Pedro Martinez: Just Another Gem for the Phils

Pedro Marinez was acquired by the Phillies on July 14th of this season amongst quite a bit of controversy. When he was activated on August 12th, after a few rehab performances, it meant that fan favorite Jamie Moyer was being moved to the bullpen. Moyer, as well as many fans (myself included), voiced his opinion that he was not happy about the decision to move him from the rotation. As it turns out, the move might have been one of the best decisions the Phils have made this season. In 2009 Pedro Martinez is 5 and 0 with a 2.87 earned run average in seven starts. Recently, he has turned in a few performances that any pitcher in his prime would be happy about, let alone a guy like Pedro who is thirty-seven and was, by many accounts, washed up and finished only a year ago.

Pedro’s most recent performance this past Sunday in game two of a day-night doubleheader against heated rivals, and Martinez’s former mates, the New York Mets was a thing of beauty. Even the national broadcasters were excited over what was happening. All Pedro did was go eight innings of shutout baseball while giving up a mere six hits, walking only two batters and striking out seven. This certainly does not seem like a guy who is “washed up”.

That performance against the Mets was a bit like watching vintage Pedro Martinez in the sense that every time the commentators, crowd and viewers at home thought that Pedro was done and had pitched his last inning, he was sent back out to the mound for another one. Even when Phils’ manager Charlie Manuel came to the mound with two outs in the eighth and a man on second, Pedro somehow convinced Charlie to leave him in for one more batter. Charlie did just that. By now, most of us know what happened.

The point is simply that Pedro Martinez appears to be far from finished and the Phillies appear to have pulled another gem out of their back pockets. While many, including myself, may have been against moving Moyer into the bullpen in exchange for the then unproven Pedro Martinez, we are all praising this move now as Martinez has pitched more like a number two or even possibly a number one starter than the number five that he replaced. Even Moyer must be at least a little bit happy with the improvements on his team. Let’s just hope that we haven’t seen the last of Martinez’s magic and that he can continue it down the stretch and throughout October.
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