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.
This is the second time that Martinez has received a suspension from MLB this season. The first was an 80-game suspension tfor 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.
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]
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.