Pedro Jaime Martínez (born October 25, 1971) is a Dominican former professional baseball starting pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1992 to 2009, for five teams—most notably the Boston Red Sox from 1998 to 2004.
From 2002 to 2006, Martínez held the major league record for the highest career winning percentage by a pitcher with at least 200 decisions. At the time of his retirement as an active player, his career record of 219 wins and 100 losses placed him fourth-highest in winning percentage in MLB history, and was the highest such achievement by a right-hander since the modern pitching era began, in 1893. Martínez ended his career with an earned run average (ERA) of 2.93, the sixth-lowest by a pitcher with at least 2,500 innings pitched, since 1920. He reached the 3,000 strikeout mark in fewer innings than any pitcher except Randy Johnson, and is the only pitcher to compile over 3,000 career strikeouts with fewer than 3,000 innings pitched; Martínez‘ career strikeout rate of 10.04 per 9 innings trails only Johnson (10.61) among pitchers with over 1,500 innings.
An eight-time All-Star, Martínez was at his peak from 1997 to 2003, establishing himself as one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball history. He won three Cy Young Awards (1997, 1999, 2000) and was runner-up twice (1998, 2002), posting a cumulative record of 118–36 (.766) with a 2.20 ERA, while leading his league in ERA five times and in winning percentage and strikeouts three times each. In 1999, Martínez was runner-up for the American League (AL) Most Valuable Player Award, after winning the pitching Triple Crown with a 23–4 record, 2.07 ERA, and 313 strikeouts, and—along with Johnson—joined Gaylord Perry in the rare feat of winning the Cy Young Award in both the American and National Leagues (a feat since accomplished by Roger Clemens, Roy Halladay, and Max Scherzer). He is also the record holder for the lowest single-season WHIP in major league history (0.737 in 2000), and is the record holder for the lowest single-season Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) in the live ball era (1.39 in 1999). Although his performance suffered a steep decline in 2004, Martínez ended the season memorably, by helping the Red Sox end a long drought in winning their first World Series title, in 86 years.
Officially listed at 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) and 170 pounds (77 kg), Martínez was unusually small for a modern-day power pitcher, and is believed to have been somewhat smaller than his officially listed height and weight. In his early 30s, injuries began to keep him off the field to an increasing extent, with his appearances and success dropping off sharply, in his final seasons. Modern sabermetric analysis has strongly highlighted Martínez' achievements; his WHIP is the lowest of any live-ball era starting pitcher, his adjusted ERA+ is the best of any starting pitcher in major league history, and he has the third-highest strikeout-to-walk ratio in modern history. He dominated while pitching most often in a hitter-friendly ballpark and facing some of the toughest competition during the steroid era, which is generally thought to have favored batters. His dominance, reflected by modern statistics, has led many to consider Martinez as one of the greatest pitchers in MLB history. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015, his first year of eligibility, joining Juan Marichal as the second Dominican to be enshrined; his number (45) was retired by the Red Sox in a ceremony, two days after his Hall induction.
