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Martini’s return to the organization provides Aviator clubhouse with nostalgic feel from 2019
- Terrel Emerson
- Jul 18
- 5 min read
Veteran outfielder Nick Martini is back in the Athletics organization and his mere presence in the clubhouse adds to the hopes of this year’s Las Vegas Aviators squad.
Once a member of the 2019 Las Vegas team that won the Pacific Coast League and from personal experience he understands how special that group was.
“I think a good amount [of that 2019 team led me back here],” he said. “Just knowing the organization as a whole is very close. They keep a lot of the young guys and everybody comes up together. Obviously, I didn’t come up here but I was able to mesh pretty well.”
With former teammate Seth Brown being released from the organization in late June. Martini now serves as the lone remaining representative from that 2019 team but he will join this 2025 group who finds itself in a similar situation.
“When I got the call from them after being DFA’d I was really excited,” he said. “Obviously knowing [manager Fran Riordan], the kind of guy that he is and the relationship we had from before – a long time ago – but was just super excited to get back to this organization.”
Riordan talked about relying on familiar faces in the clubhouse to further his managerial style amongst teammates. Martini fits that profile to a tee.
“He’s a guy that I can take the temperature of the room with,” Riordan said. “He’s always going to be honest with me. He hasn’t been with me since 2019 but we were together most of 2018 in Nashville and he’s somebody that I’ve kept in contact with over the years while he’s been on his journey.”
While a member of the 2019 team, Martini was designated for assignment in August of that season. Since then, he’s played in six different Major League organizations.
It wasn’t all bad for the lefty, who ultimately logged 149 games at the major league level in his time away. In 2021, he made his way back to the bigs after a two-year hiatus this time with the Chicago Cubs. Over the last three years, he made appearances with the Cincinnati Reds and the Colorado Rockies.
“Its been crazy but I wouldn’t change it,” he said. “I went to Korea in ‘22 – crazy lesson. Ended up coming back here and getting a couple more years in the big leagues with Cincinnati [and Colorado]. It’s been a wild ride but I definitely wouldn’t change it but I’m happy to be back here where I ended up making the big leagues [for the first time].”
Even though he wasn’t a member of the organization, Riordan and Martini stayed in touch.
“Nick has been one of the favorite players I’ve managed over the course of my career,” Riordan said. “He plays the game the right way, he’s smart, he’s got a tremendous amount of talent [...] and he’s one of the funnier guys I’ve been around. All of those things make it really great that he’s back with us.”
On May 30 of this year, Martini was DFA’d by a 9-48 Colorado team. Three days later, the then 34-year old elected free agency over joining the Rockies’ Triple-A team, the Albuquerque Isotopes.
With a whirlwind of stops between his 2019 stint with the organization and now, Martini was never certain about a return to the desert.
“To be honest, I didn’t 100% know,” he said. “I thanked the Rockies for my time there but obviously they were going in a completely different direction with a lot of young guys. I just felt like my value there going to Triple-A wouldn’t have been much. So I didn’t 100% know but I was confident I could still play. So when the A’s called I was happy to accept and I accepted pretty quickly.”
Six days after being designated for assignment, Martini inked a deal to return to the A’s franchise headed straight for Las Vegas. He homered in his fourth game back with the team which happened to be his first home game at Las Vegas Ballpark since 2019.
“I think it’s crazy,” he said. “My first home run in the big leagues was against a position player which is actually kind of crazy. The first time I hit a home run off a pitcher was in Chicago at Wrigley, where I went to growing up, on the same day my grandmother had passed.
“So it’s kind of crazy that those things work out like that.”
A couple weeks later, Martini stood across from the aforementioned Isotopes but as an opponent. His Aviators took five of the six games that week while he played in four of the five wins.
In those five games played in the series, he batted .300 to raise his average from .267 to .280 with two doubles, three RBI, three runs scored with four strikeouts and four walks. In his first 20 games since returning to the team, he racked up 19 runs scored.
“He’s led off most of the games since he’s been here,” Riordan said. “That’s what he does, he gets on base. Nineteen runs in 20 games speaks to who he is as a player. He hasn’t come off that and he’ll never come off that because it’s led to a lot of great major league experiences.
“He’s just staying true to who he is and who he is is really good.”
In 30 games played with Las Vegas this season, Martini has a .284 average with 16 RBI.
“I think I’ve looked at the numbers less as I’ve gotten older,” he said. “Now it’s more of just go play and whatever happens, happens. I think when you’re younger you look and go, ‘What’s going on here?’ ‘What do I have to do here?’
“But as I’ve gotten older, it’s just more focused on myself and just trying to play myself and support everybody else. When you do that, things will work out in your favor.”
By winning the first half of this year’s minor league slate, Las Vegas is headed to the playoffs for the first time since Martini’s 2019 club. While in a familiar position, everybody involved is hoping for a different outcome.
“Just the young talent that [this group] has and how close they are,” Martini said. “When I joined I noticed, everybody was pretty much really good friends. Seemed like they all obviously came up together and it has that same vibe that it was that year forsure.”
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