Former Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez receives 85-game suspension

Free-agent righty Carlos Martinez has been suspended 85 games under Major League Baseball’s joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy, commissioner Rob Manfred announced Thursday via press release. The suspension is retroactive to June 19 and comes on top of an 80-game PED suspension he received back in May after testing positive for Ibutamoren.

Martinez, who’ll turn 31 later this month, spent time with the Giants and Red Sox organizations early in the 2022 season but never pitched for either club in the Majors. He spent the 2013-21 seasons with the Cardinals and, from 2015-18, was one of the better young starting pitchers in the National League (3.22 ERA in 698 2/3 innings).

Martinez made a pair of All-Star teams during his time with St. Louis and signed a five-year, $51M contract extension in Feb. 2017. Injuries derailed the majority of that contract, however, as the right-hander was limited to just 150 2/3 innings over the contract’s final three seasons.