The Arizona Diamondbacks began the season hot but are now fighting to remain around the .500 mark. However, their pitching situation has unfortunately gone from bad to worse as another pitcher will spend the remainder of the year sidelined due to injury.
Per an update on Friday, closer Justin Martinez will undergo Tommy John surgery and be sidelined for 12-13 months after suffering an elbow injury Monday night. It’s the second Tommy John surgery of the 23-year-old’s career, with the first coming back in 2021.
Martinez had appeared in 17 games this season with 15.2 innings of work. Over that span, he struck out 22 batters with a 4.11 ERA and 1.24 WHIP. His ERA wasn’t quite up to par with last season’s 2.48 mark, but his WHIP was a decent margin better than his 1.31 figure from last year and Martinez’s 12.91 K/9 and 4.11 H/9 were career-bests.
Of course, the injury will leave Martinez sidelined for a significant period of time as he undergoes a lengthy rehab process. As this is his second Tommy John surgery, he knows what to expect. Still, two major injuries in the first few seasons of his pro career aren’t exactly encouraging indicators for his long-term outlook.
From a team perspective, the Diamondbacks will almost certainly face serious questions about what direction to take over the remainder of the season. At 34-34, Arizona sits fourth in the NL West. With ace Corbin Burnes rehabbing Tommy John surgery himself, a struggling pitching staff continues to lose arms. While the D-Backs have the bats to win games, the team ranks 25th in ERA and 22nd in WHIP on the campaign with the fourth-most runs allowed.
With the way things are going, it wouldn’t be shocking to see them transition into sellers around trade deadline time.
