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Martinez looked sharp in his first bullpen session of summer camp Tuesday, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports. "Everybody was very pleased with how it came out, sharp, just very impressed by the whole way he went about it," manager Mike Shildt said. "Ball was coming out, secondary pitches, command -- very positive feedback."
Now that he's finally in summer camp after a delay of a few days, all eyes are on Martinez, whose role to start the season remains somewhat undefined for the moment. The veteran right-hander was seemingly on his way to securing a rotation spot at the time spring training was suspended, and he remained in excellent shape during the shutdown by throwing regularly. Martinez noted Tuesday he'd just thrown 95 pitches over the equivalent of seven innings in his last live batting practice in the Dominican Republic before flying to St. Louis, so his arm should be ready for a fairly healthy workload. However, the question remains whether his early season opportunities will come in the rotation or out of the bullpen, as there's a chance Martinez cedes the No. 5 starter role to Kwang-Hyun Kim and is temporarily deployed as the closer if Giovanny Gallegos continues to experience travel delays in Mexico for an extended period.
