Top pitching prospect Carlos Martinez has been beckoned to join the Cardinals' bullpen again, but it appears as if it may not be long before he makes his major-league debut as a starter. Martinez has been starting at Triple-A Memphis and pitching deeper into games in recent weeks, and general manager John Mozeliak told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the 21-year-old will be called on as an "innings eater" out of the bullpen.
Given that the Cardinals will need a fifth starter by July 27, it seems that Martinez could be sufficiently stretched out to be a starter at that point. The imcumbent, Joe Kelly, is not likely to be a roadblock to Martinez, and he could be returned to a long relief role after the All-Star break. Martinez has certainly earned his shot with a 1.98 ERA over eight starts at Memphis. While he hasn't struck out batters at an impressive rate, he's been getting swinging strikes on 10.5 percent of his pitches, as well as grounders on 57 percent of his balls-in-play according to StatCorner.com.
Nando Di Fino and I talked about Martinez in the company of other callups like Erasmo Ramirez on Thursday's Fantasy Baseball Today. Given his potential for an above-average strikeout rate and a low ERA, Martinez should be a welcome addition in any mixed league deeper than 12 teams that has reserve slots.