Another National excelling in winter league play

By Dan Kolko

Nationals

November 09, 2014, 5:40am

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He's not a minor leaguer that will sit atop various prospect lists or have Nationals fans clamoring for his jersey this winter.

But Rafael Martin had a tremendous 2014 campaign, and he's now dominating winter league action, as well.

The 30-year-old reliever appeared at three different levels of the Nats' minor league system this year, and put up a stellar 1.39 ERA in 58 1/3 innings over 38 appearances.

Martin struck out 66, walked just 12, had a 0.806 WHIP and allowed only one home run all year.

Yes, fantastic numbers.

Martin played just two games at high Single-A Potomac to begin the season, then was quickly moved up to Double-A Harrisburg, where he posted a 2.70 ERA in 11 games. Mid-way through June, he was promoted to Syracuse, where he had a 0.80 ERA in 25 games.

Now Martin is playing for Naranjeros de Hermosillo in the Mexican Winter League, and he's continuing to excel.

The right-hander has made 11 appearances, and has yet to allow a run. He's struck out eight, walked none and collected four saves.

His 2014 performance plus his strong play in Mexico could end up leading to an invitation to big league spring training, where Martin could continue to showcase his ability for Nationals talent evaluators.