Mastrodonato: Martin Perez is the unexpected ace of the Red Sox
For all the attention on the advanced data, the Red Sox’ starting rotation is currently being led by someone who does everything wrong in the modern era.
Martin Perez was one manager’s quick hook away from throwing the Red Sox’ first complete game shutout of the year on Thursday afternoon, when Perez dazzled over 7-⅔ shutout innings in a 5-1 win over the high-powered Houston Astros.
He was rolling, and making it look as easy as it’s looked by any Red Sox starter all year long.
And he was yanked after just 82 pitches.
The early hook was as confusing as it gets, given he was hardly struggling and had allowed just a single and a walk with two outs in the eighth.
“We have to manage the game,” manager Alex Cora said of removing Perez early. “That’s a good lineup. That’s a really good lineup.”
The old-school mentality of letting a pitcher get himself out of a jam is no longer common in the big leagues. New-age teams want pitchers who can throw hard, spin fierce breaking balls and let it rip over short stints. Then, it’s onto the next high-powered reliever to handle an inning at a time.
There’s only one problem: Perez is anything but a new-age starting pitcher. And the Red Sox’ decision in January to tear up his old contract and sign him to a new one, saving $1.85 million in the process, signaled that the Sox wanted at least one old-school innings eater on their staff.
Fifth starters aren’t super valuable, but every team needs one. And after the Sox’ failed experiment using openers last year, bringing Perez back to deepen the rotation made a lot of sense.
“The whole time I told my agent that I want to be here again, because I tell this to you guys before, this is kind of like home for me,” he said.
What the Red Sox couldn’t have predicted was that a guy with below-average spin rates on his curveball and fastball, well-below-average fastball velocity and some of the worst whiff rates and chase rates in the big leagues would end up being their No. 1 starter by June.
Alas, we have arrived in the season’s third month and no Red Sox starter has been better than the 30-year-old lefty from Venezuela.
He doesn’t strike out many guys and he doesn’t blow it by anybody. But he sure knows how to pitch. He throws five different pitches: three variations of a fastball (a four-seamer, a two-seamer and a cutter), a curveball and a changeup.
So far this year, his cutter and curve have been knocked around, but his other two fastballs and change have been lights out. He has a feel for which pitch is working that day and isn’t afraid to shake his catcher when he knows what he wants to throw.
“Not every time you can go out there and pitch for a strikeout,” he said. “I think when you go out there and you pitch for contact instead of trying to strike out hitters, you can go deep into the game. That’s going to make you win more games. That’s one of my goals.”
He’s a guy with 10 big league seasons under his belt. In three of those, he made at least 29 starts, which is more than can be said for Garrett Richards (one season of at least 29 starts), Nathan Eovaldi (one), Nick Pivetta (one) and Eduardo Rodriguez (one).
“Coming into the season, I saw what he did last year and I was very comfortable with him giving us innings, and not just giving us innings, quality innings,” Cora said. “He was really good last year, had a few tough outings, especially the last one I think, but if you look at his numbers and what really matters, he induced the opposition into weak contact. He’s been doing that for a while. He did it in Minnesota in ’19, he did it with the Red Sox last year and he’s doing the same thing with us.”
Is there a more important starting pitcher on the staff than Perez right now?
He’s reliable, consistent and a team player. Even after getting pulled after just 82 pitches and four outs away from a complete game shutout, Perez handed the ball off and had no complaints afterwards.
“I can go nine or 10 innings,” Perez said. “It doesn’t matter. They decided that it was over for me and Adam Ottavino comes in and made five pitches. It was a great game. I’m happy to help the team.”
Over his last seven starts, he has a 1.98 ERA and 1.05 WHIP. Overall, he’s 4-2 with a 3.09 ERA.
The Red Sox had lost three in a row until Perez took the ball at Minute Maid Park on Thursday. He’s the team’s slump-buster.
And as of now, he’s the ace.
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3uJ1wcg
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