Pedro Martinez: Big Analytics Guy?
Pedro Martinez is one of the best starting pitchers in the history of baseball. Could he have been even better if he pitched in the modern era? The former World Series champion with the Red Sox says he wishes analytics existed when he pitched.
“I don’t think pitching ever changes, people do and players do and mental aspects of the game change a little bit,” Martinez said (5:30 in player above). “This is a game of adjustments. As the league goes, you have to prepare your players and your pitchers to do the things that they need to do to be successful. So pitching will always be pitching but it all depends on how it’s used by the organization and the different teams and the way baseball trends.”
“Pay attention to the little details from the analytics department and all that. Learn what the hitters are doing to improve what they do offensively to then contrast that,” he said. “That’s what the pitchers need to do is to disrupt what the hitters are trying to do, and that’s exactly what they’re working on right here. The analysis that the hitters get, the same thing they’re doing with the pitchers. It’s just a balance.”
“I would’ve loved to use most of the information, and at the same time continue to work on the basic fundamental stuff we need to do to execute pitches. Because that’s the biggest difference,” he said. “If you execute pitches right along with knowing the tendencies that you’re going to get from the hitters, you should be comfortable approaching some of those great hitters that we have in the league.”
Martinez, 52, finished his MLB career with a 219-100 record and a 2.93 ERA. Would he have really been better if he had more information at his disposal? Feel free to comment your thoughts.
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