Diamondbacks 2022 Player Reviews: Corbin Martin

The enigmatic right-hander is at a crossroads in his career

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Status: Pre arb 1,  Salary $705,000

Baseball Reference

2022 Review

Corbin Martin was drafted by the Houston Astros in the second round of the 2017 draft. The hard throwing right hander had an up and down college career with Texas A&M. But a strong second half in 2017 when he moved from the bullpen to starting pitching propelled him up the draft board. 

Martin rose quickly through the Astros system, pitching at two levels in each of his first three minor league seasons, posting good numbers at each stop. Through his first six games of 2019 with Round Rock in Triple-A he had a 1.47 ERA, a .167 batting average against, and had struck out 29 batters in 25 innings. That not only got him into some top 100 prospects lists, but got him a promotion to the major leagues. Martin made his major league debut on May 12th, 2019, just under two years from the day he was drafted. 

It was a very successful and tantalizing debut. His four seam fastball  was averaging 96 MPH and maxed out at 98. He was landing his curveball for strikes, and getting swing and miss on all three of his pitches, including a changeup too. Martin struck out nine batters, walked just one, and gave up two runs in 5.1 innings. But over his next four outings he struggled with walks and command, issuing 11 free passes in 14 innings and was demoted back to Triple-A. Three games later he suffered a complete tear of his elbow ligament, and required Tommy John Surgery. 

One month after surgery the Diamondbacks asked for him as part of the Zack Greinke trade deadline deal in 2019. He made it back to the majors in 2021 but it went very poorly. In two different stints across five games, 16 innings, he posted a 10.69 ERA, walking 14 batters and striking out just 13 and allowing five homers. His average fastball velocity was 94 MPH, two ticks slower than his surgery major league debut two seasons earlier.

Martin had a good spring to start 2022 however and made the opening day roster. He got into five games in relief, showing some signs of improvement in that role. He logged 14.1 innings, posting a 2.42 FIP, walking six, striking out 14 and not allowing a homer. His fastball was topping out around 97 and averaging close to 95 again. But rather than let him continue to develop as a reliever, the team decided to send him back to Triple-A Reno to work as a starter and get stretched out. 

In a dozen starts, 60 innings in Reno he had a 5.10 ERA and struck out 61 batters while walking 24 and giving up nine homers. He was promoted back to MLB on July 24th for his first start of the year, allowing just one run in four innings despite walking five batters. He got another start on July 30th, but was hammered for three homers and four runs in four innings against the Atlanta Braves, taking the loss. His fastball  started out around 94-95 MPH, but by the fourth inning was down to 92-93, ending up averaging just 93  for the outing.   

That was it for his time in the majors for 2022. Sent back to Reno after that July 30th start, he pitched in five more games for the Aces, posting an ugly 9.53 ERA and giving up six homers in just 17 innings. Martin made his last appearance for Reno on August 28th and then was placed on the Reno 7 day injured list for an undisclosed reason.

2023 Outlook

Martin will be entering his age 27 season in 2023. He's been passed by several other starting pitching prospects in the system, and based on the results and diminished velocity when he gets beyond a couple innings of work he seems destined for a relief role going forward. In fact earlier in the off season Michael McDermott highlighted Martin as the primary conversion candidate among Diamondbacks pitchers. Assuming his late season injury was nothing serious, he should be a contender for a bullpen role in 2023. Martin does not reach arbitration until 2025, so there is still time to extract some value out of him. But first he'll have to prove he can stay healthy and throw strikes.