Red Sox: What if Boston didn’t sign designated hitter J.D. Martinez?
J.D. Martinez by the numbers
Few could argue that a player could mean more to their current team than Red Sox fans can say how much Martinez means to Boston. There is no player in baseball who is able to do what he is doing and at his current level. Martinez has set career highs in multiple categories and there are still 21 games left. Plenty of time to do even more damage in the league. Martinez has also been a major catalyst in propelling Boston into the juggernaut that it is today.
The Red Sox are three wins from tallying the 100 mark. The Red Sox have hit 100 wins only three times in their history, the last in 1946 with the Dream Team led by none other than Ted Williams. Unfortunately, they couldn’t finish the job, losing in the World Series in seven games. The 2018 Red Sox have the opportunity to be even better. Even if the Sox finish playing .500 baseball the rest of the year, they’ll still set a new record for most wins in a season. 105 wins was the prior mark set back in 1912, a record that has stood for 106 years. After all, it is just a number. Remember the number 86 being held over our heads? Ya, me too.
Martinez has set new highs in runs (103), hits (170), doubles (36), RBI’s (115), walks (60), Batting Average (.335), OBP (.407), and WAR (6.0). He is seven home runs and 90 at-bats from setting a career highs in those categories as well. Martinez had not spent four years with any team. The first three years were in Houston, followed by three and change in Detroit before getting traded to Arizona at the deadline in 2017. Boston makes his fourth stop and hopefully his last.
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Martinez and Betts have combined to become a deadly 1 – 2 combo, reminding Sox fans of what it was like to have David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez in the lineup. Some argue that these two are better and I’m inclined to agree. While Martinez has only played in four games in September, his numbers speak for themselves. His greatest month thus far was May when he slashed .299/13/25, including a span of hitting a home run in four of five games.
Even when Martinez joined the team in April, his slash of .352/5/22 was nothing to frown at. There were four games that month where he had three hits or more. Martinez has homered seven times in June, July, and August with RBI totals of 20, 22, and 25 respectively. His batting average fluctuated but the highest month so far was .373 in August.
Martinez is going to be one of the most sought after players especially after the season he has had so far in 2018. Martinez is locked for at least one more season before the opt out clause comes into play at the conclusion of 2019. Would that entice Boston to go all in before 2020? Martinez is due $23.75 million in 2019 and 2020 and due $19.375 million in both 2021 and 2022. It would make sense for him to opt out in 2020 unless, he’s thinking big picture going forward to try to get more talent here for the future.
The goal has always been to win a World Series Title, something that Martinez has yet to do in his eight year major league career. Could this be the year? It certainly is shaping up to be. With the playoffs looming, we’ll take a deeper look at his numbers in September and in the playoffs.