Pedro Martinez knows the feeling.
After playing baseball deep into the fall and ultimately triumphing over all foes, defending World Series champions’ starting pitchers believe they can replicate the previous season’s success by going full throttle in the early weeks of the new campaign.
But the former Boston Red Sox ace believes they must resist the urge to do so in order to boost their chances of peaking during pennant races and the postseason.
“My biggest deal was (learning) how to pace myself through a new season where I was still feeling like I could pitch in spring training or that I could just go into a game, (then) having to hold myself from that feeling,” Martinez told WEEI.com’s Nick Friar on Thursday. “When you feel good and you feel like you can pitch, and then you have to hold yourself back and lose the feel for pitching, lose the feeling for (the sake of) your physical well-being and hold it back, and then kind of get out of shape after you’re in shape, and then getting started again is the most difficult thing to do. For them, it’s no exception.”
Martinez said earlier this month he isn’t worried about the Red Sox’s starting pitchers. The Red Sox had run through their rotation only once when he delivered that assessment. The team now has played 13 games, and a starter still has yet to register a win, but Martinez has faith they’ll return to form.
“Even though right now the struggles might frustrate you a little bit, I think it’s going to pay off in the long run,” Martinez said. “I think they’re going to be able to finally realize that everybody needs a little bit of rest and a little bit of pacing (for) your body, mentally, physically, and naturally, on the bump. You have to pace yourself. It’s really difficult to do with the spirit that we have (as) competitors. Mentally, it’s a battle within you.”
Let’s hope he’s right about that.
