Since Brett Myers went down with a season-ending injury, the Phillies have
scrambled to find a fifth starter for their rotation. The combination of Antonio Bastardo and Rodrigo Lopez went a combined 3-3, 5.56 in seven starts, with most
of the damage coming at the expense of Bastardo, who himself has wound up on the
DL. Lopez came in and showed promise. In his two starts, he went 1-0, 3.18 and
it looked like perhaps the Phillies had found their fifth starter, but again, an
injury hit and while Lopez is not yet on the DL, he could be headed there.
Lopez had been throwing very well at Triple-A Lehigh Valley and continued his
success through his first two starts. The 33 year old right-hander is on his way
back from Tommy John surgery in August of 2007 and has reached the point where
pitchers generally see their velocity, control and movement on their pitches
return. With the signing of Pedro Martinez, Lopez is likely lost to the
Phillies. He is out of options and will have to clear waivers and then accept an
assignment back to Triple-A and it's very possible that he'll either be claimed
on waivers or decide to enter free agency and look for an offer elsewhere. If
Lopez is truly back to form, it would be unfortunate for the Phillies to lose
him, because having a veteran pitcher as insurance is never a bad thing.
For Martinez to be deemed successful, he basically just has to show himself
to be better than what the Phillies had as their fifth starter and the numbers
there aren't too hard to beat. Even going by what Pedro did last season for the
Mets [5.16 ERA], it would be an improvement over Bastardo, who still has some
learning to do. Last season, Joe Blanton came into Philadelphia and helped to
push the Phillies over the top with a wonderful second-half of the season, going
4-0 with a 4.20 ERA for the Phillies. That same type of ERA from Martinez would
qualify as a nice upgrade to their rotation, considering that with the Phillies
offense, Martinez would be in a position to win a decent amount of games.
While Martinez received high marks for his performance in the World Baseball
Classic and for his workouts for the Phillies earlier this month, keep in mind
that those appearances came after a long layoff and he wasn't being called on to
throw a lot of pitches in either instance. How he'll hold up to the grind of
pitching every fifth day and being expected to pitch deeper into games will be
the ultimate test.
Financially, the Phillies don't appear to have risked too much money on the
future Hall of Famer. The fact that most of his potential paycheck is tied to
incentives is a very good thing for the Phillies. Martinez can not only pick up
some extra cash, but can put himself in a position to get a nice, hefty contract
for next season if he performs well in the second-half of the season for the
Phillies.
And, the signing of Martinez doesn't negate the potential of getting Roy Halladay. If Martinez, who will start his Phillies career on the DL, but should
be activated in about three weeks, can anchor the back end of the Phillies
rotation, it would be easier for the Phillies to deal J.A. Happ as part of a
package to get Halladay out of Toronto. While Happ has been an important part of
the Phillies rotation, there is no denying that right now, Halladay is a better
pitcher. Including Happ in a package might also allow the Phillies to keep Kyle Drabek out of any potential deal to acquire Halladay or another top starter.
The final part to signing Martinez is to hope that he fits into the Phillies
clubhouse. Martinez has a presence that can be at times overwhelming and at
times, detrimental to a clubhouse and adding that mix to a very laid back and
unselfish group of players could lead to some problems. The fact that it's only
for half-a-season is likely a good thing, both in terms of getting the most out
of Pedro and also in terms of not having to deal with him too much off the
field.