Joe Martinez

Joseph Andrew Martinez (born February 26, 1983) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher.

Martinez was born in South Orange, New Jersey, on February 26, 1983.

At Seton Hall Preparatory School in West Orange, he played multiple sports at the varsity level: four years of football, three years of baseball, and two years of basketball.

As a baseball player, he was twice a member of New Jersey's All-State team.

He graduated in 2001 and became a member of the school's Hall of Fame in 2007.

Following high school, Martinez played college baseball for the Boston College Eagles.

As a freshman in 2002, he posted a 0–0 record, allowing no earned runs in 26 innings pitched.

In 2003, he posted a 1–0 record with a 9.16 earned run average (ERA) in six games (two starts), pitching 18 innings.

He went 2–4 with a 0.87 ERA in 15 games (seven starts) in 2004, striking out 56 batters in 52 innings.

After the 2004 season, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Hyannis Mets of the Cape Cod Baseball League.

He was named a league all-star and posted a 2–5 record with a 2.84 ERA.

Used exclusively as a starting pitcher as a senior in 2005, he was drafted by the Giants in the 12th round of the 2005 MLB Draft.

In Martinez's senior year of 2005, the Eagles used him entirely as a starting pitcher.

On April 18, he was named the Big East Pitcher of the Week after recording 11 strikeouts while shutting out the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

He won the award for a second time on May 16 after pitching his fifth consecutive complete game, a three-hit shutout of the Pittsburgh Panthers.

In 2005, he made 12 starts, posting an 8–3 record, a 2.63 ERA, and 97 strikeouts in 89 innings pitched.

The San Francisco Giants drafted Martinez in the 12th round of the 2005 Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft, and he began his professional career the same year.

He played for the Class A Short Season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes of the Northwest League in 2005, going 4–3 with a 4.30 ERA in 15 games (13 starts).

Martinez allowed nine home runs that year, the third-most in the league.

In 2006, he played for the Class A Augusta Greenjackets of the South Atlantic League, going 15–5 with a 3.01 ERA in 26 starts.

His 15 wins and 167 2⁄3 innings pitched trailed only Matt Maloney's totals for the league lead, and he also finished in the top five in starts (third) and ERA (fifth).

In 2007, Martinez pitched For the Class A Advanced San Jose Giants of the California League.

He twice recorded 11 strikeouts, first against the Stockton Ports on May 1, and later against the Modesto Nuts on July 13.

He went 10–10 with a 4.26 ERA in 28 starts.

Martinez's 151 strikeouts led the league; at the same time, he walked only 36 batters.

Promoted to the Class AA Connecticut Defenders in 2008, Martinez became an Eastern League All-Star.

He was the league's pitcher of the week for the period ending June 23, during which he threw seven scoreless innings in a victory over the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.

He played parts of four seasons for the San Francisco Giants (2009–2010), Pittsburgh Pirates (2010), Arizona Diamondbacks (2012), and Cleveland Indians (2013).

Martinez threw right-handed but batted left-handed.

A native of South Orange, New Jersey, Martinez played four years of college baseball for the Boston College Eagles.

Progressing through the minor leagues, he won the 2009 Harry S. Jordan Award as the Giant who did the best in his first spring training, making San Francisco's Opening Day roster as a result.

He picked up the win on Opening Day, April 7, but two days later, he suffered a concussion and three fractured bones when a line drive off the bat of Mike Cameron hit him in the forehead.

The injury kept him out for several months, but he returned to the Giants later in the season.

After being the Fresno Grizzlies' best starter in 2010, he was called up in mid-June when Todd Wellemeyer was injured; he made one start before being replaced by Madison Bumgarner in the rotation.

Midway through the year, he was traded to the Pirates.

Assigned to the minor leagues, Martinez did not pitch for the Pirates until September, when he made five relief appearances.

He spent all of 2011 in the minor leagues for Cleveland.

In 2012, he pitched in one game for the Diamondbacks, and he made two appearances for Cleveland in 2013.

After a brief stint in the minor leagues for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in 2014, he retired.

In 2022, MLB hired Martinez as their Senior Director of On-Field Operations.