Former Mountaineers player showcases All-Star form

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Some baseball standouts emerged as phenoms since the first time they could swing a bat and were practically destined for the big leagues.

Former Vermont Mountaineer Nick Martinez took a more circuitous route to stardom, excelling as an infielder during his college days before finding his true calling as an MLB starting pitcher. And now, three weeks away from his 36th birthday, Martinez was set to make his first All-Star Game appearance Tuesday while representing the American League at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

"I think he snuck up on a lot of people because he was a Fordham kid and it's not like he was at Clemson or another big school," Mountaineers General Manager Brian Gallagher said. "Fordham is Division I, but it's certainly not a school you think of that has a ton of big-league alumni."

Martinez was a shortstop for the Mountaineers in 2009 and 2010, gaining a reputation more for his bat than his arm. During his second year at Recreation Field he recorded a .289 average at the plate and a .350 on-base percentage.

After being selected in the 18th round of the 2011 MLB draft, he made his debut with the Texas Rangers in 2014. Martinez also enjoyed successful seasons with the San Diego Padres and Cincinnati Reds before signing with the Tampa Bay Rays as a free agent last February.

"He dominated here and then signed with the Rangers and did well there," Gallagher said. "And then he signed with the Rays this year and it sounds like he's one of the best teammates. And it certainly resonates because when he was up here we went to the finals in 2009 and lost to Newport in Game 3 after having a lead. And he was on that team and was a great teammate. He's also a great leader and the fact that he's almost 36 – his teammates were pretty pumped about that."

Gallagher compared Martinez to former Mountaineer David Carpenter, who stood out as a catcher for Vermont before pitching in the big leagues for six different teams. Although both players were late bloomers on the mound, their strong arms and high baseball IQs made them perfect candidates to bolster MLB teams' pitching rotations.

Martinez is 8-2 this season for a 56-38 Rays squad that owns the best record in the AL. Tampa Bay sits three games ahead of the New York Yankees in the AL East standouts and produced five All-Stars this summer. Martinez's 2.65 ERA is the fourth-best in the AL and he's fresh of a solid outing vs. the Mariners, fueling a 7-2 victory after he limited Seattle to four hits and a pair of runs over five-plus innings.

A Miami native, Martinez has made 18 starts and pitched 105-plus innings this season. He has surrendered three runs or fewer in 17 games and the Rays have prevailed during 14 of his starts.

Martinez becomes the second former Mountaineer to be chosen as an MLB All-Star after Arizona Diamondbacks centerfielder AJ Pollock accomplished the feat in 2015. That year Pollock also won a National League Gold Glove Award and ended the season with a .315 batting average, 20 home runs and 39 stolen bases. In 2020 Pollock helped the Los Angeles Dodgers win the World Series.

"Pollock had the trifecta going with the World Series, Gold Glove and an All-Star," Gallagher said. "And Nick Martinez played on Team USA and is now an All-Star too."

Although New York Yankees slugger Ben Rice never actually played for the Mountaineers, he signed with the team six years ago before the Covid-19 global pandemic led to the cancellation of that NECBL season. Rice was also picked for this year's MLB All-Star action and represented New York during Monday's Home Run Derby.

"In 2020 (Rice) was signed and scheduled to come up," Gallagher said. "And then we had the cancellation obviously and no other leagues were open except for the Futures League, so that's where all the guys in the Cape and the NECBL went. So they got to kind of claim them for that one year. And then that most of the guys tried to go back and play in the Cape or the NECBL if they could."

Rice competed for the Worcester Bravehearts in the Futures League and played collegiately at Dartmouth University, where he batted .242 with nine runs scored from 2019-20. During that stretch he contributed five doubles, two triples and one homer for the Big Green. He only played in seven games during the 2020 season and then Dartmouth's entire 2021 schedule was canceled due to Covid.

Rice was selected in the 12th round of the 2021 MLB Draft and wound up playing 50 games with the Yankees in 2024. During that season he batted .171 with 20 runs scored, 23 RBIs, six doubles and seven homers. Last year Rice batted .255 with a .337 on-base percentage for the Yankees. He scored 74 times, drove in 65 runs and connected for 28 doubles, four triples and 26 home runs.

This year Rice has filled a key void in the lineup for the injured Aaron Judge, recording a .279 batting average and .372 on-base percentage. He has recorded 15 doubles, three triples, 29 home runs, 68 RBIs and 64 runs scored this season.

Although Gallagher was an early fan of Rice, he would have never predicted the first baseman's meteoric rise to international fame.

"If he was more of a known (MLB) prospect, he probably would have been somewhere besides Dartmouth," Gallagher said. "I think he was one of those guys that surprised a lot of people. And who would have thought: going to Dartmouth to being one of the better players in Major League Baseball right now? It's pretty cool."