It speaks volumes if a player appears in one game and ranks amongst the team leaders in bWAR. Such is the case with Adrian Martinez and the Oakland A’s.
Martinez had not exactly fared well in Triple-A prior to making his major league debut. He had a 7.45 ERA and a 1.603 WHiP over 19.1 innings, striking out 25 batters with nine walks. It was difficult to imagine that his spot start would end up as a positive for the A’s.
Adrian Martinez still one of Oakland A’s best players in 2022
The long time minor league veteran impressed in that outing. He fired 5.1 shutout innings, allowing just four hits as he struck out three batters while earning his first major league victory. That outing was worth 0.4 bWAR, a strong showing for the 25 year old.
That outing also made him one of the better players on the A’s despite having just that one appearance. His 0.4 bWAR is tied for eighth on the team despite that outing coming back on May 10th. Meanwhile, after nearly two months of the season has passed by, only seven players have been better in total.
Martinez is not the only player that sticks out in the A’s bWAR leaderboard. Nick Allen is 12th at 0.3 despite making ten appearances for a total of 26 plate appearances. This shows how much the A’s have struggled thus far in 2022.
It would not be a surprise to see Martinez get another look at some point. The A’s are continuing to cycle through pitchers, and while his overall numbers in Las Vegas are not great, they have improved since his day in the majors. Martinez should find himself toeing the rubber in Oakland once again.
Adrian Martinez had a strong showing in his one outing for the Oakland A’s. That appearance made him one of their better players thus far in 2022.