Corbin Martin still remembers his meeting with Josh Barfield, the Diamondbacks’ former farm director, on the morning of March 15, 2023.
“Just your normal spring training conversation,” Martin recalls.
Barfield asked Martin if he was happy with his progress. After years of being derailed by injury, Martin emphasized how good it was to feel like himself on the mound again.
What Martin did not know was that, mere hours later, he would find himself down on one knee near the mound at Salt River Fields, writhing in pain. He had spun a curveball, and in so doing, tore the lat tendon off the bone in his right shoulder.
“I felt like if someone just shot me in the side with a gun,” he said.
Martin feared the worst, and it did not take long to confirm that the injury was significant. “Months, not weeks,” manager Torey Lovullo told reporters.
Some days later, Martin found himself on a plane to Chicago to have his lat tendon surgically repaired. The injury ultimately ended his season. It also meant significant time on the injured list for a fifth consecutive year.
“All I can think about,” he remembers from that plane ride, “is, why did this have to happen again?”
To say that Corbin Martin’s career has been hindered by injuries would be an understatement.
Little more than a month after making his major-league debut with the Houston Astros in 2019, Martin tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow and needed Tommy John surgery. That injury, in fact, is what made Martin available to the Diamondbacks in a trade that sent Zack Greinke to Houston later that year. Martin, a top-100 prospect entering the 2019 season, was the prize of the deal for Arizona.
Martin’s bid to return to the mound in 2020 was spoiled by an oblique injury that ended his season. In 2021, he was shuttled back and forth from Triple-A Reno before landing on the injured list yet again with a right forearm strain. That year, he threw his last pitch of the season on June 29. Martin managed to stave off injury for most of the 2022 season, but he struggled in the minors and in his brief time in the majors, and got hurt again in August.
It has now been nearly five years since the Diamondbacks acquired Martin from the Astros. In that timeframe, he has amassed just 38 1/3 total innings in the majors. When he has been on the mound, he has posted an unsightly 7.28 ERA and a 1.93 WHIP. The sample size is extremely small.
Now, Martin is healthy again. And he is clinging to the hope that his major-league career is just getting started.
“I’ve always believed that I’m capable of pitching in the big leagues for a long time,” he said. “It’s just a matter of, I won’t even say catching a break, it’s more so staying healthy and going and proving that.”
When the Diamondbacks first acquired Martin, evaluators lauded his command and a well-rounded arsenal that included a four-seam fastball that touched the upper 90s, a pair of quality breaking balls in a curveball and slider, and a changeup.
Last year, Martin dropped the slider so that he could focus on his curveball, reducing his arsenal to three pitches. It seemed to work well. Prior to his lat injury last spring, Martin had allowed just two runs and punched out nine in 5 2/3 innings in the Cactus League. His curveball, in particular — which Martin largely credits to current Diamondbacks pitching coach and former Astros pitching coach Brent Strom when the two were together in Houston — was extremely effective.
“He was on a journey to make this team,” Lovullo said. “I know the conversations we were having. He was right in the forefront of those conversations and then got hurt. It was a terrible day for all of us.”
In retrospect, Martin attributes his success last spring to a change in mindset. In the past, he lacked trust in his stuff; instead of expecting good results, he was “hoping and praying” for them. Prior to the injury, he was starting to believe in himself.
“This game is hard enough,” Martin said. “I think I was just making it harder on myself.”
But Martin’s newfound confidence proved to be short-lived. He quickly found himself in the seemingly never-ending labors of rehab yet again. It was months before he could throw off a mound again.
He was no stranger to an elongated recovery process, having had Tommy John in 2019. That experience proved to be helpful.
“The toughest part of rehab is the mental side of things,” Martin said. “You kind of find yourself living in Groundhog’s Day the first couple of months after surgery. You’re watching guys pitch in the show, and that’s the only thing I can think of sometimes is wanting to pitch again. Sometimes, I get too far ahead of myself instead of focusing on the task at hand.
“I think going through that first surgery helped me understand that’s not the way to go through things. So, this one — it’s never easy going through rehab — but I will say taking that mindset was a lot easier this time around of knowing that I was going to be back to be able to pitch again and keep doing what I’m doing for as long as I can.”
Of course, that does not mean it was easy to watch his teammates play in the World Series and not be able to contribute. It was not the first time, in fact, that injury might have kept him from pitching in a World Series.
Had Martin stayed healthy in 2019, he likely would have stayed with the Astros instead of being traded to the Diamondbacks. That year, the Astros won 107 games in the regular season and won the AL pennant. They lost to the Washington Nationals in seven games in the World Series.
Now, Martin looks back less and hones in on more on what still lies ahead. Having had major elbow and shoulder procedures, he may never get another shot as a starting pitcher. At this point, that is hardly a concern. “Whatever role,” he said. “I just want to pitch.”
Martin has taken it slowly so far in spring training. He has yet to face live hitters, and he will need to check that box before getting into a Cactus League game. But Lovullo has liked what he has seen.
“He’s throwing the crud out of the ball in his bullpens,” Lovullo said. “He’s looking really good.”
Martin said he has dealt with some soreness, but that was to be expected. For now, he is focused on getting consistent feel back for all his pitches — and, of course, staying healthy.
“He’s obviously coming off a significant injury,” Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen said. “We want to make sure that we’re getting him at his best for as long as possible. Don’t want to see any other types of setbacks. He’s got a good arm. I don’t think we’ve seen it quite yet. But I think we’re going to in the future.”
Top photo: Rob Schumacher/The Republic
