Chris Martin came to the end of what history will consider a valuable contract for the Red Sox, but his inconsistently in 2024 and dip from 2023 leave the Red Sox bullpen with some unanswered questions for 2025.
The Positives
Listen, if you think a 1.05 ERA was sustainable for another full season, regardless of Martin’s place as eighth-inning high leverage arm, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you... or perhaps an outfielder in the Bronx with 201 career home runs at the age of 26. Chris Martin went to his cutter 45% of the time in 2024, up from 35% in 2023, and amassed a 27% whiff rate on that pitch, even if that rate on the remainder of his pitches left something to be desired.