People aren't talking about J.D. Martinez enough
By: Tyler Walters
J.D. Martinez is absolutely mashing baseballs in Boston for the Red Sox and I can't get enough of it. J.D. was the biggest offseason free agent acquisition in the MLB and I feel like he's kind of going under the radar because he's playing with the second best player in baseball (Mookie Betts).
It's not that J.D. isn't getting recognition, because he definitely is, it's that he should be the number one story in baseball every day with how great he's playing right now.
Martinez is batting .344 with a .631 slugging percentage and a 1.024 OPS in the 40 games he's played this year (173 plate appearances). He's one of four players in the MLB with at least 100 plate appearances that is batting .330+ with a 1.000+ OPS (Mookie Betts, Manny Machado and Mitch Moreland are the other three).
All that stuff is great but make no mistake, J.D. Martinez was brought to Boston to hit home runs. And he's done that 11 times so far this season which puts him in the top ten in the MLB and only two home runs off the lead.
Here's a look as to what he's doing in Boston so far this season.
He goes yard on the road too.
His biggest homer of the season was this grand slam off of the Yankees back in mid-April.
Martinez looks to be the most productive offseason acquisition in the MLB this year. The only move that could have came close is the Yankees pickup of Giancarlo Stanton, but that hasn't quite hit it's stride yet.
Through 40 games for Martinez and 41 for Stanton, J.D. is blowing Stanton out of the water in about every category other than strikeouts.
Stanton's batting average is a cool .255 compared to J.D.'s .344. They are close in home runs and doubles (Martinez leads by one in each respective category). Stanton's has struck out nine more times than Martinez so far this season as well.
J.D. has been the power that Boston needed in the lineup coming off of a powerless 2017 season but he's also been just a great bat all around. While I did expect J.D. to come into Boston and hit at least 38 home runs this year (currently on pace to hit right around 40), I did not expect him to hit over .340 while doing so.
The only thing that drives me crazy about J.D. Martinez is him biting his thumb before he sets up for every pitch. Pay attention to it next time you're watching a Red Sox game. It makes my head spin, but hey if the guy is gonna perform like this he can do whatever kind of weird ritual he needs to do.
Follow me on Twitter: @tylerwwalters
J.D. Martinez is absolutely mashing baseballs in Boston for the Red Sox and I can't get enough of it. J.D. was the biggest offseason free agent acquisition in the MLB and I feel like he's kind of going under the radar because he's playing with the second best player in baseball (Mookie Betts).
It's not that J.D. isn't getting recognition, because he definitely is, it's that he should be the number one story in baseball every day with how great he's playing right now.
Martinez is batting .344 with a .631 slugging percentage and a 1.024 OPS in the 40 games he's played this year (173 plate appearances). He's one of four players in the MLB with at least 100 plate appearances that is batting .330+ with a 1.000+ OPS (Mookie Betts, Manny Machado and Mitch Moreland are the other three).
All that stuff is great but make no mistake, J.D. Martinez was brought to Boston to hit home runs. And he's done that 11 times so far this season which puts him in the top ten in the MLB and only two home runs off the lead.
Here's a look as to what he's doing in Boston so far this season.
A little oppo action in Fenway just getting into the bullpen.VIDEO: Offseason acquisitions don't get much better than this do they?— Red Sox on CLNS (@RedSoxCLNS) May 15, 2018
JD Martinez with the home run to right center to bring the #RedSox within 1 pic.twitter.com/n36yMuWSG0
He goes yard on the road too.
I know it's not as impressive in the little league ball field in the Bronx but it's still oppo power which is just awesome.After the Yankees tie things up in the seventh, JD Martinez takes the lead back for the Red Sox with his ninth home run of the season. pic.twitter.com/Bovkbxhn7v— Brendan (@brendan_camp) May 11, 2018
His biggest homer of the season was this grand slam off of the Yankees back in mid-April.
That was just a MONSTER home run.JD Martinez introduces himself to the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry with a grand slam home run 😤pic.twitter.com/COD19auXsu— Def Pen Sports (@DefPenSports) April 12, 2018
Martinez looks to be the most productive offseason acquisition in the MLB this year. The only move that could have came close is the Yankees pickup of Giancarlo Stanton, but that hasn't quite hit it's stride yet.
Through 40 games for Martinez and 41 for Stanton, J.D. is blowing Stanton out of the water in about every category other than strikeouts.
Stanton's batting average is a cool .255 compared to J.D.'s .344. They are close in home runs and doubles (Martinez leads by one in each respective category). Stanton's has struck out nine more times than Martinez so far this season as well.
J.D. has been the power that Boston needed in the lineup coming off of a powerless 2017 season but he's also been just a great bat all around. While I did expect J.D. to come into Boston and hit at least 38 home runs this year (currently on pace to hit right around 40), I did not expect him to hit over .340 while doing so.
The only thing that drives me crazy about J.D. Martinez is him biting his thumb before he sets up for every pitch. Pay attention to it next time you're watching a Red Sox game. It makes my head spin, but hey if the guy is gonna perform like this he can do whatever kind of weird ritual he needs to do.
Follow me on Twitter: @tylerwwalters
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