His promising pitching career derailed by a torn labrum and a shoulder that remained troublesome even after surgery, Chris Martin lost interest in classes at a Texas community college and took a job at UPS and then an appliance warehouse.

A 21st round draft pick of the Colorado Rockies in 2005 out of McLennan Community College, Martin even made an attempt to pitch in an independent league, but the shoulder would still not respond.

Four years ago, while working at the warehouse, he tried out for another independent league team. Martin’s arm felt good, he said, after playing toss with his boss, who was a friend from high school.

Martin’s shoulder was healthy again when he signed with Grand Prairie, which was managed by former Major Leaguer Pete Incaviglia. At Grand Prairie, the 6-foot-7, 225-pound Martin was with a 1.96 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 36.2 innings.

The Red Sox took notice and signed him to a minor league contract in March 2011. He has worked his way from low Single-A Greenville in 2011 to Triple-A Pawtucket, where he is today.

Now 26, Martin features a plus fast ball and slider. After logging 21 scoreless innings at Double-A Portland (where he struck out 27, walked six and posted a 0.71 WHIP), he was promoted to Pawtucket (where he has recorded five scoreless innings in three appearances).

Earlier this season, Martin told the Bangor Daily News that he envisioned himself back on the mound, even when he was working at UPS and the appliance warehouse.

“I thought about it all the time,” Martin said. “I saw friends and guys I grew up with playing in the big leagues. I felt I was just as good as they were and I could be in their shoes.”

The Red Sox have experienced an array of injuries to relievers this season. Joel Hanrahan is out for the year, Andrew Bailey is returning from the disabled list today, Franklin Morales opened the year on the DL and is in the midst of a rehab assignment at Pawtucket, and Craig Breslow started the season on the DL and has since returned and pitched well for the Red Sox.

Martin gives Boston added depth at Pawtucket. If he continues to overmatch International League hitters, he will likely find a spot in the Red Sox bullpen, even before rosters expand on September 1.

Following Sunday’s game that saw Andrew Miller, Koji Uehara and Junichi Tazawa each toss a scoreless frame to seal Boston’s 5-1 win at Minnesota, the Red Sox bullpen has allowed one earned run over 21 innings during the current 5-1 road trip. Tonight in Chicago against the White Sox, Boston will get a key addition to the pen when Andrew Bailey is activated from the 15-day disabled list.

Bailey was placed on the DL on April 28 with a strained right biceps muscle. After an injury-plagued 2012 campaign – his first season with the Red Sox – the 28-year-old right-hander is 1-0 with a 1.46 ERA, a 0.81 WHIP, 20 strikeouts in 12.1 innings and five saves in 13 appearances.

On Saturday, Bailey logged an inning at Triple-A Pawtucket, surrendering a solo home run to former Major Leaguer Brett Carroll but striking out two batters and throwing 17 pitches, 14 of which were strikes.

When Bailey is activated, Jose De La Torre will likely be optioned to Pawtucket and the pen will feature Bailey, Tazawa, Uehara, Miller, Craig Breslow, Alex Wilson and Clayton Mortensen.

Beyond Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz, the Boston Red Sox rotation has been inconsistent in May. Ryan Dempster has allowed 11 earned runs in his last two starts while Felix Doubront continues to lack command. John Lackey stepped forward on Sunday with a much-needed quality outing when he limited the Minnesota Twins to one unearned run and one hit over six innings in Boston’s 5-1 victory.

If not for a three-hour rain delay that was called in the bottom of the seventh at Target Field, Lackey likely would have pitched deeper into the game. He threw 84 pitches, striking out five and not walking a batter. Lackey improved to 2-4 with a 3.31 ERA.

Lackey’s pitching, and three RBI (including a two-run home run in the ninth) from Dustin Pedroia, helped the Red Sox wrap up a three-game sweep of the Twins. Boston has won five in a row and is 27-17 and just a half-game back of the New York Yankees in the American League East.

With two hits on Sunday, Pedroia extended his hitting streak to 11 games. He is batting .343 on the season.

David Ortiz collected two hits as well and was 8-for-13 with two home runs and seven RBI in the three-game series against his former team. Ortiz has hit safely in seven consecutive games and is batting .364 with seven home runs, 29 RBI and a 1.074 OPS.

Jacoby Ellsbury was given a day off on Sunday, and Shane Victorino returned after sitting out for two games with back soreness. Victorino contributed a hit, a run, a walk and a stolen base while playing center field.

Will Middlebrooks continued to slowly emerge from his season-long slump. He was 1-for-5, but the one hit was a solo home run, his eighth of the season.

Daniel Nava was 2-for-5 and slapped two hits in each of the three games in Minnesota, including a home run and three RBI on Saturday. Nava is batting .298 with six home runs and 27 RBI in 121 at-bats.

When he was a young slugger in the Minnesota Twins organization, the hard-swinging David Ortiz belted 31 home runs at three minor league levels in 1997 and swatted 30 dingers two years later in Triple-A. Yet Tom Kelly, who managed the Twins at the time, preferred that the man who later became Big Papi implement a more restrained swing.

Ortiz spent parts of six seasons at the Major League level with the Twins. Though he ripped 20 home runs in 466 plate appearances in 2002, the club decided to non-tender him instead of going to arbitration. It was a decision that then general manager Terry Ryan would regret.

In 2003, his first season with the Red Sox, Ortiz hit 31 home runs and knocked in 101 runs splitting time at first base and DH. Minnesota’s DH that season was Matt Lecroy, and Doug Mientkiewicz was the primary first baseman. The next season, while Ortiz clubbed 41 home runs and 139 RBI – leading the Red Sox to their first World Series title in 86 years – the Twins’ DH spot was mostly shared by, gulp, Jose Offerman and Lecroy.

Talk about an awful decision.

Fast forward to Saturday night at Target Field in Minnesota. With Kelly in the broadcast booth watching, Ortiz belted two home runs and drove in six runs in Boston’s 12-5 punishment of the Twins. In 53 games against his former team, Ortiz is batting .333 with 15 homers, 17 doubles and 43 RBI.

Now 37, Ortiz is in his 11th season with the Red Sox. He admits that there was a time when he had extra motivation when facing the Twins. Ortiz claims it is no longer personal, but that is difficult to believe.

Since Ortiz was non-tendered by the Twins and joined the Red Sox, he has been an integral part of two World Series champions and has emerged as arguably the best DH in baseball history. After returning from an Achilles tendon injury in late April, Ortiz is batting .362 with seven home runs, 29 RBI, a .681 slugging percentage and a 1.089 OPS in 103 plate appearances.

Think the Twins could use a bat like that?

Signed by the Mariners as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 1992, Ortiz (who once played under the name David Arias), was the player to be named later in the deal that sent Dave Hollins from Minnesota to Seattle in September 1996.

Ortiz ascended the Twins farm system as a prominent power hitter, though he was never considered a premium prospect. Baseball America rated him No. 84 in its 1998 pre-season top 100 list, but that was the extent of his recognition.

In 1998, when he was 22, Ortiz saw his first extensive Major League action, batting .277 with nine home runs, 46 RBI and a .817 OPS in 326 plate appearances for the Twins.

A year later, he hit .315 with 30 home runs, 110 RBI and a 1.002 OPS in 563 plate appearances at Triple-A Salt Lake City. He saw little time with the Twins, and in that short stint, he was 0-for-20 with 12 strikeouts in 25 plate appearances.

From 200o to 2002, Ortiz spent most of his time in the majors. He batted .282 with 10 home runs, 63 RBI and a .810 OPS in 478 plate appearances in 2000. Ortiz followed that with 18 dingers in 2001 and 20 more in 2002. Yet his free- swinging ways did not appeal to Twins talent evaluators.

Tom Powers of the St. Paul Pioneer Press wrote about an interview he conducted with Ortiz earlier in his Red Sox career. Ortiz told Powers, “I always hit a lot of home runs when I was coming up. I’d take a big swing and my first manager would be screaming at me: ‘Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing?’ Are you kidding me? You want me to swing like a little girl? I’ll swing like a little girl.”

Ortiz told Powers that his free-swinging approach was embraced by the Red Sox.

“My first exhibition game here (with Boston), I came up with a runner on second and no outs. I’m thinking, ‘I’ve got to get the runner over.’

Ortiz didn’t swing for the fences in that at-bat. Instead, he was solely focused on making contact. Grady Little, who was manager of the Red Sox at the time, was awaiting Ortiz in the dugout.

“Grady said, ‘This is not the Twins. You’ve got to bring that guy in,’ OK, looks like I got a green light.”

In parts of six seasons with the Twins, Ortiz tallied 58 home runs, 238 RBI, a .266 average and a .809 OPS. Since joining the Red Sox, he has 350 home runs, 1,117 RBI, a .292 average and a .964 OPS.

Devoted Red Sox fans will remember that Ortiz was unhappy in his first season with the Red Sox since he was splitting time with Jeremy Giambi. That displeasure has long passed. On Saturday night, he recorded his 38th multi-homer game with the Red Sox, passing Hall of Famer Ted Williams for the top spot on that list.

Meanwhile, every time Boston faces the Twins – and Kelly is in the broadcast booth – he seems to grumble about anything related to the Red Sox.

Series after series and year after year, Ortiz reminds the Twins and Kelly what could have been.

Reeling after dropping nine out of 11 games, the Red Sox have won four in a row on the current road trip. Timely hitting with runners in scoring position has provided a spark. So has the performance of a bullpen that is seeing extensive action.

Red Sox relievers have permitted just one run over 17.1 innings during a road trip that has seen the club produce a 4-1 record.

In a 5-3 loss at Tampa Bay last Tuesday, John Lackey lasted 4.1 innings and served up five runs. Andrew Miller, Clayton Mortensen, Craig Breslow and Alex Wilson combined for 4.2 scoreless frames.

The next night, in Boston’s 9-2 lambasting of the Rays, Jon Lester pitched seven strong innings. Koji Uehara and Jose De La Torre each logged a scoreless frame.

On Thursday, in a game that saw the Red Sox rally from a 3-1 won deficit and get a 4-3 victory thanks to a clutch three-run double by Will Middlebrooks, the club overcame an ineffective start by Felix Doubront (who walked six in five-plus innings. Mortensen was reached for one run, but Andrew Miller got two key outs while Breslow retired the side in order in his frame and Junichi Tazawa registered two scoreless innings and was credited with the win.

In the three-game series opener at Minnesota on Friday, Clay Buchholz held the Twins to two runs over seven innings. Miller followed with 1.2 scoreless innings while Wilson needed just two pitches to get an out and receive the win. Uehara tossed a scoreless 10th to get the save in a 3-2 victory.

On Saturday, in a game that saw Ryan Dempster walk six batters and last just 4.2 innings, Red Sox relievers blanked the Minnesota Twins through 4.1 frames in a 12-5 Boston victory.

The performance of the Red Sox bullpen is especially impressive considering that Andrew Bailey is on the disabled list. Tazawa and Uehara are the anchors while Wilson, a rookie right-hander, has a 1.26 ERA overall and has not allowed a run in his last five appearances.

Miller has secured important outs during the road trip, and Breslow has a 1.35 ERA in seven games since he was activated from the DL.

When Bailey returns on Monday, the Red Sox will likely send De La Torre back to Pawtucket. Left-hander Franklin Morales is making rehab starts for the PawSox. If Doubront remains in the rotation, Morales will join the Red Sox pen, giving manager John Farrell another power arm.

If Morales was activated with Bailey on Monday, it would be interesting to see who the Red Sox would remove from the pen (along with De La Torre). Wilson has all three options remaining, but he has pitched much better than Mortensen, who has struggled to throw strikes at times. Mortensen is out of options, so he would have to be traded or designated for assignment if he is the odd man out.

Bailey’s return will bolster the Red Sox pen since it will allow Uehara and Tazawa to serve in critical set-up roles. The versatile Morales could replace Mortensen as a long reliever.

In need of rotation depth, the Boston Red Sox are stretching out Franklin Morales as a starter in his rehab assignment. The 27-year-old left-hander had pitched well until Saturday, when he allowed five runs, three hits and three walks in four innings in Triple-A Pawtucket’s 6-3 loss to Indianapolis, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ International League affiliate.

Morales, who threw 65 pitches (43 of which were strikes), will likely get at least two more rehab appearances before he is activated from the disabled list. He could join the Red Sox rotation if Felix Doubront continues to struggle, or he could give the much-used bullpen a fresh arm.

In the same game for the PawSox on Saturday, Andrew Bailey logged one innings, allowing one run and two hits (including a home run) while striking out two without a walk. Bailey is expected to be activated from the DL on Monday and rejoin the Red Sox in Chicago for the opener of a three-game series against the White Sox.

When Bailey is activated, the club will likely option Jose De La Torre to Pawtucket.

For the second time in three games, a Red Sox starting pitcher could not consistently throw strikes and created his own trouble with an abundance of full counts and walks. Somehow, the Red Sox won both times.

On Thursday, it was erratic left-hander Felix Doubront who issued six walks and commonly faced three-ball counts against the Tampa Bay Rays. On Saturday, veteran right-hander Ryan Dempster was so atrocious that he threw a season-high 127 pitches and still did not quality for a win.

Dempster walked six and served up five runs and eight hits over 4.2 innings, but Minnesota left-hander Scott Diamond was wild as well, and Boston’s offense carved up Twins pitching for 12 runs and 13 hits. The Red Sox drew eight walks, too – the same number that Boston pitching issued.

Charged by two home runs and six RBI by David Ortiz, and a two-run home from from Daniel Nava, the Red Sox pounded the Twins, 12-5.

The 36-year-old Dempster delivered his second consecutive subpar outing. He surrendered six runs and seven hits in five innings last week in a loss against the Toronto Blue Jays. On Saturday, his inability to command his offerings allowed the Twins to rally from a 7-2 deficit and trim the score to 7-5 in the fifth inning.

Surprisingly, Dempster was not lifted by Red Sox manager John Farrell after laboring through four innings. After the game, Farrell admitted that he was trying to give Dempster an opportunity to complete five innings to qualify for a win. The questionable move almost cost the Red Sox a lead.

Clayton Mortensen, who relieved Dempster in the fifth and did not allow the Twins to score, had control issues of his own in the sixth. He allowed a base hit and a walk while getting an out, and Farrell summoned Craig Breslow. The left-hander walked Trevor Plouffe to load the bases. That is when Dustin Pedroia made the defensive play of the game.

Aaron Hicks lofted a pop fly into shallow right field. Pedroia raced out and made an over-the-head catch, turned around and fired a perfect one-bounce throw to Ryan Lavarnway, who was barreled into by Ryan Doumit. Lavarnway tumbled over but held onto the ball, completing the inning-ending double play.

Boston turned a tight contest into a laugher in the top of the seventh. Ortiz belted a two-run dinger off Anthony Swarzak. After Mike Napoli walked, Casey Fien relieved Swarzak and promptly surrendered the two-run home run to Nava, who also had a sacrifice fly earlier in game.

After the wildness of Dempster and the shaky command from Mortensen, Breslow gave the Sox 1.2 scoreless frames (while walking just one) and rookie right-hander Alex Wilson tossed two scoreless innings. He was the only Red Sox pitcher who did not walk a batter.

The win was ugly, but it was a win, an the Red Sox improved to 26-17. They remained one game behind the New York Yankees in the American League East standings.

Two of the most highly regarded prospects in the Red Sox organization, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Garin Cecchini delivered impressive performances in their return from injuries.

The 23-year-old Bradley had been sidelined with biceps tendinitis. He was activated from the disabled list and was 1-for-3 with a triple and a walk. He was also hit by a pitch. In his first year at Triple-A, Bradley is batting .304 with a .418 on-base percentage, a .391 slugging percentage and a .809 OPS.

The 22-year-old Cecchini is one of Boston’s fastest rising prospects. The third baseman missed two games with a turned ankle and returned last night at advanced Single-A Salem with three hits, including a double, and a walk. Cecchini is hitting .378 with a 1.143 OPS.He has five home runs, 25 RBI and 11 stolen bases.

Bradley and Cecchini are Boston’s second and third highest-ranked position prospects. Xander Bogaerts is considered the club’s top overall prospect. The 20-year-old Bogaerts – who is batting .275 at Double-A Portland – is currently a shortstop, but he could be moved to third base or left field if the Red Sox believe that Jose Iglesias will hit enough at the Major League level to serve as the starting shortstop.

With the presence of Cecchini, Bogaerts is the most likely one to shift to left field.

Like several teams in the majors, the banged up Boston Red Sox are dealing with multiple injuries. Shane Victorino and Stephen Drew are sidelined for tonight’s game at Minnesota with back injuries while left-hander Franklin Morales is set to make another rehab start this evening at Triple-A Pawtucket.

Victorino, who has experienced back and rib soreness several times this season because of his aggressive approach in the outfield, mildly injured his back on Thursday at Tampa Bay when he collided with the wall while making a catch in the eighth inning. Daniel Nava will start this evening in right field while Jonny Gomes will man left field.

Drew tweaked his back while sliding into second base on Friday night in Minnesota. The eighth inning double led to the game-tying run in what ended in a 3-2 victory in 10 innings for the Red Sox. During warmups today, Drew experienced back soreness and was given the night off. Pedro Ciriaco will start at shortstop.

The Red Sox are stretching out Morales as a starter to give the club rotation depth in case of injury or ineffectiveness. It appears that manager John Farrell will stick with 25-year-old left-hander Felix Doubront, but Morales is an option if Doubront continues to have problems with his command.

When you glance at the team stats, Will Middlebrooks is near the bottom with a .205 batting average. There is nothing impressive about that, but the number does not fully reflect what the 25-year-old third baseman has done since missing a game earlier this month with a rib injury he suffered in a collision with catcher David Ross.

Middlebrooks continues to play with sore ribs, yet he is not letting the discomfort negatively impact his performance at the plate. In Boston’s 9-2 rout of the Rays on Wednesday, Middlebrooks belted a home run and was 2-for-4. Of course, his most dramatic moment occurred on Thursday when the Red Sox were trailing 3-1 with the bases loaded, two outs and two strikes. He ripped a Fernando Rodney change-up into the gap, clearing the bases and giving Boston a 4-3 lead that remained as the final score.

Last night, with two on and no outs in the top of the 10th at Minnesota in a 2-2 game, Middlebrooks executed a successful sacrifice bunt, which led to Jonny Gomes‘ sacrifice fly moments later in Boston’s 3-2 victory.

Though Middlebrooks’ average is hovering just above the Mendoza line, he does have seven home runs, and he is making more consistent contact. Overall, he has struck out 45 times in 160 plate appearances, but the Red Sox are confident that he will fully adjust to the way pitchers are approaching him and regain the power stroke that resulted in 15 home runs and a .288 average in 286 plate appearances last year.

In the future – as early as next season – Middlebrooks could be moved to first base if the Red Sox deem Xander Bogaerts is Major League ready and better suited at the hot corner instead of shortstop. Even if the club keeps Bogaerts at shortstop, or transitions him to left field, Middlebrooks could still make the move to first base with another top prospect, Garin Cecchini, climbing the organizational ladder.

As for this season, the Red Sox desperately need Middlebrooks to play clean defense at third base and generate runs since they do not have a Major League ready, starting-caliber third baseman at Triple-A Pawtucket.

It is a small sample size, but what Middlebrooks did in the two wins at Tampa Bay, and his sacrifice bunt that was pivotal in Friday night’s victory against the Twins, is an encouraging sign that he is poised to emerge from his season-long slump.