Pedro Martinez’s peak stats are even better than you remember
These are words that fans of every Major League Baseball team would love to hear from their club’s general manager:
“This is a huge acquisition for us…. When you have a No. 1 pitcher, that makes you that much better.’’
Those were the actual words that Boston Red Sox GM Dan Duquette uttered on Nov. 18, 1997 after he acquired Pedro Martinez from the Montreal Expos in exchange for Carl Pavano and a player to be named later (who ended up being Tony Armas).
“This past season, the Red Sox lacked an ace pitcher,’’ Duquette continued. “This is the kind of trade that when you go to bed as a general manager, you dream of.’’
After winning the 1997 Cy Young Award in the National League with the Expos, Pedro arrived in Boston via trade and signed a record-breaking, $75-million contract in December 1997. The first batter Pedro faced in a Red Sox uniform was on April 1, 1998 when he got Oakland’s Rickey Henderson to fly out to left. In his first two starts, both on the road, Martinez allowed one run in 14 innings.
Making his Fenway debut in front of 32,403 fans, the 26-year-old overwhelmed the Seattle Mariners, a Ken Griffey-led team of big boppers rarely overwhelmed by anybody, 5-0. He struck out 12 in the complete-game shutout.
“He was the predator,’’ said Seattle shortstop Alex Rodriguez, whose sixth-inning single along with Joey Cora’s fourth-inning single were the only Mariner hits, “and we were the prey.’’
At season’s end, he was 19-7 with a 2.89 ERA and a WHIP of 1.091. He struck out 251 batters in 231.2 IP, averaging 9.7 per nine innings.
It was the first of six otherworldly seasons (followed by a memorable but not quite as statistically dominant 2004 campaign) as a member of the Boston Red Sox.
Here’s something amazing about those 1998 stats: Over the next five seasons, Pedro only got better.
•From 1998-2003, that 2.89 ERA was the highest Pedro recorded for the Red Sox.
•From 1998-2003, that 1.091 WHIP was the highest Pedro recorded for the Red Sox.
•From 1998-2003, that strikeouts per nine innings rate of 9.7 was the lowest Pedro recorded for the Red Sox.
Pedro’s Stunning Sox Stats
Won-loss records may not come close to telling the whole story of any pitcher’s performance, but Pedro’s seven-year record with the Sox—117-37 for a W-L percentage of .760—still speaks volumes. Amongst Red Sox pitchers with at least 50 decisions, that’s the highest W-L pct.
Pedro made 203 regular-season appearances, including 201 starts, and lost just 37 times (18.2%).
An “ace’’ provides a level of consistency beyond that of any pitcher in your rotation.
For example, during Pedro’s Red Sox years:
•He won 11 games in a row once
•He won 9 games in a row twice
•He won 7 games in a row twice
•He won 6 games in a row once
•He won 5 games in a row three times
While those streaks are impressive, these figures may have been even more important; during Pedro’s Red Sox years:
•He lost 4 games in a row once
•He lost 3 games in a row once
•He lost 2 games in a row twice
Low-hit starts:
•No-hitters—0
•One-hit—8
•Two-hits—16
•Three-hits—22
•Four-hits—35
•Five-hits – 33
During his Red Sox years, the American League leading batters were Pedro’s teammates Nomar Garciaparra (.329), Ivan Rodriguez (.326), Manny Ramirez (.322), who played with Pedro starting in 2001, and Derek Jeter (.319).
Against Pedro:
•Ivan Rodriguez hit .133 (2-15)
•Manny Being Manny hit .143 (5-35)
•Derek Jeter hit .247 (22-89)
Six batters hit more than 200 homers from 1998-2004, but they did not fare well against Martinez:
•Alex Rodriguez hit .317, 1 off Pedro
•Manny Ramirez hit .281, 0 off Pedro
•Rafael Palmiero hit .280, 0 off Pedro
•Carlos Delgado hit .269, 2 off Pedro
•Jason Giambi hit .235, 3 off Pedro
•Jim Thome hit .201, 4 off Pedro
Pedro allowed 103 homers while with the Sox, two leading off the game, 77 with the bases empty, 51 at home (and 52 away), 31 when the score was tied, 22 to cleanup batters, 54 to lefty batters, only four in the 8th inning, none in the 9th, no walkoffs (he didn’t allow a walkoff hit of any sort) and no grand slams (although amongst the 22 triples, Pedro did allow a bases loaded triple to Jorge Posada. Then again he didn’t allow any bases loaded doubles and just 11 bases loaded singles.).
Pedro made 53 starts in which he allowed no earned runs and in his 201 starts, Pedro allowed five earned runs or more just 20 times.
During his Red Sox career, current Hall of Famers hit .214 against him with Frank Thomas going 2-24 (.083) with 11 strikeouts. One of Thomas’ hits was a homer, the only homer Pedro allowed to a HOF-er while with Boston.
Then there were the strikeouts
Pedro holds the single-season Red Sox record for strikeouts with 313 in 1999; he holds four of the top single-season Sox strikeout seasons.
From 1998-2004, Pedro had 72 double-digit strikeout games. In 43 of the games, he walked either one or none. Pedro walked one batter in 74 starts and no one in 39 more.
Pedro had two 17-strikeout games and two 16-strikeout games while pitching for the Sox. He also had six 15-strikeout games, three 14-strikeout games, five 13-strikeout games, twelve 12-strikeout games, eighteen 11-strikeout games, and twenty-four 10-strikeout games. He struck out nine batters in a game 25 times.
Top 10 strikeout victims for Pedro while pitching for Boston:
1. Jorge Posada: 33
2. Derek Jeter: 25
3. Bernie Williams: 23
4. Jason Giambi: 20
5. Travis Fryman: 19
6. Alfonso Soriano: 19
7. Alex Rodrgiuez: 18
8. Paul O’Neill: 18
9. Jim Thome: 17
10. David Justice: 17
He had 22 complete games and ended seven with a strikeout.
Pedro In Context
While there were many highlights among his regular-season, postseason and All Star games performances, his big picture production may be even more impressive. The righty went 117-37 with a 2.52 ERA, whiffing 1,683 and walking just 309 in 1,383.2 innings.
•From 1998-2004, Pedro’s Red Sox years, the AL ERA was 4.65, 2.13 runs more than Martinez.
•Amongst Red Sox pitchers with at least 50 decisions, Pedro has the best strikeout per nine innings rate at 10.9.
•His strikeout-to-walk ratio was 5.45 during a time when the rest of the league rate was 1.86.
•Martinez allowed 387 earned runs, the fewest for any pitcher throwing at least a thousand innings. The league average pitcher during that time period allowed 731 ER.
•Pedro’s WHIP was 0.978, the best in baseball.
•Pedro had a batting average against of .206, the best in baseball.
•Amongst Red Sox pitchers with at least 100 starts, Pedro has the lowest rate of hits per nine innings at 6.79.
The end—sort of.
The last regular-season batter Pedro faced in a Red Sox uniform was on Sept. 29, 2004 when Tampa’s Melvin Upton grounded to short.
The last postseason batter Pedro faced in a Red Sox uniform was on Oct. 26, 2004 when the Cardinals’ Reggie Sanders struck out swinging in Game 3 of the World Series. The Sox would finish off a sweep of the Cardinals in Game 4 for Boston’s first World Series championship since 1918.
In Boston, Martinez was the top pitcher in the game, producing at a level perhaps only ever reached during Sandy Koufax’s peak seasons with the Dodgers. Further endearing Martinez to fans, he played with fearlessness, panache, and joy. It was exciting every time he toed the rubber.
The opposition knew it.
The fans knew it.
He knew it.
Martinez left Boston after the World Series-winning 2004 season, signing a free-agent deal with the Mets. He compiled a 32-23 record in four years in New York before a stint with the Phillies in 2009 that returned him to the World Series.
For all his late-career travels, Boston remained important to Martinez.
“My heart was always with Boston even when you step out for a little while,’’ he said after returning to the Red Sox as a special assistant to general manager Ben Cherington in 2013, via Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe. “Every time I came back to Boston, people reminded me that I belonged to them. Everybody made me feel at home, and it’s the same feeling still. I’m in Boston and I’m there to stay.’’
The greatest games of Pedro Martinez’s career
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