Martinez feels healthy, drop in velocity 'nothing to worry about' 

NEW YORK -- Justin Martinez got done running laps in the outfield early Tuesday afternoon and then strolled to the mound at Citi Field. The mound was still covered by a blue tarp with a Mets logo on it.

The Diamondbacks' right-hander stood and looked around and then went through his delivery without a baseball in his hand.

The brief session on the mound was so that Martinez could get the feel for what it would look like on the mound should he get called upon that night. A way to get familiar with the surroundings of a ballpark he was not used to and a technique that former Diamondbacks bullpen coach and longtime Major League reliever Mike Fetters taught him last season.

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Martinez’s health has been a bit of a concern early in the season. He has been held out of some games recently due to shoulder fatigue, and when he closed out Sunday’s 6-4 win against the Braves, his velocity was down around three mph.

Martinez said that he has been doing a lot of shoulder strengthening exercises recently and that could have been why his velocity was down.

“I feel pretty good, honestly,” Martinez said. “My arm doesn’t bother me anymore. That’s one thing that I’m glad about. Yeah, the other day my velo was down a lot, but I don’t think it’s anything to worry about. I just feel like I’ve been working too much on my shoulder and I was probably doing too much work. That’s why maybe I was throwing that velocity there. But it’s nothing to worry about. My arm feels good, that’s the best part.”

The team’s concern level is low at the moment, as evidenced by the fact that they haven’t sent Martinez for any kind of MRI.

Had Martinez complained of any kind of pain, the team would likely have reacted differently, but the fact that his strength still tests out well and there’s no pain gives them confidence that it’s not an injury.

“I don't think it's all that uncommon for guys' stuff to have additional volatility when the pitching pattern has been a little inconsistent,” Arizona assistant general manager Mike Fitzgerald said. “So in talking to [pitching coach Brian Kaplan] and [manager Torey Lovullo] and the pitching group at large, they seem to kind of just say, ‘Hey, let's monitor it day to day.’ If we continue to see repeated 96, 97 as a consistent velocity band, [then we’ll say,] ‘All right, then let's dive a little bit deeper.’”

Martinez was always going to be a big part of the bullpen as he opened the year as a co-closer with lefty A.J. Puk, but his role has taken on added importance with Puk out for a yet-to-be-determined amount of time with an elbow issue.

The Diamondbacks did continue to tweak the bullpen on Tuesday, with Kevin Ginkel being activated off the IL and Drey Jameson optioned to Triple-A Reno.

Ginkel was placed on the IL just before the end of Spring Training with right shoulder inflammation. Expected to be a key setup man, Ginkel’s return would be a big boost for the backend of the bullpen.

Ginkel was encouraged by how he felt recovering from his outings both in extended spring games and his two appearances for the Aces.

“I feel like how I've been bouncing back has been really good, which I was struggling with before,” Ginkel said. “I’ve been feeling good, which is the most important part, and now it’s just going out and producing.”

As for Jameson, the Diamondbacks would like him to get some more innings under his belt and work in back-to-back games before bringing him back up. The right-hander missed all of 2024 after having Tommy John surgery in 2023.

“There's definitely still some sharpness to refine a little bit to get him being able to find consistent success up here,” Fitzgerald said.