Boston Red Sox: J.D. Martinez driving the cover off the ball

Remember that 2020 version of J.D. Martinez?  While fans would love to forget the lackluster performance by the entire team, the Boston Red Sox slugger has used his personal down season as his motivation.

Boy has he ever.

Not only is Martinez back looking like the dominant force he was at the plate prior to 2020, he is displaying more than power during the early part of the season.

In hitting his seventh homerun in the team’s 6-5 victory over the Seattle Mariners Friday night, Martinez is tied for the MLB lead in homers.  Yes, that power is back, but what is more impressive about the tear the Red Sox DH has started the season on is how he is driving the ball inside the park.

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J.D. Martinez is inspiring the Boston Red Sox batting order

Martinez is not only tied for the MLB lead in hits, but he is also in a three-way tie for the lead in doubles (including the walk-off double Friday night) and leads all of baseball with 21 RBIs and 57 total bases.  But don’t call him a slugger.  No, that is not how Martinez describes himself at all.  When asked if launch angle has much to do with his early success, he gave much of the credit to his bat control and discipline at the plate.

"“I mean, it’s huge.  I preach by it, a lot.  I’m not a slugger.  I don’t consider myself a slugger.  I consider myself as a hitter that can drive the ball,”Martinez said, via MLB.com.  “I think a lot of guys kind of have that same identity here.  A lot of guys believe in that.  We don’t have any guys who are just up there swinging for the fences.”"

While the homers have come for other Boston Red Sox hitters, it is clear to see that the way Martinez approaches the plate has rubbed off on players like Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, Alex Verdugo and you even see it with rookie slugger Bobby Dalbec who has learned to go with pitches and drive the ball to the opposite field rather than swinging for the fences.

That really is the lesson that J.D. Martinez is inspiring in younger hitters.  As a batter, you really do have to be a hitter before you can become a slugger.  If there is no control at the plate, if the aim is to hit a homerun every time at the plate, then there is not much change at success.

As Martinez is proving, the power numbers will come with patience and simply taking what the pitcher is giving.

Beyond that, the Red Sox slugger is not giving away any other secrets as to his approach at the plate other than the way he studies the game and attack opposing pitchers.

"“I think that’s the stuff I kind of keep to myself, you know?,” Martinez continued.  “I mean, I have my approach and the way that I counter it.  And that stuff I share with my teammates really, you know, on how to look and how to attack certain guys and stuff like that.  I do my homework.  I study a lot, and I know what to look for and stuff like that, I feel like.”"

In all, it is looking great for J.D. Martinez.  Not only is he knocking the cover off the ball, but he is also showing all of baseball that homerun numbers aren’t everything, even though he is at the top of the league in power numbers.

But those numbers are the simple results of driving the ball and now swinging for the fences.