The Confusing Off Season of Cody Martin
By Fred Owens
Cody Martin on the mound last year for Gwinnett. Credit: Chris Roughgarden.Gwinnett Braves
2013
He split time between Pearl and Gwinnett in 2013. At Pearl he started 11 games and made 4 relief appearances while posting a 2.82 ERA and a 1.343 WHIP in 67IP. After moving to AAA Gwinnett he made 11 starts and 2 more relief appearances totaling 69 2/3 IP with a 3.49 ERA and 1.292 WHIP while leading the league in strikeouts with 137. That encouraged BA to slide him up to the Braves #11 prospect slot prompted this scouting report:
". . .(he throws) four pitches for strikes, though none grades as plus. . . pounds the zone with a low-90s fastball that has good late movement . . . a mid-80s slider, which serves as his strikeout pitch. His curveball and changeup are both solid-average, and he mixed in a two-seam fastball . . .Martin has proven effective in any role and draws comparisons with Kris Medlen . . .(he)should reach Atlanta during the 2014 season."
He didn’t make it to Atlanta last year but as noted above he pitched well and remains BA’s #18 Braves prospect his slippage there more a result of the infusion of new talent resulting from trades and signings this off season than any changes in his ability.
Live Feed
Call to the Pen
In spite of being a consensus top 20 prospect, a dependable, sturdy and willing arm who’s just 24 years old, he’s fallen out of favor with Braves leadership as demonstrated by his removal from the 40 man in November a move that clearly wasn’t forced on them.
At the time the Braves removed Martin they simultaneously added Brandon Cunniff, Yean Carlos Gil, Williams Perez, Mauricio Cabrera and Jose Peraza. None of the additions were vulnerable to the Rule 5 Draft so there was no urgent need to add them to the roster. To put it bluntly they dumped Martin for reasons no one has explained and no one I’ve read has asked President of Baseball Operations John Hart or his right hand man John Coppolella to expand upon.
Dazed and Confused for so long it’s not true
Spring training opened and Martin got an invite to major league camp. Ubiquitous common knowledge assured us that the rotation consisted of Julio Teheran, Mike Minor, Shelby Miller, Alex Wood and either Mike Foltynewicz, Wandy Rodriguez, Eric Stults or possibly Chien-Ming Wang. Then Minor’s shoulder demanded an extra month of vacation time and Martin pushed himself into contention.