The Saitama Seibu Lions called for more reinforcements on Thursday when they announced they signed RHP Kyle Martin.
"I am very excited," Martin said in a statement. "I am proud to be able to play in Japan where there are wonderful fans who can share their affection for baseball. I am very much looking forward to having connection with all of our fans.".
Martin, 27, has spent his entire career with the Boston Red Sox organization. It was earlier reported on Wednesday in Eastern Time that the Red Sox released him in order to pursue an opportunity in Japan.
Last year, Martin made his MLB debut and appeared in two games at the top level. He gave up one home run and has a career total of 2.1 innings of work. In 2018 at the AAA in Pawtucket, Martin registered a 3.33 ERA in 51.1 innings of work while in relief. He had a strikeout clip of 10 per nine innings. He was originally a 9th round draft pick by the Red Sox in 2013 out of Texas A&M.
An interesting side note is how large Martin is as a player, being 6-7 (200 cm) and 104 kg, he is nearly the same size as Ernesto Mejia and Fabio Castillo.
The Lions bullpen struggles have been a large elephant in the room since the start of the 2018 season. With several players being shuffled and deactivated, Martin is the third mid-season acquisition behind Deunte Heath and Ryuya Ogawa. The Lions are hoping Martin can be a help for the team's struggling bullpen unit.
With Martin signed, the Lions will have 71 players under contract in the organization with 69 on their 70-man roster. Wataru Takagi and Masato Saito are both ikusei that could be promoted at any time, but there is technically one more spot open if necessary.
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