Cristhian

Martinez

Martinez was jailed at 4:24 a.m. and was also charged with improper lane change and impeding the flow of traffic. The 30-year-old righty secured a spot in the Braves’ Opening Day bullpen this spring by registering a 1.38 ERA and 13/3 K/BB ratio in 13 Grapefruit League innings.

He’s allowed one run in eight innings this spring. With Arodys Vizcaino likely to start off on the DL and Peter Moylan absent, Martinez will be asked to pitch key innings for the Braves. He rates as a pretty good $1 reliever in NL-only leagues.

The financials are not yet known. Martinez, who was arbitration-eligible for the first time as a Super 2 player, has posted a 3.63 ERA and 1.15 WHIP over the last two years for the Braves. He’ll work the middle innings again in 2013.

If Walden is ready, there won’t be room for both pitchers on the Opening Day roster. Varvaro and Martinez are out of options and likely wouldn’t clear waivers, so the Braves could look to find a trade partner. Martinez, 31, is coming off a 3.91 ERA and 65/19 K/BB ratio over 73 2/3 innings last season. Varvaro hasn’t enjoyed nearly the same success, posting a 4.43 ERA in 34 major league appearances, so he’s more likely to end up elsewhere.

It’s not clear at this point how long Martinez will be sidelined. The move clears room on the roster for the newly acquired Luis Ayala.

The Braves reliever has been sidelined since April 12 with a right shoulder sprain, and apparently it was serious enough that the Braves still don’t have any idea when he might be back. The right-hander had a 3.91 ERA with 65 strikeouts in 73 2/3 innings last year.

The Braves were nearly forced to make the same decision at the end of spring training, but both began the season in the bullpen after Jonny Venters (elbow) landed on the disabled list. Varvaro hasn’t been as successful as Martinez in the big leagues, so he’s likely the odd man out.

He’ll take the roster spot left by Craig Kimbrel. Martinez, 28, was claimed off waivers from the Marlins in early April. He posted a 5.04 ERA in 12 relief appearances with Triple-A Gwinnett. He was 1-1 with a 5.13 ERA over 15 relief appearances with the Marlins last season.

Martinez revealed the news himself on Twitter before Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez even knew about it. “I knew it was a possibility,” Gonzalez said. It’s not clear what kind of surgery Martinez had, but obviously his season is over.

Martinez has been on the disabled list since early April with a right shoulder sprain and it’s simply not healing. He will visit a specialist later this week.