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Boston Red Sox: J.D. Martinez the unsung star of Red Sox offense

By Michael DeVito

BOSTON, MA - SEPTEMBER 9: Former designated hitter David Ortiz #34 of the Boston Red Sox greets J.D. Martinez #28 of the Boston Red Sox before throwing out a ceremonial first pitch as he returns to Fenway Park before a game against the New York Yankees on September 9, 2019 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - SEPTEMBER 9: Former designated hitter David Ortiz #34 of the Boston Red Sox greets J.D. Martinez #28 of the Boston Red Sox before throwing out a ceremonial first pitch as he returns to Fenway Park before a game against the New York Yankees on September 9, 2019 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images) /
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J.D. Martinez is a terrific and underrated player for the Boston Red Sox.

As we move along through one of the most unprecedented offseasons in Major League Baseball and all sports (and world history for that matter) history, let’s take a look at one of the best players on the Boston Red Sox.

J.D. Martinez is one of Boston’s best players. He’s right up there in the pecking order with Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers. He doesn’t get much attention. But he will here.

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Martinez is one of baseball’s best hitters. Last season he hit .304, with 36 home runs and 105 RBI’s.

The year before in Boston, he hit .330 with 37 home runs and 130 RBI’s. That was a career year. And those are close to MVP numbers.

Yet, Martinez seems to garner little attention when you talk about great Red Sox or MLB players. One reason may be that he is a designated hitter. DH’s are clearly devalued by baseball and by some traditionalist baseball fans. I don’t buy it.

Can anyone honestly say that great players like David Ortiz and Edgar Martinez don’t belong in the Hall of Fame? Of course not.

Ortiz is one of the best hitters in the history of Major League Baseball and Martinez is Hall of Fame worthy, as well.

My view is that Ortiz will shatter that taboo and be inducted in his first year of eligibility for the Hall. We’ll see.

MLB and the American League sanctioned the use of the DH and that’s good enough for me. And Martinez is following in the footsteps of those two greats. Luckily for Red Sox fans, he’s doing it now in Boston.

Martinez has a .294 career batting average with 231 home runs and 711 RBI’s. That’s in 9 years of play. He’ll be 33 in August and it’s unfortunate for him and all major league baseball players that the 2020 season will be truncated if held at all. But that situation was out of our control.

J.D. can opt-out of his Boston Red Sox contract after this season. I hope he won’t. He’s an important part of the Red Sox offense. And frankly, he’s almost irreplaceable.

Hopefully, when we finally defeat this pandemic, and we will defeat it, and get back to a more normal situation, Martinez will continue to be a vital cog for Boston from the DH position.

Next. Eduardo Rodriguez the top starting pitcher. dark

He’s a worthy successor to the greatest who ever suited up in that position in Boston or anywhere else for that matter, the great Ortiz.

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