On Veteran’s Day, November 11th, the RailCats signed right-handed pitcher Jonathan Martinez, who is 23 years of age from Mission, Texas. He played four years at Texas State University. He also played with the Mahoning Valley Scrappers of the MLB Draft League.

In 2019, during his junior year, he was awarded the THSBCA 5A All-State first team and “The Monitor” All-Area first team. He was picked as the 2019 District 31 5A Pitcher of the Year. As a pitcher in 2019, he went 9-1 with an ERA of 0.61 and 93 strikeouts in 78.2 innings. He also played football and basketball, and for basketball, he was selected to the All-District First Team.

In 2021, during his freshman year at Texas State, he pitched in 12 games, totaling 14 innings pitched, had an ERA of 8.16 with a WHIP of 2.04, gave up 13 runs, walked 13, and struck out 11.

For his sophomore season in 2022, he pitched in 14 games and logged 16.2 innings. He had an ERA of 3.78 and posted 1 save, which came against Georgia State on May 5th; that was Martinez’s first college career save. He gave up 8 runs, 7 walks, and struck out 13, posting a WHIP of 1.44.

In 2023, during his junior year, Jonathan pitched in 16 games and 18.1 innings. He had an ERA of 3.93. He gave up 9 runs, walked 11, and struck out 12, achieving a WHIP of 1.309. He also limited opposing batters to a .194 average.

For his senior season in 2024, he led the bullpen in games pitched with 27 games and pitched in 33.2 innings with an ERA of 3.21. He gave up 16 runs, 18 walks, and struck out 35. He had a WHIP of 1.545 and also had 11 contests where he recorded multiple strikeouts.

In his 4 years with Texas State, Martinez had a 2-4 record, an ERA of 4.34, appeared in 69 games, pitched in 69 games, recorded 2 saves, and pitched in 83 innings. He gave up 81 hits, 46 runs, 40 of which were earned, 7 home runs given up, walked 49, and struck out 71. He had a WHIP of 1.56, H/9 of 8.8, HR/9 of 9.8, BB/9 of 5.3, and SO/9 of 7.7.

After College Jonathan went into the MLB Draft league and played for the Mohaning Valley Scrappers, where he played in 16 games and pitched in 19.1 innings. He record 7 saves, ERA of 3.72 gave up 17 hits, 8 runs, 2 home runs, 8 walks, 17 strike outs and a WHIP of 1.29.

Manager Lamarr Rogers told railcatsbaseball.com “Martinez was among the top ten evaluated arms in the MLBD in 2024.” and “He has started and closed, but from scouting reports and conversations with MLB contacts, his best fit may be a role in the bullpen.”

Looking at Jonathan’s numbers, he looks right now to be the RailCats closer for the 2025 season. He has improved each year in his numbers and is keeping along the same trend as young college players looking to get professional baseball under their belt. I see some good promise from Martinez and look forward to his taking the mound!

WELCOME TO THE SOUTHSHORE!!