A once-great pitcher with diminished velocity, who looked to be at the end of his career, comes back for a final season, relying on guile rather than stuff to get hitters out. That describes Adam Wainwright’s 2019, but it also was the story of Pedro Martinez’s final season with the Phillies ten years ago.
It’s a comparison that’s been on my mind a lot lately, and one I talked about with VEB alum Alex Crisafulli on this week’s Chirps podcast.
Martinez’s 4-year deal with the Mets ended in 2008, and as often happens in late-career free agent deals, he was pretty Pedro-like early on, but pretty bad by the end.