Nick Martinez has spent the opening three games of the American League Championship Series doing what October asks of a veteran pitcher: staying loose, staying available and not getting too attached to a single job description.
For Game 1, Martinez watched from the Tampa Bay bullpen, a setting he admitted was not exactly his preference. He shifted into the dugout for Game 2 and settled onto the bench for Game 3, cleats still on in case the Rays needed an arm. With the series moving through Cleveland, the 36-year-old right-hander has made it clear that his assignment is simple, even if the details keep changing.
“Whatever the team needs, I’m up for it,” Martinez said Thursday morning.
That willingness may be tested again in Game 4 at Progressive Field. Martinez is lined up to start for Tampa Bay if Friday’s game is played as planned, with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. ET on TBS, truTV, UniMas and HBO Max. But rain is expected to linger in Cleveland, and a postponement could alter both clubs’ pitching maps.
If Friday is washed out and Game 4 moves to Saturday, the Rays could have Drew Rasmussen available on regular rest after he opened the series. Rasmussen, Freddy Peralta and Griffin Jax handled Tampa Bay’s first three starts, leaving Martinez as the expected choice for the fourth game under the original schedule.
For Martinez, the uncertainty is familiar territory. He worked between the rotation and bullpen over much of his career before finding a steadier starting role with the Rays this season. He made a career-high 31 starts during the regular season, but October has put every Tampa Bay starter on notice that plans can change by the inning.
“It’s a little different this year because I started all year, but it’s nothing new in my career,” Martinez said. “It’s all hands on deck, especially this time of year. Every out is important. It doesn’t matter when you get them.”
Martinez said he did not even learn about the Friday forecast until he walked to the ballpark. His response was the same one a clubhouse leans on when the weather board becomes part of the scouting report: prepare, then wait.
“There’s not much you can control about that,” he said. “Just be ready to go.”
Cleveland’s options depend on the rain
The Guardians entered Thursday without a settled Game 4 starter, and the forecast only added another moving part after their 3-2 victory in Game 3. Manager Stephen Vogt said Cleveland would be ready regardless of when or where the game lands.
“With everything up in the air for tomorrow, we’re going to be prepared to play whatever time, whatever place,” Vogt said. “Our guys stay ready.”
If the teams play Friday, Cleveland could piece the game together with Joey Cantillo, Tanner Bibee and Slade Cecconi among the available options. All three were starters during the regular season, though none has been stretched out recently.
Cantillo’s last regular-season start came Sept. 7. Control problems later led Cleveland to use Daniel Espino as an opener before Cantillo’s final three turns. Cantillo has appeared twice this postseason, including a 17-pitch outing in ALCS Game 1 on Monday, but his recent workload makes a long start uncertain.
Bibee has thrown only 15 pitches this postseason, covering one-third of an inning in relief during Game 4 of the AL Division Series on Oct. 8. Cecconi debuted in this ALCS in Game 2, throwing 16 pitches in a scoreless inning. He began the year in the Cleveland rotation and made 21 starts before moving to the bullpen in August after the club added Foster Griffin.
A Saturday Game 4 would give the Guardians a cleaner route to Griffin, who could start on normal rest. Griffin opened the series Monday and allowed two runs over four innings while throwing 63 pitches.
Game 3 starter Gavin Williams said the Guardians cannot spend much energy trying to solve a forecast they do not control.
“We have no say,” Williams said. “If the game gets moved up or gets moved back, you’ve just got to focus on yourselves and do the job we know how to do, without letting anything else affect us.”
Major League Baseball could use Friday as an off day if conditions make a game impossible, then stage Games 4 and 5 in Cleveland on the following two days. Sunday is currently set aside for travel back to St. Petersburg, though it could become a game day if needed before a possible Game 6.
The weather already forced one adjustment when Thursday’s Game 3 was moved to a 1 p.m. start, and the afternoon ultimately turned out clear enough for baseball. Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash had been told Friday was likely to be a rain-heavy day, while officials hoped the evening outlook might improve.
For Martinez, this is the postseason posture that has carried the Rays’ staff through October. He started Game 3 of the Division Series at Yankee Stadium and held New York to two runs on five hits in 3 2/3 innings, even in a shortened assignment. Now he could start Game 4, relieve in it, or watch another change in plans unfold.
“It says a lot about all of us being on the same page,” Martinez said of Tampa Bay’s rotating pitching roles. “We understand how important these games are, how important every out is, and everybody wants to contribute however they can.”
