Doosan Cave's vacancy will be filled by KBO members...Nice guy who wrote the first true record in South Korea, bombing OPS 1.067 in exhibition game → joining the opening roster
Doosan Cave's vacancy will be filled by KBO members...Nice guy who wrote the first true record in South Korea, bombing OPS 1.067 in exhibition game → joining the opening roster
Blog Article
Nick Martini, who played for the NC Dinos in the 2022 season, joined the Colorado Rockies opening roster. He is expected to fill the vacancy of Jake Cave, who currently plays for the Doosan Bears.바카라
Martini, who was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the seventh round of the 2011 rookie draft, made his big league debut in 2018 for the Oakland Athletics (currently the Athletics). He showed promise in his debut season by posting a batting average of 0.296 OPS of 0.811, and 45 hits in 55 games and 152 times at bat. However, he failed to meet expectations with an OPS of 0.661 in 2019. 2020 did not make it to the big league, and 2021 only had an OPS of 0.653.
Martini turned to Korea. Martini signed a total of 800,000 U.S. dollars (down payment of 110,000 dollars, annual salary of 440,000 dollars, and incentive of 250,000 dollars) with NC prior to the 2022 season. "We have been watching him for a long time, and we expect him to bring vitality to our team's batting lineup and stability to our defense," Lim Sun-nam, the general manager of the team, said at the time.
He played as the center hitter at NC Dinosaurs. He played in 139 games, posting 151 hits in 510 at-bats, 16 homers, 85 RBIs, and a batting average of 0.296 OPS of 0.825. His home runs did not meet expectations, but he has established himself as a mid- to long-range hitter to the extent that he ranked fifth in doubles (34).
He became the star of the Korean pro baseball league's first foreign player Inside the Park Grand Slam. Martini stepped in to the batter's box with the bases loaded with one outs in the seventh inning when the team was leading 8-0 against the Sajik Lotte Giants on Aug. 7. Martini hit a homerun off Moon Kyung-chan that hit directly to the right-center field. As center field and right field overlapped, both failed to catch a hit, and Martini made a home run to complete the "full base home run." He was the fourth player to hit the grand slam in the stadium, and the first in the history of Korean baseball.
After the season ended, NC thought hard about renewing contract with Martini. He has good batting performance, but NC wanted a home run. Eventually, NC hired Jason Martin, a former Triple-A home run king, and parted ways with Martini.
After returning to the U.S., Martini signed a minor league contract with the Cincinnati Reds. He was called up to the big leagues in August 2023 and posted a batting average of 0.264 OPS of 0.912. In 2024, he joined the opening entry, going 2 for 4 (two homers) with five RBIs and two runs scored in the opening game against the Washington Nationals. His final record for the season was 31 hits in 52 games with five homers and a batting average of 0.212 OPS of 0.641. Cincinnati left Martini out of the 40-man roster.
Martini joined the spring camp as an invited player after signing a minor league contract with Colorado. At an exhibition game, he showed off his strength by posting 14 hits from 36 times at bat with two homers and a batting average of 0.389 OPS of 1.067. As a result, the official website of the U.S. Major League Baseball (MLB.com ) reported on Monday (Korea time) that Martini joined the roster for the opening of the 2025 season in Cincinnati.
"Martini has shown great performance. He will provide our team with elements similar to Cave, which was loved by fans last year," Colorado coach Bud Black said.
Coincidentally, he has filled the vacancy of Doosan Cave. During the last season, Cave played in 123 games for the Colorado Rockies, posting 81 hits in 323 times at bat with seven home runs and a batting average of 0.251 OPS of 0.6868. He brought life to the team through his hustle plays and received much love from fans. Martini is also a player whose strong point is passionate play. It can be interpreted that Coach Black expects from Martini the role that Cave played.
In the meantime, Cave had no hits in eight times at bat in two consecutive games starting in the 2025 season. He only garnered one walk. "He is an MLB-level outfielder whose strength is fast bat speed, which comes from strong wrist strength. He also has the ability to play defense in the outfield and the ability to run on a base with sense," Doosan said when recruiting Cave. It seems that he still needs time to adapt to the KBO league.