Red Sox: What if Boston didn’t sign designated hitter J.D. Martinez?
What if the Boston Red Sox didn’t sign J.D. Martinez prior to the 2018 regular season? Would this team be where they are without him?
I’m going to start by saying that I was wrong. I was 100% wrong about how important J.D. Martinez has meant to the Boston Red Sox from the get-go. The issue of him signing his contract prior to the season, I will admit, was the culprit for my ire. However, since joining Boston, Martinez has done nothing short of spectacular work from start to finish. He simply put, cleans up. A potential Triple Crown Winner and top-two option for MVP, how in the world could anyone get it that wrong?
Who leads the league in Batting Average? Martinez and teammate Mookie Betts do at .335. Who leads the league in homers? Well, until September 1, Martinez had but he has given up the lead to Khris Davis in Oakland. He could get it back. Who leads RBI’s? You guessed it. Martinez with 115. The next closest candidate is nine RBI’s behind. Martinez is also third in the league in runs scored at 103.
It was never a question of if the Red Sox wanted Martinez, it was a question of does he want them as much as we wanted him. It’s safe to say that he’s found his stride in Boston very well and has enjoyed his time in Bean Town. He has been worth every penny. Martinez is guaranteed $23.75 million each of the next two seasons but has an opt out clause at the conclusion of both seasons. One could certainly expect or hope that he resigns and stays in Boston long-term.
Martinez has the opportunity to continue making Boston one of the best clubs in the entire sport especially with his talent. After just turning 31, one has to assume that there is plenty more left in the tank. Before exploring, let’s take a deeper look at his numbers.
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.
Martinez’s numbers in September & Playoffs
When we think about how good Martinez has been, most look to his time in Arizona in 2017. Few remember how good he was in Detroit beforehand. While that wasn’t a huge sample size, we could see how he absolutely destroyed the month of September. While Arizona won the Wild Card game to get to the Divisional Series, they were swept by the Dodgers in three games. Prior to that game, it was Martinez and friends leading the way. Martinez slashed .404/16/36/1 in 24 games during the month of September.
12 of those games were multi-hit games including five of those with three hits or more. That also included a streak he had two hits or more in five of six games. Martinez also tied the modern major league record for most home runs in both a game and in back to back games. Martinez hit a home run against the Rockies and proceeded to hit four homers against the Dodgers in his following appearance. In other words, this man could not be stopped.
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When we look at his numbers the prior season in September, it said something different. His slash of .271/3/14 left more to be desired. 2015’s numbers weren’t much better slashing .264/4/14/1. 2014 is more like 2017’s numbers at .354/6/17/1. Could the 2015 and 2016 numbers in September be outliers? I would love to say yes. One thing to take into consideration is the fact that in Arizona, the temperature is higher, allowing for balls to travel farther. The air is different. It’s no surprise to anyone that more balls will travel out of Arizona than in other parks in other cities.
It was around 84 degrees outside in Los Angeles the day Martinez went yard four times in four straight at-bats. Could the fact that the weather was warmer have played a large part in his production that evening? Possibly, but in looking back at the four-homer game, they weren’t barely hit over the fence. Martinez flat crushed each ball out of the park.
His playoff numbers aren’t as eye popping as he has only had the opportunity to play twice, once in 2014 and the latter, in 2017. His career numbers in the playoffs? Seven hits in 27 at bats with three home runs and six runs knocked in. Martinez is also striking out 37% of the time so far in his playoff career. While a .259 Batting Average isn’t going to scare people away, the idea of J.D. at the dish will certainly make pitchers err on the side of caution. The fact of the matter is, Martinez is one of the best hitters in the game who can hit it anywhere.
Verdict?
We’re not gonna say for one second that signing Martinez at this point was a mistake. If you think that he isn’t worth the money then you haven’t been paying attention to which players are getting paid more and producing much less with their respective clubs. Martinez is the real deal and hopefully stays for the rest of his career. Everyone is excited to see what else he can do for the Red Sox. No, it hasn’t been 86 years since we’ve won the World Series but it has been five years which has felt like a lifetime especially with all the changes the club has made.
Can the Red Sox win 106 games to break their historic 105 win campaign back in 1912? Keep in mind that not only did get 105 wins, they ended up winning their 2nd World Series Title and the first of five in a seven year span. Back to the main question, can they do it? Yes, they absolutely can. They’ve got the right tools to make it work.
Next. Red Sox host Houston Astros in potential playoff preview. dark
The Sox could theoretically win their second title in six seasons, perhaps 3rd next year in a seven year span if they can make it back to back. Signing Martinez will go down as one of the two best moves that Sox GM Dave Dombrowski has made since joining the front office in August of 2015. September is among us and the Sox magic number to clench the playoffs is four and the division is 13. Boston Red Sox baseball is looking very fun indeed.