"Luchando" for Martinez

Luchando in Spanish means wrestling or fighting, but Carlos Martinez used it to describe how he gets through the days since the passing of his close friend–his brother, Oscar Taveras.

“Keep on living, keep on fighting,” he described. “Day by day, little by little they’re getting through it, but they’re okay,” he said of the Taveras family, of which he keeps in regular contact.

Martinez will wear #18 on his uniform not just this season to honor Taveras, but for the rest of his career.

Aided by translator Marisa Diaz, Carlos also discussed how ready he is to compete for a spot in the St. Louis Cardinals rotation and how he again spent part of this offseason working with Pedro Martinez–who he hopes to one day follow into the Hall of Fame.