Fordham Professional Athletes

Nick Martinez isn't just in the postseason — he's carrying the Fordham flag into one of the most pressure-packed starts of the American League Championship Series.

The Bronx-born Ram-turned-Ray is taking the mound for Tampa Bay in Game 4 of the ALCS against the Cleveland Guardians, a series in which the Rays find themselves trailing 2-1 and staring down an increasingly narrow path to the World Series. For Martinez, it's the kind of assignment that defines a career.

Why Martinez Is Starting

The situation became clearer — and the stakes higher — when the Rays confirmed that erstwhile ace Shane McClanahan has been ruled out for the remainder of the postseason. McClanahan's absence, reported by the Tampa Bay Times and confirmed by MLB Trade Rumors, leaves Tampa Bay leaning heavily on its remaining rotation options: Drew Rasmussen, Freddy Peralta, and Martinez. With the series on the line in Game 4, the Rays handed the ball to the Fordham product.

Tampa Bay's decision was not without deliberation. Following a rain-out that reshuffled the pitching calendar, the organization weighed whether to alter its starter. Per Sports Illustrated, the Rays ultimately held firm with Martinez — a call SI characterized as the right one. The implication is clear: Martinez has earned the trust of Tampa Bay's front office and coaching staff at the moment the margin for error is smallest.

The Stakes for Tampa Bay — and for Martinez

A 2-1 series deficit is survivable, but only barely. The Rays need wins in Games 4 and 5 just to return home with a lead, meaning Martinez's outing is functionally must-win territory. Cleveland will open Game 4 with Shawn Armstrong, per Yahoo Sports, setting up an intriguing contrast between a Guardians bullpen game and a Rays rotation piece making a traditional start.

Martinez's journey to this moment is a genuine story. Signed and developed through a career that has wound through multiple organizations and even a stint in Japan, the Fordham alumnus has rebuilt himself into a reliable mid-rotation arm. Getting an ALCS start — particularly in a hole-digging situation — is validation of that long road.

The Rest of the Fordham MLB Landscape

Martinez is the lone Ram in active postseason action, but Fordham has other names scattered across big-league rosters. Greg Weissert is in the Red Sox organization, while John Stankiewicz is on the Twins' pitching staff and Daniel Bucciero holds down a roster spot at third base for the Athletics. None are in October baseball this year — that distinction belongs entirely to Martinez, who is representing the Rose Hill faithful on the sport's biggest stage.

For Fordham fans watching the ALCS, Game 4 is the game to circle. Their guy has the ball, the series is live, and the pressure is as real as it gets.

There's poetic justice, and then there's Nick Martinez.

The Fordham alum — once ejected from Yankee Stadium as a college student — returned to the Bronx on Wednesday night as the starting pitcher for Tampa Bay in a winner-take-all ALDS Game 3. He left with something far better than a ticket out: a trip to the American League Championship Series.

Martinez took the mound against Max Fried with the Rays already up 2-0 in the best-of-five series, the Yankees staring down elimination, and a hostile crowd ready to make him remember why he got tossed all those years ago. He delivered 3.2 innings, struck out three, and allowed two earned runs in a 4-3 Tampa Bay win that clinched the series. It wasn't a shutdown outing, but it was exactly what the Rays needed — enough length, enough guts, to hand the ball to their bullpen with the lead intact.

The moment carried extra weight given the backstory. According to Yahoo Sports, Martinez was once removed from Yankee Stadium during his days at Fordham, located just a few miles up the road in the Bronx. Returning as a playoff starter — and winning — is the kind of full-circle narrative that doesn't need embellishment.

The start capped a remarkable postseason run for Martinez, whose role in Tampa Bay's ALCS push was no accident. Per MLB Trade Rumors, The Athletic detailed how the Rays specifically targeted and acquired Martinez as part of a deliberate roster-building process — the same disciplined approach that has made Tampa Bay one of baseball's most consistent postseason fixtures despite payroll constraints. Martinez was part of that cohort, alongside Bryan Baker, Kevin Kelly, Victor Mesa Jr., and Liam Hicks, identified as key contributors to the Rays' run.

Martinez had not been the Game 2 starter — Sports Illustrated noted Tampa Bay opted for a different arm there — but manager Kevin Cash turned to the Fordham right-hander for the clincher, a vote of confidence that paid off in the most dramatic setting possible.

For Fordham fans, it's a moment to savor. The University's MLB footprint is modest, and playoff starting assignments don't come often. Martinez, pitching in the same borough where he went to school and once got thrown out of a ballgame as a fan, delivered when it counted most. The Rams don't have a long history of producing October arms. Right now, they have one who just sent the Yankees home for the winter.

The Rays advance to the ALCS. Martinez advances to whatever comes next — with a story he'll be telling for the rest of his life.