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The Cincinnati Reds have signed two free agent outfielders for the 2023 season. Nick Martini and Nick Plummer have each signed minor league contracts with Cincinnati.
For Nick Martini it’s a return to the organization for the 32-year-old, sort of. Back in November of 2019 the Reds claimed him off of waivers from the San Diego Padres. He would spend the next six weeks on the team’s 40-man roster, but in early January Cincinnati would designate him for assignment and he was claimed by the Philadelphia Phillies on January 14th.
Martini has played in parts of three big league seasons. In the 2018 season he played in 55 games with Oakland and hit .296/.397/.414. He wasn’t able to repeat that success in 2019 and 2021, seeing action with the Athletics, San Diego Padres, and Chicago Cubs. Between those two seasons he hit .239/.338/.315 in 57 games. In 2022 he headed to Korea to play in the KBO and hit .296/.365/.461 with 34 doubles, a triple, 16 home runs, 51 walks, and 86 strikeouts in 576 plate appearances for the NC Dinos.
You can see Nick Martini’s career stats here.
Nick Plummer is on the younger side of these two signings. The 26-year-old made his big league debut last year with the New York Mets. He played in 14 games and had some struggles, hitting .138/.194/.379 with one walk and 12 strikeouts. While his hitting was better in Triple-A Syracuse, it wasn’t great. He hit just .238/.330/.379 in the International League last year in 65 games. In 2021 he hit much better, splitting action between Double-A Springfield and Triple-A Memphis, posting a .280/.415/.479 line between those two stops. That season, though, has been the outlier of his career. In his first four seasons in the minors he hit .199.
You can see Nick Plummer’s career stats here.
The Reds haven’t announced the moves yet, though they do show up on the official transactions page. This would seem to suggest that neither signing includes and invitation to big league camp, but that information could be forthcoming.
