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Carlos Ernesto Martínez (born September 21, 1991) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). Originally signed by the Boston Red Sox as an international free agent in 2009, MLB voided his contract due to discrepancies over his name and date of birth after revelations that he was also known as Carlos Matias. However, he was eventually cleared of wrongdoing, as it was found that the inconsistencies arose due to poor record-keeping. The St. Louis Cardinals signed him in 2010, and he made his MLB debut May 3, 2013. Martínez became a consensus top-100 prospect in all of Minor League Baseball, and one of the Cardinals' highest-rated prospects. A starter in the minor leagues, he performed mainly in relief roles in his first two seasons in the major leagues, but earned a spot in the Cardinals' rotation in 2015. During the 2013 MLB season, fans gave him the nickname "Little Pedro," due to the similarities in physique and pitching mechanics to former Cy Young Award winner Pedro Martínez. Martinez changed his number from 44 to 18 to commemorate the death of his teammate Oscar Taveras. ==Early life, name and visa issues== Carlos Martínez was born in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, in a rural zone called Colinas del Sur, where official record-keeping is sometimes poor. Following the death of his mother when he was quite young, Martínez was adopted by an uncle with the last name Matias.〔 The young Martínez originally had plans to become a priest but changed his mind soon after starting to catch the attention of major league scouts. Raised with his uncle's last name, some confusion eventually ensued when he attempted to secure a work visa to pitch in the United States. When the Boston Red Sox first discovered Martínez, he was a 17-year-old who threw about , topping out at , with a loose delivery and athletic frame and also sported a quality breaking pitch and changeup. Projections were made that his body would fill out, and thus, increase the velocity and movement of his pitches, including a fastball up to . The team considered him comparable to first-round talent available in the Major League Baseball draft. Thus, the Red Sox moved to sign him while he was still relatively unknown, in part to get him for the lowest price possible. He signed for $140,000; however, a routine background check by Major League Baseball (MLB) officials raised several questions about the veracity of both his name and date of birth. As a result, the Red Sox deal was voided, and, in March 2009, MLB suspended Martínez for a period of one year.〔 In spite of well-known endemic problems documenting the true identity of prospects from the Dominican Republic, Craig Shipley, the Red Sox executive in charge of international signing remained adamant that the Red Sox no longer pursue Martínez. While the visa issues became more public, other teams scouted him and quietly lined up to bid for his services – the pitcher started to fulfill the projections the Red Sox had for him, such as throwing a fastball about 95 MPH and a power curveball. In time, Martínez' name and date of birth discrepancies were not considered to be significant issues.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Carlos Martínez (pitcher, born 1991)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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