Nick Martinez takes the mound tonight for Cincinnati as perhaps their biggest trade chip

The Reds begin a series in the Motor City!

Nick Martinez toes the rubber tonight for the Cincinnati Reds in something of a precarious position.

His position in the team’s starting rotation isn’t precarious because of results, I should add. In 75.1 IP so far this season he’s pitched to a tidy 3.70 ERA, 120 ERA+, and a 3.59 FIP that suggests his results have been every bit as deserving as his efforts.

He’s been hell on RHH (.699 OPS against), and were it not for his escalating splits the third time through a batting order his season-long numbers would look that much better. Several times this year he’s been tasked with pitching beyond the 6th inning only for things to go haywire right before being pulled, skewing his numbers on the day when he’d otherwise been brilliant.

The precarious nature of his position as a pitcher in the Cincinnati Reds rotation is merely due to his contract status. He’s earning a hair over $21 million this season in his final season of team control by the Reds having accepted the Qualifying Offer this past offseason. That means that a) he’ll again reach free agency this offseason and b) that the Reds can’t slap him with the QO again after the season, meaning the Reds will ultimately have a trade deadline decision on whether to keep him and push for the playoffs or deal him, save coin, and try to make a playoff push without him.

There’s no doubt he’d be a viable, moveable piece this July. He’s shown for years he’s both a quality starter and reliable multi-inning reliever on short notice, if need be, precisely the kind of flexible option any team out there would love to have. So, if the Reds don’t find a way to get closer to a playoff position, they’ll be tempted to see what pieces they can get for him by cashing-in and turning over those would-be innings to a younger, cheaper arm.

I’m not saying they should do it. I’m just saying that on his salary, it’s something that Nick Krall will have to be weighing each and every single day between now and the deadline, even more so if Martinez continues to excel on the mound while the Reds stay stuck in ~.500 purgatory.

Martinez takes the mound tonight in the series opener in Detroit against the surging Tigers, doing his damnedest to try to get the Reds back on track after their loss in the series finale against Cleveland. Considering he’s likely pitched his way out of the Reds price range for an extension with the club, he’s pitching for his own contract future, the future of the 2025 Reds, and for Nick Krall’s deadline to-do list.

Frankly, I’m rooting for all parties involved.

Reds Lineup, 6/13