Nick Martinez headshot

Nick Martinez

Tampa Bay Rays · through 2026-09-05

Elite season

Why he matters right now

Nick Martinez is top-10 in the majors in wins

He is 5th in wins at 14 — placements on MLB's own season boards, which rank every QUALIFIED pitcher in the sport rather than the few dozen this site tracks. Qualified is MLB's own bar, and it is the reason a part-season player with a big number is not on these boards at all.

The case in 30 seconds

  • 14 5th in wins at 14 on MLB's season leaderboards MLB season leaderboard (the league's own top-10 board of qualified players, not this site's roster)
  • 3.04 ERA over 160 innings, with 95 strikeouts, 27 starts and a 1.10 WHIP snapshot pitching board — the union of MLB's top-10 pitching boards, then MLB's 1.0 IP per team game rule applied; not the league's full qualified pool

The honest caveat

The open question is workload. He is at 160 innings over 27 starts; the same rate to the end of the season means roughly 183. Velocity and innings both have to hold, and neither is guaranteed — this page reports what the measurements say, not what a medical staff knows.

What to watch next

Next up: at Texas Rangers.

Every claim above, with its source (2)
  1. 5th in wins at 14 on MLB's season leaderboards MLB season leaderboard (the league's own top-10 board of qualified players, not this site's roster)
  2. ERA over 160 innings, with 95 strikeouts, 27 starts and a 1.10 WHIP snapshot pitching board — the union of MLB's top-10 pitching boards, then MLB's 1.0 IP per team game rule applied; not the league's full qualified pool

The evidence

What to watch next

at Texas Rangers Globe Life Field · 2:35 p.m. ET Opposite MacKenzie Gore

Situational splits

SplitIPERASOWHIPAVG against
vs RHP 63.1 35 1.20 .274
vs LHP 95.2 60 1.05 .231
Home 80.1 3.92 51 1.21 .268
Away 79.2 2.15 44 0.99 .229
Day 53.1 2.53 35 0.98 .228
Night 106.2 3.29 60 1.16 .258

2026 season, MLB Stats API. A split with no plate appearances is omitted rather than shown as zeroes.

27G
27GS
160.0IP
14-4W-L
3.04ERA
1.10WHIP
95K
5.34K/9
0SV

Strikeout chase

ChaseCurrentPaceNeeded from hereStatus
200 K 95 108 105 K · 27.6 per outing over 3.8 left IMPOSSIBLE
250 K 95 108 155 K · 40.8 per outing over 3.8 left IMPOSSIBLE
300 K 95 108 205 K · 53.9 per outing over 3.8 left IMPOSSIBLE
350 K 95 108 255 K · 67.1 per outing over 3.8 left IMPOSSIBLE
383 K 95 108 288 K · 75.8 per outing over 3.8 left IMPOSSIBLE

ERA & WHIP finish lines

FinishCurrentRequired rest-of-seasonStatus
Sub-2.00 ERA3.04 -5.37 over about 22 innings IMPOSSIBLE
Sub-1.75 ERA3.04 -7.39 over about 22 innings IMPOSSIBLE
Sub-1.50 ERA3.04 -9.42 over about 22 innings IMPOSSIBLE
Sub-1.00 WHIP1.10 0.29 EXTREME
Sub-0.90 WHIP1.10 -0.52 IMPOSSIBLE

Recent game log

Derived nightly from the snapshot ledger — each row is the difference between consecutive days; multi-day rows are labeled.

DateOppResultIPK
2026-09-04 Texas Rangers W 7-6 6.14
2026-08-18 Toronto Blue Jays L 5-10 3.25
2026-08-11 Athletics W 12-4 9.05
2026-08-05 Colorado Rockies W 4-0 5.24
2026-07-25 Cleveland Guardians W 3-0 6.05
2026-07-20 Toronto Blue Jays W 7-1 6.00

Recent highlights

Lahman + Retrosheet context

How this season fits history

Comparable finishesMedian 109 K

n=632 near this checkpoint

Chase history

61789507-0509-05
Strikeouts, day by day
9810511207-0509-05
Projected season K, day by day

Stuff watch

Sinker velocity, start by start

Every start's average against his own trailing baseline of 92.5 ± 0.7 mph. Ringed dots sit more than one standard deviation under the baseline; last start 91.92 mph (2026-09-04).

94912026-03-30: 93.09 mph (n=17)2026-04-05: 92.15 mph (n=17)2026-04-11: 92.93 mph (n=23)2026-04-17: 93.11 mph (n=39)2026-04-22: 92.06 mph (n=46)2026-04-28: 92.19 mph (n=24)2026-05-04: 91.09 mph (n=23)2026-05-10: 93.67 mph (n=15)2026-05-16: 92.59 mph (n=21)2026-05-22: 93.02 mph (n=25)2026-05-29: 92.09 mph (n=42)2026-06-03: 91.95 mph (n=19)2026-06-09: 92.6 mph (n=21)2026-06-15: 93.7 mph (n=26)2026-06-21: 93.18 mph (n=22)2026-06-26: 92.22 mph (n=27)2026-07-03: 92.71 mph (n=31)2026-07-10: 92.34 mph (n=14)2026-07-20: 91.84 mph (n=28)2026-07-25: 92.13 mph (n=31)2026-07-31: 91.92 mph (n=27)2026-08-05: 92.66 mph (n=15)2026-09-04: 91.92 mph (n=28)

No active signals — inside one standard deviation of his own baseline. A trend report, not a diagnosis.