It was definitely worth it to skip the 2009 World Baseball Classic, as Shairon Martis officially was named the fourth starter in the rotation of the Washington Nationals on Saturday. The club reassigned his last competitor Colin Balester to Triple-A Syracuse, which sealed the deal for Martis and Jordan Zimmerman to make the team.
John Lannan, Scott Olsen and Daniel Cabrera already were set to start for the Nats this season, with Lannan getting the nod for opening day on April 6th. Martis, who made his big league debut last September, could get his first start of the season on April 10th against the Atlanta Braves.
The young right-hander, who threw a no-hitter for the Dutch team against Panama in the 2006 World Baseball Classic, has pitched in five games this spring with an ERA of 1.42 and eleven strikeouts (four walks) in 19 innings. The coaching staff of the Washington based team is very happy with him.
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Acta said Martis was more aggressive in the strike zone this spring than he was during his September callup last year.
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“I think Martis has received the least publicity and hoopla, but I think Martis has pitched better than anybody in camp,” Acta said. “The numbers are there. He has a tremendous camp, laid low in the weeds, while everybody was talking about [other] guys. He just continued to pound the strike zone and put zeros on the board. He earned it.”
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Martis, who didn’t know he made the team until the media told him at 9 a.m. ET, said he probably would have been in the Minor Leagues had he decided to play in the World Baseball Classic. Before he arrived in camp, Martis chose not to play for the Netherlands, because he felt had a 50-50 chance to be the Nationals’ fifth starter.
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“If I were in the Classic, I wouldn’t have had as many starts with the Nationals and they wouldn’t know what I have,” Martis said. “I made the decision to stay here the whole Spring Training. I have more confidence in this league.”