Pedro Martinez is in the worst slump of his career, losing four straight starts for the first time ever _ and his swagger, too.
After his latest loss to the Devil Rays on Tuesday, Martinez suggested his pitching doesn’t merit being named Game 5 starter for the ALDS, and those words came with his declaration that the Yankees are “my daddy” still hanging in the air.
Martinez has been one of baseball’s most confident and effective pitchers for most of the past decade. Suddenly, he appears to be neither. Was this really the man who wanted to wake up the Bambino and “drill him in the (rear)?”
“If you take Petey’s words at face value, it shows you don’t understand him,” Gabe Kapler said. “He’s a ferocious competitor and he’s extraordinarily confident. He’s a brilliant pitcher and he understands the psychological side of this game better than most.”
But Martinez can’t seem to understand what’s happening to his game, saying “maybe I am throwing too many strikes” and “I am not hitting my targets.” Whatever is happening, over his last four starts, he is 0-4 with a 7.71 ERA.
Martinez’s 16 wins tie him with Chicago ace Mark Buehrle for sixth in the American League and his 212 innings pitched are more than he’s thrown since 2000, but his 3.90 ERA is the highest of his career and more than a run over his previous high with the Red Sox, a 2.89 mark in his first year with Boston, 1998.
In the past, any struggles Martinez has had could usually be linked to injury – but not anymore. He hasn’t missed a start all season. And in each start of his four-game losing streak, he’s been able to hit high velocities.
“He is a somewhat different pitcher than he was years ago in that he’s rationing the overpowering mid-90s fastball,” one scout said. “But you don’t see a lot that’s different between the way he is pitching now and they way he was pitching several weeks ago . . . His command hasn’t been as good, but his mechanics look the same.”
Another scout had a much dimmer view of Martinez’s slump, suggesting it may be the beginning of the end for the undersized 32-year-old righthander.
“I saw him a couple of weeks ago. He looked like he might’ve had a tired arm,” that scout said. “His velocity was down and his stuff was not sharp. Even his change, which is great, didn’t have the same movement, the same sink, that it usually does. I don’t know if he’s come down a notch, but I’m beginning to believe that. He gets to the fifth or sixth inning and he starts to wear down. You may not see an overpowering pitcher again. When I saw him, his stuff was a little flat. He’s a notch below what he was, that’s all, and I think it’s a permanent thing. You may not see the guy from a couple of years ago.”
While Martinez is morphing into a different pitcher, teams are also changing the way they attack him. The Yankees always used to grind Martinez down with long at-bats, but when they beat him in New York on Sept. 19, many were swinging early _ the Yankees scored two runs on Martinez’s first four pitches.
In his loss to the Bombers at Fenway four days later, four Yankees hits came on one of the first three pitches of an at-bat.
In the loss to Tampa Bay Tuesday, three runs scored on hits that came in the first three pitches of an at-bat.
Martinez went to Francona to find out whether he or 21-game winner Curt Schilling would start the Red Sox’s first playoff game shortly before his last start. Francona said Martinez took the news he would get the ball for Game 2 .
Schilling, 8-0 with a 2.15 ERA in his last nine starts, will pitch Tuesday’s playoff opener.
“Petey and I had talked about it before,” Schilling said. “I think we both knew that regardless of who got the start, the other guy would be okay with it. We both understand what’s at stake here and it’s a lot bigger than either of our egos.

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