12:57pm: The Cubs are buying infielder/outfielder Zach McKinstry in return for Martin, tweets Patrick Mooney of The Athletic.
12:40pm: The Dodgers and Cubs have agreed to a commerce sending right-hander Chris Martin from Chicago to Los Angeles, experiences ESPN’s Buster Olney (Twitter link).
Martin, 36, is enjoying the season on a one-year, $2.5MM contract. He’s logged 31 1/3 innings of 4.31 ERA ball this season, though fielding-independent metrics are way more bullish (3.02 FIP, 2.09 SIERA). Martin has been uncharacteristically homer-prone this yr however has maintained his elite command of the strike zone. He’s punched out 30.1% of his opponents up to now and walked simply 4 of the 133 batters he’s confronted (3.1%). One of these free passes was of the intentional selection, it must be famous, and Martin has additionally but to hit a batter this season.
The towering 6’8″ Martin is among the extra notable abroad success tales lately. After a nondescript run with the Rockies and Yankees in 2014-15, he signed with Japan’s Nippon-Ham Fighters and tore by way of NPB lineups over a superb two-year stint there. He signed with the Rangers for the 2018 marketing campaign and, after a pedestrian first season again in MLB has solidified himself as a top quality late-inning reliever. Over the previous 4 seasons, Martin touts a 3.46 ERA with a 26.5% strikeout fee and an impeccable 3% stroll fee. Among the 431 pitchers who’ve thrown no less than 100 large league innings in that point, Martin’s stroll fee is the second-lowest within the sport (narrowly trailing former teammate Josh Tomlin’s 2.9% mark).
More to return.
