Pedro Martinez's odd social media behavior is both praising and savaging Yankees

One of the most influential figures in the New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox blood feud has always been Pedro Martinez. One of the greatest starting pitchers of his (or any) generation, Martinez was always quite the antagonist, even going as far as to shove the lovable, then-72-year-old Don Zimmer to the ground.

The image from that brawl cemented the idea of Martinez as a villain in the minds of Yankees fans, but he was always something of a strange adversary. At points, rather than poke at the Bombers, he'd show some begrudging respect, tipping his cap and calling them his daddies.

In recent times, those strange pendulum swings have become more and more common in Martinez's posts on Twitter/X. Last season, he gushed over "Yankee culture," leading some to believe he got hacked. However, at other points, he's been overly and unreasonably critical.

Just a few weeks ago, he predicted New York would regress, posting that he didn't believe that the Yankees are "the totally dominant team they were last year." Some of us scratched our heads. Not necessarily because we disagree that the Yankees are dominant, but rather, because the Yankees ran it back with the same roster, and we thought there were too many holes to begin with. He'd then quickly switch gears and begin gushing over Max "Pablo Picasso" Fried.

This tweet had everything. A pitcher putting his love of the art of pitching over his organizational allegiances. A valid take. Strange punctuation like the kind you'd see from your tech-challenged uncle. Tagging the Mariners (the Yankees' opponent in the game) instead of the Yankees because ... reasons?

Now he's back with another pinstriped hot take, this time prognosticating on who could be the biggest challenger to reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge for this year's trophy.

Pedro Martinez predicts a Yankees player will win the AL MVP, naming Ben Rice as Aaron Judge's prime challenger

Martinez named Ben Rice as an AL MVP candidate during the first game of the Yankees-Red Sox series in Boston, writing on Twitter, "Ben Rice is probably the closest competition Aaron Judge has for MVP."

Rice has been red hot to begin the season. He's currently leading the league with a Judge-ian 228 wRC+. He also went 0-4 with four Ks in the game that prompted Martinez's praise. Strange.

Yankees fans hope that one bad showing from Rice against Boston southpaw Connelly Early doesn't bring Aaron Boone back to his baffling lineup construction tendencies. Rice has done more than enough to prove he can handle lefties and needs to be starting every day.

Though the timing was very strange, Rice has proven plenty worthy of praise. He's proven to be a student of the game, capable of making adjustments, and is now further unlocking his potential and producing what his unreal underlying metrics suggested he could last season.

As for his MVP candidacy, it's not totally off base. Yankees fans would love it if the race came down to Judge and Rice. It would make for some interesting debates, but ultimately, we'd be happy either way. It would also bode well for the Yankees' chances to achieve their ultimate goal, winning a World Series.

With that said, it's very early to make these kinds of declarations. The front-runner right now, based on current performance and prior track record, has to be Houston Astros slugger and MLB home run leader Yordan Alvarez. The Astros are crashing and burning, but Alvarez has arguably been the best hitter in baseball so far, trailing only Rice with a 222 wRC+.

Expect Pedro to come back with some sort of savage Yankee-related tweet sooner rather than later. He's hot and cold. He's up and down. He doesn't always have a firm grasp on reality. But if his MVP prediction comes true, his daddies will tip their caps and say thank you.

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