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Carlos Martinez is having a better season than you think

With Carlos Martinez, there's more work to be done, but make no mistake, 2017 has been a year of triumph for the young pitcher. 
Sep 9, 2017; St. Louis, MO, USA; Cardinals starting pitcher Carlos Martinez (18) reacts after striking out against Pirates pitcher Chad Kuhl for his 200th strikeout of the season at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez turned 26 years old Thursday, and yes that's an important piece of information, because for some, his 2017 season hasn't lived up to expectations.

But that's the tricky thing about perception in the world of baseball and its pitchers. You can isolate certain statistics that make the most sense, but forget about the numbers that truly point to a pitcher's improvement or lack thereof. Martinez is having a better season than some think, and all you have to do is look closer.

Pitcher wins help distort the impression a pitcher leaves, and Martinez is no different. He will finish with no more than 14 wins, which would be two less than his 2016 total. Martinez's earned run average has risen from 3.04 to 3.57 this season, due to six starts where he has been rocked for five runs or more.

Martinez's 25 home runs allowed is ten more than last year's total. He's taking more chances inside the strike zone and that will bring on the result of being burned more often. Martinez doesn't pinch corners or live outside the strike zone; he goes straight at hitters.

Here's where Martinez has grown this season:

*Fielding independent pitching. His 3.85 FIP is closer to his ERA than in previous seasons. Martinez depends less on his defense than most starting pitchers.

*In order to do that, you have to strike a lot of people out. Martinez's 205 strikeouts ranks tenth in the Major Leagues. His strikeouts per nine innings rate of 9.5 tromps last year's 8.0 mark. If Martinez was collecting fewer whiffs from batters and striking out less at this young of an age, there would be worthy concern. He's striking out more guys though. Sure, strikeouts are more fascist than the democratic groundout, but it shows a clear case of dominance.

*Martinez has recorded two complete game shutouts this year, which are the first two of his career. As good as he was in 2015 and 2016, Martinez never completely shut down an opponent. In five different games this year, Martinez has went eight or more innings and allowed two or less runs.

*He's on pace for the most starts (33) and highest innings total (212.1) of his career. That is an ace type workload. That's the kind of reliance a transitioning Cardinals rotation needs in the next few years.

*Martinez's walk rate and WHIP is down this season. He's putting less on base than he has in previous seasons. His 1.19 WHIP ranks 15th in the Majors and he's not walking more guys, which is a good sign that his control is in check.

He does have obvious problems fielding his own position this season, as evidenced by his costly errors the past month that hurt the Cardinals in close games. Martinez needs to improve against lefthanded batters.

Martinez also needs to pitch better against his own division, posting a good ERA only against Pittsburgh (3.15) this season. If the Cardinals are going to grab a seat the table this October, their ace has to nail the door shut against Cincinnati, Chicago, and Milwaukee.

Martinez's ERA+ of 120 is still above average and he's in good company in the important categories, but is he a true ace? For the Cardinals, he is the guy. With all due respect to Alex Reyes and Luke Weaver, Martinez has shown he can produce over a whole season and is the guy to lead this rotation the next five years. If there is a backbone, Martinez is it.

Has Martinez joined the elite among the Major Leagues? Not yet, but he isn't far off. An elite pitcher has an ERA around 2.50 and doesn't shown the inconsistency that Martinez has shown at times this year. Martinez's best months were May and June. Eventually, those should be August and September. Martinez is the Cardinals ace, but he hasn't reached the status where he is competing for a Cy Young award. To me, there's an elite set of pitchers in each league. With his strikeouts and declining WHIP, Martinez is getting close.

Martinez got a contract raise this year and didn't take a step back, not allowing the weight of the extra cash to weigh him down. He stepped up in a season that has often been turbulent for his team. There's something to be said for that.

With his final three starts, beginning tonight, Martinez could pitch the Cardinals into a playoff spot. He still has time to trim the stats even further and do the kind of things that make ace pitchers easily to detect. Pitch well in big moments. These final three starts could help clear up the doubt.

Let's just get one thing straight: Martinez is having a better season than you think. Forget the 11 wins and look at the dominating statistics. Forget the higher ERA and know he's still learning how to defeat hitters. Forget about an individual bad month and look at the season as a whole.

After all, Martinez is only 26 years old and starting for the third season. In his third season, Max Scherzer sported an ERA of 4.43 and struck out 174 hitters in 195 innings. In his third season, the god of pitchers-Clayton Kershaw-was showing more human qualities with a 2.91 ERA and 212 strikeouts in 32 starts. So, be patient with Martinez and know that he will only get better.

It doesn't hurt that he's an even stronger man off the field, raising large sums of money with his foundation, Tsunami Waves. And for all the people who think he can't conquer his emotions on a baseball field, check his batting average against with two outs and runners in scoring position (.179).

Perception isn't an easy thing to conquer. Sometimes, we see what we want to see and run with it. By doing so, one can miss important areas of intrigue. With Carlos Martinez, there's more work to be done, but make no mistake, 2017 has been a year of triumph for the young pitcher.

It's okay to expect more from Martinez. That's the general state of business in life. When given happiness, one only desires more happiness.

Just don't pass up the key improvements made this season by the man.

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