Red Sox DH Martinez spoke about working with Franchy Cordero
Boston Red Sox designated hitter J.D. Martinez spoke to the media yesterday about his excitement in spending time working with newly acquired outfielder Franchy Cordero this spring. The 26-year-old Cordero has yet to make his grand entrance at Fenway South as the team placed him on the COVID-19 related injury list after possibly being exposed. He is expected to return early next week should everything go according to plan.
J.D. Martinez says he's excited to work with Franchy Cordero. "Maybe there's some things I could pass down to him and he could benefit from."
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) February 23, 2021
During a sit down with the media Tuesday afternoon, Martinez mentioned that he was looking forward to getting to work with Cordero and suggested that he hopes to pass down some of his own knowledge to the young outfielder. The outfielder/DH has been known for religiously using video to review and look for flaws in his swing, something that he has shown other members of the Red Sox over the years.
Coming off of a down season in 2020, Martinez made it clear in today’s press conference that he hopes the numbers reflected during that poor showing over the course of a 60-game season were just a fluke. Boston’s mainstay at designated hitter believes that he can rebound to be the same productive offensive threat he has proven to be since signing with the Red Sox prior to the 2018 season. As for his new teammate–
Cordero has not reflected a solid showing at the plate over the course of just 95 games played at the major league level. Over the course of that small sample size, the left-handed-hitting outfielder’s lifetime batting average of .236 clearly shows that there is room for improvement. Should he be able to stay on the field this upcoming season, Cordero could greatly benefit from some of the practices that Martinez has embraced over the latter years of his career.
"“I kind of want to see Franchy Cordero,” Martinez said. “I think he’s got some really good talent. He’s got a high swing-miss but I think there might be a couple things I can pass down to him and maybe he could benefit from him.”"
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With the help of Martinez, it is very well possible that Franchy can, in fact, get on track at the highest level of baseball and be as productive of a hitter as he had been during his days as a top prospect coming up in the San Diego Padres system. Whether or not he will be a key contributor this year will ultimately be up to his ability to stay healthy, but a little help from Martinez could surely help.
As Martinez looks to fine-tune his swing this spring, he has looked relatively locked in after working hard this offseason. A down year for a player getting paid a significant amount of money is never something that individual likes to endure, so he is on a mission to prove to Boston that he is not regressing and that 2020 was just a fluke. Should he rebound to put up numbers that he had produced over his first two years as a member of the Red Sox, that conversation can be put to rest.
As an older player on a team that has now seen numerous long-tenured players depart via trade or free agency, Martinez seems to be willing to aid fellow teammates with their offensive woes in any way possible. As the team gets younger around him, J.D. will likely be a key member of an organization that is sure to be an interesting watch when the season kicks off.