That past few years have been up and down for Carlos Martínez. After being selected to his second All Star team in 2017, 2018 saw the young pitcher on and off the Injured List with injuries. He suffered injuries to his lat and then his obliques. The Cardinals started using him primarily out of the bullpen to help reduce his injury chances.
2019 did not bring much relief to the injury misfortune. Carlos started the year on the Injured List and then was used a reliever when he finally returned, converting 24 saves in 27 opportunities. 2020 was already a shortened season and Carlos missed time after contracting COVID-19 and struggled mightily that season, possibly due to all of these things.