Cubs sign OF Nick Martini to a minor-league deal

Nick Martini is a 30-year-old lefthanded-hitting outfielder who grew up outside Chicago in Crystal Lake.

And now, he’s a Cub:

Originally drafted by the Cardinals in the seventh round in 2011, he joined the Athletics as a minor-league free agent before the 2018 season and made his MLB debut with the A’s that year.

The following year, 2019, he was called up by Oakland just before the A’s made a trip to Wrigley Field August 5. That evening, he pinch-hit for Oakland in the top of the eighth and homered off Steve Cishek [VIDEO].

As you can see by the video, quite a few members of his family were in attendance — they wound up sitting right in front of me:

Al Yellon

Martini was in the Phillies and Reds organizations in 2020, and he’s not going to be any sort of savior for the Cubs, but he is a .269/.372/.380 (66-for-245) lifetime hitter in the major leagues and he had a better than .400 OBP in Triple-A in both 2018 and 2019.

This isn’t a big signing by any means, but Martini might have a shot at sticking around as a fifth outfielder.