5th Starter Wars

(in your best Bill Murray lounge singer voice please)

"Starter wars, nothing, but....starter wars...."

In a battle of craptasticy, no clear frontrunner has emerged as the favorite for the Mets 5th starter position.

As such, I have officially added Pedro Martinez to the list of those battling for the position.

Loyal readers of NY Sports Dog know I've been touting Pedro for months, and ran this piece a few days ago.

So let's take a look at the competition:

Freddy Garcia: Coming back from injury, mixed results now with decreased velocity and very hittable "fat" pitches in his last outing.
Tim Redding: Shut down once already, 4.95 ERA last year including a 6.49 ERA in his last 10 starts, another guy coming back from surgery
Livan Hernandez: Looked good in 2 innings in his first start, and then got bombed. Hernandez, who needed just 18 pitches in two perfect innings against the Cardinals in his spring debut last Friday, allowed three runs in 2-2/3 innings in the Mets' 6-4 loss to the Nationals yesterday. Hernandez was pulled one out shy of his targeted three innings when he walked Kory Casto to load the bases. The final six Nats to face Hernandez reached base. 6.05 ERA last year including a 7.91 ERA in his last 10 starts in 2008.
Jon Niese: Got bombed this week, very much looks like a AAA pitcher at this point
Pedro Martinez: Martinez pitched two innings, his first game work since Sept. 25 with the Mets, and allowed two runs, three hits and one walk with two strikeouts in the Dominican Republic's 6-1 loss to the Orioles yesterday.

So the battle continues....and speaking of battles, there is a terrific on-going prank war going on between a couple of guys from CollegeHumor.com.

The latest installment just might be the best one yet.

And Then There Was Pedro....

They say timing is everything.

Freddy Garcia can only hit 86 mph on the gun, and is being outpitched by (gulp), Livan Hernandez.

Johan Santana has a tendon that's barking, and the Mets are preaching "caution". He may need more tests.

Tim Redding was shut down because of his shoulder and finally threw off the mound yesterday. He is scheduled to throw in a game---a week from now.

Jon Niese is doing his best to make opponents bats hit his pitches.

John Maine is coming back from shoulder surgery.

Look! Up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane, it's...it's...it's....Pedro Martinez?

Yes my friends, Pedro Martinez is scheduled to fly in to Florida today for the World Baseball Classic.

While a lot of folks were adamant about Pedro and the Mets parting ways, the once closed door has certainly opened a crack.

What if Pedro pitches well in the WBC? What if his fastball is once again in the low 90s with consistency?

Would the door open further? Would the Mets welcome him back, and he would he accept a limited role as a starter or reliever?

Who do you have more faith in--Livan Hernandez or Pedro Martinez?

So let's run this down for a little reality check:

Johan Santana: Elbow problems stemming from triceps tendinitis, and he is coming back from knee surgery
John Maine: Coming back from shoulder surgery
Oliver Perez: All good thus far
Mike Pelfrey: All good thus far, Verducci effect be damned
Freddy Garcia: Coming back from injury, mixed results now with decreased velocity
Tim Redding: Shut down once already, 4.95 ERA last year including a 6.49 ERA in his last 10 starts, another guy coming back from surgery
Livan Hernandez: Looked good in 2 innings, 6.05 ERA last year including a 7.91 ERA in his last 10 starts
Jon Niese: Got bombed this week, very much looks like a AAA pitcher at this point

And then there was Pedro...

Career: Batting | Pitching | Fielding
SEASON	TEAM	G	GS	CG	SHO	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	W	L	SV		ERA
1992	LA	2	1	0	0	8.0	6	2	2	0	1	8	0	1	0		2.25
1993	LA	65	2	0	0	107.0	76	34	31	5	57	119	10	5	2		2.61
1994	Mon	24	23	1	1	144.2	115	58	55	11	45	142	11	5	1		3.42
1995	Mon	30	30	2	2	194.2	158	79	76	21	66	174	14	10	0		3.51
1996	Mon	33	33	4	1	216.2	189	100	89	19	70	222	13	10	0		3.70
1997	Mon	31	31	13	4	241.1	158	65	51	16	67	305	17	8	0		1.90
1998	Bos	33	33	3	2	233.2	188	82	75	26	67	251	19	7	0		2.89
1999	Bos	31	29	5	1	213.1	160	56	49	9	37	313	23	4	0		2.07
2000	Bos	29	29	7	4	217.0	128	44	42	17	32	284	18	6	0		1.74
2001	Bos	18	18	1	0	116.2	84	33	31	5	25	163	7	3	0		2.39
2002	Bos	30	30	2	0	199.1	144	62	50	13	40	239	20	4	0		2.26
2003	Bos	29	29	3	0	186.2	147	52	46	7	47	206	14	4	0		2.22
2004	Bos	33	33	1	1	217.0	193	99	94	26	61	227	16	9	0		3.90
2005	NYM	31	31	4	1	217.0	159	69	68	19	47	208	15	8	0		2.82
2006	NYM	23	23	0	0	132.2	108	72	66	19	39	137	9	8	0		4.48
2007	NYM	5	5	0	0	28.0	33	11	8	0	7	32	3	1	0		2.57
2008	NYM	20	20	0	0	109.0	127	70	68	19	44	87	5	6	0		5.62
Total	--	467	400	46	17	2782.2	2173	988	901	232	752	3117	214	99	3		2.91

I hope he remembered his cape.