MILWAUKEE — The Tampa Bay Rays had ace Drew Rasmussen available on regular rest to start Game 1 of the World Series.

But Rasmussen on extra rest is even more dominant. And that made it a relatively easy decision for Rays manager Kevin Cash to skip Rasmussen and name right-hander Nick Martinez his World Series Game 1 starter.

Martinez, 36, will oppose Milwaukee Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski in the Friday, Oct. 23 opener at American Family Field. Martinez is coming off a strong 5 ⅓-inning, two-hit, one-run start against the Cleveland Guardians in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series, tying it 2-2.

Rasmussen followed with a dominant seven-inning, four-hit effort to win Game 5 and send Tampa Bay home with just one win necessary to reach the World Series. No. 2 starter Freddy Peralta followed suit with a Game 6 gem to send them to Milwaukee.

Rasmussen pitched Sunday, putting him on regular rest Friday. But Cash is not going to burn that bullet just yet.

“We prioritized Drew getting an extra day. We’re trying to get the full pitch allotment out of him,” says Cash before the Rays worked out in Milwaukee on Thursday. "He's had a pretty thick workload here. We've relied on him heavily.

"When Nick pitches, we win."

Rasmussen is putting together a fantastic body of work: Over three starts this postseason, he’s pitched 21 innings and given up just three runs, a 1.29 ERA. He’s struck out 23 and walked just three and the Rays have won all his starts.

In Martinez, Tampa Bay does not get the raw power Rasmussen can provide. But he creates excellent deception with his changeup playing off his low-90s fastball, benefiting from working under Kyle Snyder in his first year with Tampa Bay.

Martinez had strong seasons recently with both San Diego and Cincinnati after a mid-career return from Japan, but has never been better than his All-Star campaign of 2026, leading to one of the game’s ultimate honors – a World Series Game 1 start, against the likely National League Cy Young Award winner.

"It fell on me, and my job is just to rack up as many outs as I can," says Martinez.

His contributions to the club have been both tangible and otherwise: Martinez has taken it upon himself to organize team dinners in every city, including before this World Series: He reports that there was a fantastic turnout for the squad's dinner at Carnevore, one of Milwaukee's finest steakhouses.

"I’ve been around guys who know how to control a clubhouse. Getting the guys together was a blessing," says Martinez. "That chemistry transfers to the field."