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Editor's Note: Two years ago, Site Manager Ben Humphrey asked readers to provide predictions for Cardinals baseball players. Last year, he renewed that request, and although Ben is in blogger retirement, we at VEB renewed the request to predict how the Cardinals will do. The answers are now in.
We received 79 responses for Carlos Martinez. When we asked for submissions, we said this:
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Our favorite player, Carlos Martinez, had a memorable 2015 season. He was good like his potential foreshadowed but he wasn't just "come in for an inning of relief and look filthy" good, he was good as a starter stretched across a total of about 180 innings. I wrote about it for my very first post on this site. Here are his stats from 2015:
|
G |
IP |
K/9 |
BB/9 |
ERA |
FIP |
WAR |
2015 |
31 |
179.2 |
9.22 |
3.16 |
3.01 |
3.21 |
3.4 |
Carlos also made one of my favorite plays of the year. On September 15, 2015, in Milwaukee during a crucial game down the stretch, he fielded a perfectly-placed bunt from Elian Herrera and managed to throw him out from his back foot while falling into foul territory.
At the time, there were two men on and no one was out and the score knotted at 1-1 in the 6th. The Cardinals ended up winning the game 3-1 in 10 innings.
In his last full start of the season, he stood tall in a hostile environment at Wrigley Field and salvaged a crucial three-game series versus the Chicago Cubs. He pitched a strong 6 2/3 innings and only allowed two runs on four hits, while also sticking it to Kris Bryant. Craig Edwards documented that part well here.
It was what we had all wanted from Carlos all up to the point when he left a late-September start with a right shoulder sprain. And that was a shame because he would have been a mighty fine No. 2 starter vs. the Cubs in the NLDS. Certainly better than a sick Jaime Garcia and a damaged Lance Lynn. Be that as it may, until we hear otherwise it sounds as though Carlos will be healthy heading into 2016.
And lastly, before we get to the projections, if you haven't yet, watch this touching video from Carlos's Tsunami Waves charity foundation.
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VEB loves Carlos Martinez. The evidence:
Clearly only VEB understands what Carlos Martinez is capable of. Here is the full list of projections.