Chris Martin’s Imminent Return Creates Complicated Situation for Rangers

The Texas Rangers have one of the best bullpens in baseball, which is somewhat shocking given the talent available. Nonetheless, the team’s relievers have continued the trend from the past couple of seasons and have been lights out. If only the offense could help them out a bit, but that’s a topic for another time.

Chris Martin, who has been on the injured list with a right shoulder impingement since mid-April, is set to make a rehab appearance at Triple-A Round Rock today, which means that he’ll most likely be returning to the big-league club very soon. On paper, Martin’s addition should cause jubilation in the streets of Arlington. In reality, his imminent return complicates matters to a degree that nobody would’ve seen coming at the beginning of the season.

Martin’s Early-Season Struggles Raise Questions

To put it lightly, Martin has been terrible to start 2026. The 39-year-old — he turns 40 on June 2 — from Arlington has a 7.11 ERA over 6 1/3 innings of work. His stuff has consistently been hit around the yard like it was put on a tee for the batter. The numbers bear this out: Opposing batters have a 52.4% hard-hit rate against him. For anybody unfamiliar with baseball, that’s just flat-out not good.

This is especially true when one looks at Martin’s numbers from previous seasons. He had a 2.98 ERA in 2025, 3.45 in 2024 and an impressive 1.05 in 2023, the season he finished 12th in Cy Young voting. It appears that Father Time has struck at, well, the wrong time and Martin just doesn’t have the same juice he once did.

That’s why Martin’s return complicates things. Because where does he fit in this bullpen? Is it realistic that he can even be useful after what we’ve seen through the first month or so of the campaign?

Rangers Still Hoping Veteran Can Bounce Back

Regardless of what anybody thinks, Martin will be given a shot to prove the naysayers wrong. After all, he’s done it before — who’s to say he can’t do it again? Of course, the main difference is that he’s almost 40 years old and his stuff just isn’t what it used to be.

The Rangers certainly hope that Martin comes back and is back to his old self. If he could return to that form, then this bullpen would go from great to top tier. But from what’s been put on tape so far, it appears that hoping for that is a pipe dream. Nevertheless, Martin will be given his chance. It’s up to him to take advantage of it.

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