J.D. Martinez Was One of the Power Hitting Greats
Only 18 players in Major League Baseball have hit four home runs in a game. Famous names in the bunch include Hall of Famers such as Lou Gehrig, Mike Schmidt, and Willie Mays. The feat is rarer than throwing a perfect game. The most recent player to do it is J.D. Martinez, formerly the best power hitter in the game.
Martinez was arguably the most feared hitter in all of Major League Baseball between 2015-19. The outfielder averaged 43 home runs and 119 RBIs, all while slashing .305/.376/.586.
My personal favorite season of his was in 2017 while he was playing for the Tigers and the Diamondbacks. Martinez missed a month and a half at first due to injury yet took off. It wasn’t until he was traded to Arizona at the deadline that he went absolutely nuts, hitting 29 home runs in 62 games, including the four-homer game.
Martinez ended the season by posting a slash of .303/.376/.690 with 45 home runs in 119 games. This comes out to a dizzying 9.7 at bats per home run. That’s better than Giancarlo Stanton who hit 59 homers that very same season. I’d argue it’s one of the greatest power displays of all time.
In the next season, he signed a five-year, $110 million deal with the Boston Red Sox. Martinez also narrowly missed out on the triple crown, finishing second in home runs and batting average, yet leading in RBI. He ended the year with 43 home runs, 130 RBI, and a slash line of .330/.402/.629.
That brings us to 2022. He started off the season super well hitting .363/.425/.563. A big concern however was Martinez wasn’t hitting for power. He only had five home runs during that span. Then the drop-off started.
From June 1 to now, Martinez is hitting a dismal .224/.295/.353 with six home runs and only 28 runs driven in. There have been hints of decline previously like in 2020 when he only had a .680 OPS.
You just hope that this doesn’t mean Martinez’s career is nearly over. He is 35 years old after all. His limitation to only designated hitter could bode badly for teams who’d want to sign him in the offseason. Teams crave versatility and many are using the DH role like a revolving door. J.D. Martinez doesn’t fit.
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