Red Sox relief pitcher Chris Martin comes in 12th place in the AL Cy Young voting.
In an unexpected turn of events, Red Sox reliever Chris Martin finished 12th in voting for the American League Cy Young Award in 2023.The results were announced earlier Wednesday evening on MLB Network by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
Martin scored one point for a fifth-place vote from Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune. The veteran right-hander finished last in a field of 12, trailing Yankees star Gerrit Cole, who won the award unanimously, Twins runner-up Sonny Gray, and Blue Jays Kevin Gausman.
Martin had a successful debut season in Boston after signing a two-year, $17.5 million contract with the team where he began his professional career last December. The 37-year-old hurler had a slow start and even lost some time in April due to right shoulder discomfort, but he didn’t miss a beat when he returned in early May.
Martin produced a 1.05 ERA and 2.44 FIP in 55 total bullpen appearances, ranking second on the Red Sox behind Josh Winckowski’s 59, with 46 strikeouts to just eight walks over 51 1/3 innings of work, holding opposing batters to a.237 batting average against.
Martin emerged as one of manager Alex Cora’s most trusted setup guys, with closer Kenley Jansen locked in for the ninth most nights. All 55 of his appearances were in the seventh or later inning, and he recorded three saves in four chances while leading the club in holds with 23.
Martin had gone 20 straight outings (19 innings) without allowing an earned run dating back to July 30 before being shut down with a viral infection in late September. In total, the native Texan struck out in all but five of his Red Sox appearances this season.
According to FanGraphs, Martin ranked second in walks per nine innings (1.40), second in walk rate (4.0 percent), eighth in WHIP (1.03), first in left on base percentage (93.6 percent), second in barrel rate (2.1 percent), first in ERA, third in FIP, and fifth in xFIP (2.90) among the 66 relievers in the American League who reached the 50-inning mark this season.
Martin, who is vying for All-MLB selection, was the lone Red Sox pitcher to collect a Cy Young vote on Wednesday, the first since Nathan Eovaldi placed fourth in the event two years ago. He also joins Craig Kimbrel (2017) and Koji Uehara (2013) as recent Boston relievers to receive votes for the honor.