Nick Martinez has seen Yankee Stadium from both sides of the rope line. Long before he arrived in the Bronx as Tampa Bay’s ALDS Game 3 starter, he was a Fordham student with a ticket, a roommate and enough youthful enthusiasm to learn that a Red Sox-Yankees crowd can get loud in a hurry.
Now the veteran right-hander returns Wednesday night with a far different job: give the Rays a chance to finish a sweep of New York and move into the American League Championship Series. First pitch for Game 3 is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.
From Fordham student to postseason starter
- During his junior year at Fordham, Martinez had a baseball practice called off, leaving him and his roommate free to head early to Yankee Stadium for a Yankees-Red Sox game.
- Martinez later recalled that they spent some time getting ready for the night and had more drinks than they should have. The crowd was already charged up for the rivalry game, and Martinez admitted he and his friend added to the noise.
- Security eventually escorted Martinez out of the ballpark. He was not permanently barred from Yankee Stadium, but it made for a memorable college-night story.
- His next visit came in a uniform rather than street clothes, when the rookie Rangers right-hander started in the Bronx on July 22, 2014.
- On Wednesday, Martinez will take the mound there again, this time carrying Tampa Bay’s hopes of closing out the Division Series.
The environment should hold few surprises. Martinez has already made two starts at Yankee Stadium this season, limiting New York to three runs across 12 innings. His road work has been a particular strength: he went 7-3 with a 2.38 ERA in 16 starts away from Tropicana Field.
A dependable arm all season
Martinez’s first regular season with the Rays was built on workload and steady results. After signing as a free agent in mid-February, he made 31 starts, worked 180 innings and finished 15-6 with a 3.10 ERA. Baseball Reference credited him with 3.9 WAR, while Tampa Bay went 22-9 in games he started.
Those numbers earned Martinez his first All-Star selection, but they do not fully explain the place he has taken in the club’s room. For a starting pitcher in his first season with a team, the praise has been unusually broad and unusually personal.
The clubhouse presence behind the numbers
Designated hitter Yandy Díaz said Martinez sets a standard through the way he treats people, on the field and away from it. Through interpreter Kevin Vera, Díaz called him an exceptional teammate and person, saying the pitcher’s character carries into every part of life.
Left fielder Chandler Simpson was even more direct, saying Martinez’s value to the club cannot be overstated and that the Rays would be in a difficult spot without him.
Shortstop Taylor Walls described Martinez as one of the finest clubhouse figures he has encountered in his career. Walls said the right-hander remains consistent wherever the team sees him, looks after teammates, brings an upbeat presence and routinely finds ways to help someone else.
Walls went so far as to nominate Martinez as the club’s internal MVP, a reflection of the veteran’s influence as much as his 15 wins.
That influence will travel with the Rays into a hostile Bronx setting. Martinez knows the building’s volume, knows the rivalry’s edge and knows what it is like to leave Yankee Stadium before the final out. Wednesday offers him another kind of return: one as Tampa Bay’s trusted starter, with a chance to send the Rays to the ALCS.
