Can the Rangers Continue to Rely On Veteran Reliever After Stellar Start to Season?

The Texas Rangers signed a long-time veteran of the sport this offseason to their bullpen, and he has proven once again that he is a valuable piece.

May 6, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Texas Rangers pitcher Chris Martin (55) throws a pitch against the Boston Red Sox in the ninth inning at Fenway Park. / David Butler II-Imagn Images

The Texas Rangers have had a very hit-or-miss start to the season, especially when it comes to their offensive output. There are many players or events to blame for the 18-20 start to the season, currently landing them in fourth place in the American League West. Ultimately, the team decided firing the hitting coach was the right direction to go, and while their offensive output has slightly improved, it will take time to see if that helped their long-term outlook.

One of the most positive players for the team this season has been their offseason signing Chris Martin, a 39-year old reliever who despite having played 10 seasons in the MLB (and two overseas in Japan) is still throwing at an elite level in 2025. This production somewhat waned a bit with the Boston Red Sox in 2024 after a truly outstanding season in 2023, which actually landed him No. 12 in Cy Young voting for the year.

This year has been closer to 2023 than 2024, which is a great boon to the success of the Rangers so far. While many pieces have faltered around him, he has remained consistently impressive for many years now, and could find himself landing a new contract after the year if he keeps this up.

How Has Chris Martin Improved the Ceiling of the Rangers?

Martin has not had an exceptional amount of playing time in 2025 yet so the sample size is rather small, having only pitched 16.2 innings so far. However, he has made the most of these innings, accruing a 2.16 ERA and 1.020 WHIP with 20 strikeouts, three walks, only one home run allowed, a save, and a team-leading 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings.

When trying to look into what has changed for him between last season and now, there are a few notable standouts in his metrics and how he is throwing. He has seen a slight bump in his split-finger fastball, sinker, and sweeper utilization, while decreasing how much he has relied on his primary two pitches with the cutter and four-seamer. This has allowed him to get back to a true four-pitch repertoire with a fifth pitch (the sweeper) being mixed in very sparingly.

This mix has also drawn huge chase rates from opposing batters, and according to Baseball Savant, he ranks in the 94th percentile among MLB pitchers with a 35.8% chase rate, which is extremely impressive for a veteran reliever. He has played opposing batters with an extremely smart mix of pitches, and it has shown in his success so far this season.