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MESA, ARIZONA – FEBRUARY 17: Riley Martin #94 of the Chicago Cubs poses for a portrait during photo day at Sloan Park on February 17, 2025 in Mesa, Arizona. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

The Chicago Cubs will promote southpaw reliever Riley Martin from Triple-A Iowa to the majors, according to multiple reports.

Because starter Cade Horton just went to the Injured List, this is the corresponding move for that, and after four seasons in Triple-A, Riley Martin will likely make his MLB debut for the Cubs. He has a career ERA of 3.76 over 280+ innings and 410 strikeouts in the minors. His journey to professional baseball is a good one.

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Riley Martin’s Journey to MLB

GettyMESA, ARIZONA – FEBRUARY 17: Pitcher Riley Martin #94 of the Chicago Cubs poses for a portrait during photo day at Sloan Park on February 17, 2026 in Mesa, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)

Riley Martin has a pretty unique journey to MLB. First, the 28-year-old has swiftly made his way through the minors despite being 28 when he debuts.

He pitched five seasons at Quincy College, a Division II school.

Per Andy Martinez of Marquee Sports Network, Riley Martin had planned on going to pharmaceutical school instead of playing professional baseball:

“Entering his senior year at Division II Quincy University, the left-handed pitcher had the career school strikeout record and some other records within his sight that he wanted to try and rewrite and then head off into the medical field. He had taken his pharmacy college admission test (PCAT), been accepted at Southern Illinois Edwardsville and registered to start his post-playing career.”

During his collegiate years, Martin posted a 3.85 ERA over 308.1 innings and 352 strikeouts.

In 2025, with Triple-A Iowa, Martin posted a 2.97 ERA over 63.2 innings as primarily a reliever.

Because of the Cade Horton injury news, the Cubs may be relying more on their bullpen in the next week, so calling up Riley Martin is a move to give Chicago’s pitching staff another arm to utilize. However, it will be a good story once he officially debuts.

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Riley Martin’s Prospect Status

MLBTradeRumors.com’s Mark Polishuk was quick to the corresponding move by the Cubs, and explained Martin’s prospect status in the Cubs system:

“Baseball America ranked Martin 20th on its list of the top 30 Cubs prospects, while MLB Pipeline has the southpaw 28th on their top-30 ranking.  He relies almost entirely on a plus curveball that, as per Pipeline’s scouting report, “can be devastating at times and also lose some shape and miss the zone by wide margins at others.”  In general, Pipeline’s evaluation feels Martin “trades control for deception” in deploying an upright delivery to maximize the break on his pitches.”

Martin’s experience as a longer extended reliever is the reason for his call-up, so it will be interesting to see how Craig Counsell utilizes him.