Shorebird of the Week – June 30, 2011

Jarret Martin was pitching in relief when this was taken back in May, but he's established himself in the starting rotation now.

Because last week was a short week due to the All-Star break, one could argue Jarret Martin wasn’t all that deserving of the South Atlantic League’s Pitcher of the Week honors – after all, he made just one start. Granted, it was six innings of one-hit shutout ball against Lakewood in the first game back June 23, but that may have been a fluke.

So he followed that start up yesterday with six more shutout innings against Greensboro, allowing just four hits in that span before finally tiring in the seventh and allowing two runs. It was enough for another “W” in his column and should have silenced any critics.

Placed into the starting rotation for the May 21st contest at Kannapolis, Martin was roughed up for seven runs in 2 2/3 innings. He also struggled in one other start at West Virginia.

But Jarret has been “on” in his last two starts, which have pushed his overall record to 4-3 and lowered his ERA to 4.47 for the season. He’s reacquainted himself with starting duty over the last month, as Martin was a member of Bluefield’s starting rotation last season – there he went 3-5, 4.07 with a 1.49 WHIP.

Still, Martin has one thing to work on. In 116 professional innings, the 18th round pick out of Bakersfield (CA) Junior College has allowed 81 bases on balls. Allowing over 6 walks per 9 innings is not a formula for success at higher levels.

And oddly enough, statistically Jarret was a more effective long reliever than starter, although the two poor starts probably inflated those numbers to a degree.

We will probably see the native Californian who turns 22 in August for the rest of the season here. But if he can continue putting together good outings such as his last two and trim his walk numbers, there’s no reason to believe he can’t anchor Frederick’s starting rotation in 2012.

Author: Michael

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