Pedro Martinez to Make First Start Wednesday At Chicago Cubs

The Phillies have just made the announcement that right-hander Pedro Martinez will make his first start in a Phillies uniform Wednesday against the Chicago Cubs in Wrigley Field.

JA Happ will start tomorrow. His last outing was a complete game shutout against the Colorado Rockies; ironically the start came on the same night in which Pedro fanned 11 batters in the minor leagues.

Happ may have saved his job in the rotation.

It is almost certain that Jaime Moyer is headed out of the rotation; Moyer has been regarded as the weak link of the rotation as he is 10-9 with a 5.47 ERA. Moyer would be headed to the bullpen.

However, the big question to me is how Jaime Moyer will fare out of the pen.

Moyer is 46 years old and he would probably take longer to get loose since he’s a starter, and the transition from starter to reliever is pretty tough as Moyer will get a different workload.

Where does Moyer fit in the pen? Will he be a setup guy, or possibly a long man. That remains to be seen.

Whatever the outcome, it’s unlikely that either Moyer or Pedro will make a start in the postseason as the Phillies will probably go to a four-man rotation, unless Pedro out pitches Happ or an injury occurs. It is yet to be seen how the 37-year-old Martinez will pitch in his first big league start of the year.