What years did Dennis Martinez play?

Dennis Martinez played in Major League Baseball from 1976 to 1998.

Was Dennis Martinez a pitcher?

Yes. Dennis Martinez pitched in the major leagues, recording 245 wins and 2149 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Dennis Martinez hit?

Dennis Martinez hit 0 career home runs with 74 hits.

What was Dennis Martinez's career batting average?

Dennis Martinez batted .142 over his career, with 74 hits in 520 at bats.

How many RBI did Dennis Martinez have?

Dennis Martinez drove in 33 runs in his career.

What was Dennis Martinez's career ERA?

Dennis Martinez finished with a 3.70 career ERA, going 245-193 with 2,149 strikeouts.

Dennis Martinez

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1976-1998)

Dennis Martinez was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1976 to 1998 for 5 teams, including the Baltimore Orioles, a span of 23 seasons. Across 692 career appearances, he went 245-193 with a 3.70 ERA and 2,149 strikeouts. He also batted .142 with 0 home runs. Dennis Martinez was a 4-time All-Star. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 5904.0.

W (Wins):: Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
ERA (Earned Run Average):: Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
SO (Strikeouts):: For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):: Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.

Data updated October 12, 2026

W–L 245–193

ERA 3.70

WHIP 1.27

SO 2,149

Pitcher PIV 5904.0

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'1" / 160 lb
Born: 5/14/1954 in Granada, Granada, Nicaragua
MLB Debut: 1976-09-14
Last Game: 1998-09-27
Awards: 4× All-Star

Full name: Jose Dennis Martinez

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Career Pitching Statistics

Dennis Martinez — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
245	193	692	562	122	30	8	3999.2	3,897	1,643	372	1,165	2,149	3.70	5904.0

Career ERA 3.70 vs. league average 4.00 across their career seasons — 7.6% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Dennis Martinez Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1976	BAL	AL	1	2	4	2	1	0	0	27.2	23	8	8	18	2.60	3.51 (+26%)	588.1
1977	BAL	AL	14	7	42	13	5	0	4	166.2	157	76	64	107	4.10	4.00 (-3%)	2018.9
1978	BAL	AL	16	11	40	38	15	2	0	276.1	257	108	93	142	3.52	3.69 (+5%)	1071.5
1979	BAL	AL	15	16	40	39	18	3	0	292.1	279	119	78	132	3.66	4.00 (+8%)	907.0
1980	BAL	AL	6	4	25	12	2	0	1	99.2	103	44	44	42	3.97	3.84 (-3%)	-2535.5
1981	BAL	AL	14	5	25	24	9	2	0	179.0	173	66	62	88	3.32	3.58 (+7%)	777.7
1982	BAL	AL	16	12	40	39	10	2	0	252.0	262	118	87	111	4.21	3.86 (-9%)	-4028.0
1983	BAL	AL	7	16	32	25	4	0	0	153.0	209	94	45	71	5.53	3.87 (-43%)	-2526.2
1984	BAL	AL	6	9	34	20	2	0	0	141.2	145	79	37	77	5.02	3.81 (-32%)	-4056.8
1985	BAL	AL	13	11	33	31	3	1	0	180.0	203	103	63	68	5.15	3.89 (-32%)	-5983.8
1986	BAL	AL	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	6.2	11	5	2	2	6.75	—	0.0
1986	MON	NL	3	6	19	15	1	1	0	98.0	103	50	28	63	4.59	3.97 (-16%)	197.5
1987	MON	NL	11	4	22	22	2	1	0	144.2	133	53	40	84	3.30	4.29 (+23%)	3058.0
1988	MON	NL	15	13	34	34	9	2	0	235.1	215	71	55	120	2.72	3.73 (+27%)	288.7
1989	MON	NL	16	7	34	33	5	2	0	232.0	227	82	49	142	3.18	3.71 (+14%)	1645.3
1990	MON	NL	10	11	32	32	7	2	0	226.0	191	74	49	156	2.95	3.86 (+24%)	4630.1
1991	MON	NL	14	11	31	31	9	5	0	222.0	187	59	62	123	2.39	3.91 (+39%)	4321.8
1992	MON	NL	16	11	32	32	6	0	0	226.1	172	62	60	147	2.47	3.75 (+34%)	3893.3
1993	MON	NL	15	9	35	34	2	0	1	224.2	211	96	64	138	3.85	4.19 (+8%)	-747.3
1994	CLE	AL	11	6	24	24	7	3	0	176.2	166	69	44	92	3.52	4.51 (+22%)	2407.2
1995	CLE	AL	12	5	28	28	3	2	0	187.0	174	64	46	99	3.08	4.45 (+31%)	1428.9
1996	CLE	AL	9	6	20	20	1	1	0	112.0	122	56	37	48	4.50	4.61 (+2%)	-394.8
1997	SEA	AL	1	5	9	9	0	0	0	49.0	65	42	29	17	7.71	4.39 (-76%)	-2881.7
1998	ATL	NL	4	6	53	5	1	1	2	91.0	109	45	19	62	4.45	4.43 (avg)	1824.0
Career · 24 seasons			245	193	692	562	122	30	8	3,999.2	3,897	1,643	1,165	2,149	3.70	—	5,904

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Batting Statistics

Dennis Martinez — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
695	520	25	74	12	0	0	33	1	15	168	.142	.169	.165	.334	-3,412

Career AVG .142 vs. league average .261 across their career seasons — 45.5% below league average.

Career OBP .169 vs. league average .328 across their career seasons — 48.5% below league average.

Career SLG .165 vs. league average .395 across their career seasons — 58.1% below league average.

Career OPS .334 vs. league average .723 across their career seasons — 53.7% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Dennis Martinez Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1976	BAL	AL	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1977	BAL	AL	42	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1978	BAL	AL	40	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1979	BAL	AL	40	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1980	BAL	AL	26	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1981	BAL	AL	25	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1982	BAL	AL	40	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1983	BAL	AL	32	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1984	BAL	AL	34	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1985	BAL	AL	33	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1986	BAL	AL	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1986	MON	NL	19	30	1	3	2	3	0	1	14	.100	—	—	—	—	0.0
1987	MON	NL	22	46	5	3	0	3	0	3	17	.065	—	—	—	—	0.0
1988	MON	NL	34	78	2	15	2	7	0	1	25	.192	.254 (-24%)	.317 (-33%)	.377 (-42%)	.695 (-38%)	-455.8
1989	MON	NL	34	72	5	9	0	3	1	5	19	.125	.254 (-51%)	.319 (-43%)	.375 (-67%)	.694 (-56%)	-608.2
1990	MON	NL	32	68	0	7	1	6	0	1	25	.103	.257 (-60%)	.324 (-60%)	.385 (-69%)	.710 (-65%)	-694.8
1991	MON	NL	32	72	8	11	4	2	0	1	24	.153	.255 (-40%)	.323 (-49%)	.384 (-46%)	.708 (-47%)	-544.6
1992	MON	NL	32	74	3	14	0	2	0	0	20	.189	.255 (-26%)	.322 (-41%)	.377 (-50%)	.699 (-46%)	-522.7
1993	MON	NL	36	69	1	11	2	4	0	2	17	.159	.265 (-40%)	.332 (-46%)	.403 (-53%)	.735 (-50%)	-586.0
1994	CLE	AL	24	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1995	CLE	AL	28	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1996	CLE	AL	20	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1997	SEA	AL	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1998	ATL	NL	53	11	0	1	1	3	0	1	7	.091	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 24 seasons			695	520	25	74	12	33	1	15	168	.142	—	—	—	—	-3,412

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Dennis Martinez — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
12	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Dennis Martinez — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	SO	AVG
1998	NLCS	ATL	4	0	0	.000
1995	ALCS	CLE	2	0	0	.000
1995	ALDS1	CLE	1	0	0	.000
1995	WS	CLE	2	3	1	.000
1979	ALCS	BAL	1	0	0	.000
1979	WS	BAL	2	0	0	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Dennis Martinez — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
2	2	12	7	0	43.1	42	16	12	18	3.32

Playoff Pitching by Year

Dennis Martinez — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1998	NLCS	ATL	1	0	4	0	3.1	1	0	1	0	0.00
1995	ALCS	CLE	1	1	2	2	13.1	10	3	3	7	2.02
1995	ALDS1	CLE	0	0	1	1	6.0	5	2	0	2	3.00
1995	WS	CLE	0	1	2	2	10.1	12	4	8	5	3.48
1979	ALCS	BAL	0	0	1	1	8.1	8	3	0	4	3.24
1979	WS	BAL	0	0	2	1	2.0	6	4	0	0	18.00

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1387 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Dennis Martinez — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	340	237	12	33	0	17	.139
Away	355	283	13	41	0	16	.145

Pitching — Home / Away

Dennis Martinez — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	338	2015.0	1939	780	540	1106	3.48
Away	354	1984.2	1958	863	625	1043	3.91

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Dennis Martinez — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
1998-09-27	ATL	NYN	—	0.2	3	1	1	0	1
1998-09-25	ATL	NYN	W	1.1	0	0	0	0	2
1998-09-22	ATL	MIA	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	1
1998-09-17	ATL	AZ	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	1
1998-09-16	ATL	PHI	—	1.0	1	0	0	1	1
1998-09-14	ATL	PHI	—	1.0	0	0	0	1	0
1998-09-12	ATL	MIA	—	1.2	0	0	0	0	2
1998-09-10	ATL	WSN	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	2
1998-09-07	ATL	NYN	—	2.0	3	2	2	0	1
1998-09-05	ATL	NYN	—	0.0	1	0	0	0	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Dennis Martinez — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	692	562	319	763	42	61

Season-by-Season Fielding

Dennis Martinez — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1976	BAL	P	4	2	3	4	0	0
1977	BAL	P	42	13	9	26	1	2
1978	BAL	P	40	38	27	51	1	6
1979	BAL	P	40	39	26	59	5	3
1980	BAL	P	25	12	5	16	0	1
1981	BAL	P	25	24	20	44	2	4
1982	BAL	P	40	39	13	38	1	2
1983	BAL	P	32	25	16	42	1	8
1984	BAL	P	34	20	17	19	2	4
1985	BAL	P	33	31	17	26	1	0
1986	BAL	P	4	0	1	2	0	0
1986	MON	P	19	15	3	23	1	0
1987	MON	P	22	22	10	23	1	3
1988	MON	P	34	34	19	39	6	3
1989	MON	P	34	33	11	50	2	6
1990	MON	P	32	32	16	35	1	2
1991	MON	P	31	31	21	48	4	5
1992	MON	P	32	32	20	45	4	3
1993	MON	P	35	34	17	46	1	1
1994	CLE	P	24	24	11	33	0	2
1995	CLE	P	28	28	15	46	4	3
1996	CLE	P	20	20	10	26	1	1
1997	SEA	P	9	9	6	6	2	0
1998	ATL	P	53	5	6	16	1	2

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Dennis Martinez Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	692
Designated Hitter	1

Awards & Honors

Dennis Martinez — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
1992	Pitcher of the Month	August
1991	Pitcher of the Month	July
1991	Player of the Week	Week of 1991-06-15
1991	Player of the Week	Week of 1991-07-27
1981	Pitcher of the Month	September

Salary History

Dennis Martinez — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
1998	ATL	NL	$550,000
1996	CLE	AL	$3,816,766
1995	CLE	AL	$4,550,000
1994	CLE	AL	$4,500,000
1993	MON	NL	$2,833,333
1992	MON	NL	$3,348,333
1991	MON	NL	$3,333,333
1990	MON	NL	$1,400,000
1989	MON	NL	$735,000
1988	MON	NL	$735,000
1987	MON	NL	$162,500
1986	BAL	AL	$560,458
1985	BAL	AL	$560,000
Total Career Earnings			$27,084,723

Award Voting History

Dennis Martinez — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max
1991	Cy Young Award	NL	5th	4.0	120
1981	Cy Young Award	AL	5th	3.0	140
1981	Most Valuable Player	AL	23th	3.0	392

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Dennis Martinez (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Compare Dennis Martinez

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Dennis Martinez: the record in brief

September 14, 1976 and September 27, 1998 bracket Dennis Martinez's time in the majors: the debut and the last game on record. Martinez played for the Baltimore Orioles (1976 through 1986), the Montreal Expos (1986 to 1993), the Cleveland Indians (1994 to 1996), the Seattle Mariners (1997), and the Atlanta Braves (1998). Martinez played primarily as a pitcher and batted and threw right-handed. Born on May 14, 1954, in Granada, Granada, Nicaragua, Martinez was listed at 6-foot-1 and 160 pounds. On the record, Dennis Martinez was born Jose Dennis Martinez.

Across 692 games (562 starts), Martinez recorded 245 wins against 193 losses with a 3.70 ERA. Also on Martinez's record: 2,149 strikeouts, 122 complete games, and 30 shutouts. The leagues Martinez pitched in allowed 4.00 earned runs per nine over those seasons, so the career ERA was 7.6% better than average. No season topped the 16 wins of 1978. The strikeout high was 156 in 1990.

Frequently Asked Questions about Dennis Martinez

What years did Dennis Martinez play?: Dennis Martinez played in Major League Baseball from 1976 to 1998.
Was Dennis Martinez a pitcher?: Yes. Dennis Martinez pitched in the major leagues, recording 245 wins and 2149 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Dennis Martinez hit?: Dennis Martinez hit 0 career home runs with 74 hits.
What was Dennis Martinez's career batting average?: Dennis Martinez batted .142 over his career, with 74 hits in 520 at bats.
How many RBI did Dennis Martinez have?: Dennis Martinez drove in 33 runs in his career.
What was Dennis Martinez's career ERA?: Dennis Martinez finished with a 3.70 career ERA, going 245-193 with 2,149 strikeouts.