with the team.
At one point, Martinez looked like an extremely promising pitcher with the Cardinals. He made two All-Star appearances in 2015 and 2017 for the organization.
Now at only 30 years of age, Martinez will serve two major suspensions before he can even pitch again. That’s if any team were to take a chance on him at some point, which in itself seems unlikely at this point.
[Ken Rosenthal; photo from Jeff Curry/USA Today Sports]