Martinez faces big week

PITTSBURGH – The Philadelphia Phillies still don’t yet know what they have in Pedro Martinez. They might get a much better idea in his next two starts.

Can he again be the strike-throwing, I-dare-you-to-hit-it pitcher he was while averaging nearly 17 wins per season for the Expos and Red Sox from 1997-2004? Or is the 37-year-old getting by with trickery and only a sliver of his former talent, as he often appeared to be doing the last few seasons with the Mets?

The Phillies weren’t exactly certain after Martinez went 2-0 with a 5.14 ERA in his first three starts for them, including a 9-7 victory over the Mets on Sunday.

The right-hander gave up seven hits, including two homers, and four runs in that game but won mostly because the Phillies’ offense kept adding on runs. A triple play after he was out of the game helped, too.

That was the longest of his three starts – he’s pitched 14 innings – and he probably hasn’t shown the Phillies enough yet to get the ball in October.

“I think we’ll get a real good read on him a couple of more starts,” manager Charlie Manuel said before the Phillies faced the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday. “That’s when he’ll get stretched out. He’s close to getting stretched out far enough now, but I think the next two starts (will tell) where we can take him in a game – or where he can take us.”

Martinez’s velocity isn’t nearly what it was earlier in his career; he threw mostly in the high 80s and only occasionally touched 90 to 91 miles per hour against the Mets.

He threw more breaking balls and changeups than fastballs early in the game. When he tried to elevate his velocity, he relied as much on a cut fastball as he did his four-seam fastball.

After he opposes the Braves’ Tommy Hanson today, Martinez is expected to face the Giants in his fifth start. By then, Manuel might have a much better idea what to expect from a pitcher whose .686 winning percentage – he has a 216-99 career record – is the fifth best in major league history.