Boston Red Sox put pitcher Chris Martin on injured list with anxiety
BOSTON -- The Red Sox will be without one of their more reliable arms out of the bullpen, as right-handed reliever Chris Martin was placed on the 15-day injured list due to anxiety on Wednesday. The more is retroactive to Sunday, June 2, but it's unclear how much time Martin will miss.
Boston manager Alex Cora applauded Martin for coming forward and being honest about his situation with the team.
"We're in a business and are in a society where mental health is very important. We feel the pressure with a lot of things and sometimes we swallow our pride or our problems and we're not open about it," Cora said ahead of Wednesday's afternoon tilt against the Braves at Fenway Park. "We are very proactive with this and have a great team that does an amazing job on a daily basis to not only help the players but people in the organization to feel good about your job, your family, and everything that comes into play to be the best that you can be. The fact that he took a step forward and was very honest about how he was feeling, I applaud that.
"He's going to be OK. Whenever he is ready, he is ready," Cora added of Martin. "We don't know if it's short term or long term. But with the team that is doing to surround him, he's going to be OK."
Cora reflected back on his own struggles with mental health during his playing days, and how keeping those inside ended up hurting himself and his family.
"I remember playing the game, going 0-for-4, going to the apartment and turning on the TV at midnight and watching the game again. I was going to go 0-for-4 again and then in the morning, watch the game again and go 0-for-4 again. I feel like at that time, at that moment, the family suffered," said Cora. "It suffered a lot.
"As you guys know, Camila is the daughter of divorced parents. Probably early in my career, I didn't help my family to be as strong as it should be because there were a lot of demons, a lot of stuff going on in between the lines and in the clubhouse and out of baseball," Cora continued. "That's why I tip my cap to her mom, Nilda, because she did an outstanding job after we separated. We got a great daughter, a daughter that is going to kill it in the world because she's very strong. She has strong parents. We've been very honest about our situation, what we need to do for her to succeed – you know what I'm saying? We've been going through this for a while here as far as guys stepping up and being open about it."
It's not often that players land on the IL due to anxiety, though former Red Sox pitcher Daniel Bard was placed on the injured list for that same reason last March while with the Colorado Rockies. Bard returned for Colorado in mid-April and appeared in 50 games for the Rockies last season.
The 38-year-old Martin had a 3.10 ERA and was holding opposing hitters to a .236 batting average against over his first 20 appearances, but was hit hard his last time out for Boston. He last took the bump against the Detroit Tigers last Thursday on May 30, and surrendered three runs off four hits, including two home runs, in a 5-0 Red Sox loss.
That outing saw his ERA jump to 4.22 for the season, which is astronomical compared to his 1.05 ERA across 55 appearances last season.
The Red Sox recalled right-hander Zack Kelly from Triple-A Worcester to fill Martin's spot on the roster. Kelly has appeared in 11 games for Boston this season, sporting a 2.16 ERA and 14 strikeouts over 16.2 innings of work.
