Boston Red Sox: J.D. Martinez is grand marshal of hit parade
Offense be thy name is the creed for the Boston Red Sox in recent weeks. While the starting pitchers have been respectable — including Nick Pivetta tossing a complete game — it is the sudden influx of offense pacing this team. (And we’ll try to push aside a bullpen that allowed ten runs in three innings Friday night, blowing an 8-2 lead).
Eight wins in their last 11 games, the Red Sox have scored 76 runs in the victories. Twice they posted 16 runs in a series victory over the Chicago White Sox. Heading into the series with the Baltimore Orioles, Boston has won four straight series’.
A lot of the focus in this recent streak has been rightfully on Trevor Story, with Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts solid from the start. It’s J.D. Martinez who is quietly putting together one of the best starts in recent memory.
Martinez steady as ever for Boston Red Sox
A five-game losing streak dropped the Red Sox to 10-19 on May 8. Hints of panic were already swirling for Red Sox Nation, with hopes they could still turn their season around.
Since, Boston has gone 11-5. Through it all, despite battling some ailments in April and missing some time, Martinez has been steady in 2022.
A somewhat mediocre start was quickly turned around, as Martinez is simply blistering the ball in May. He is hitting .440 in 22 games this month, going without a hit in only one game so far. Fifteen of these games have been of the multi-hit variety.
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Martinez has scored 22 runs in May, with four home runs and 14 RBI.
Fresh off a series against the Chicago White Sox in which he went 9-13, Martinez had a 1-3 night on Friday. This dropped his batting average from .380 all the way down to .379. He did add a double, his 17th, and had entered Friday night with a 1.029 OPS.
Martinez also posted an 18-game hitting streak this season.
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The power numbers haven’t crept in just yet for Martinez. Others behind him the lineup, however, have taken up the mantle for production lately. If Martinez keeps getting on base and players like Franchy Cordero, Jackie Bradley Jr., and Story keeping moving him around the bases, the Red Sox will be in a good spot.
Boston Red Sox: A true Story
Boston’s newest second baseman has of course been the talk of the town the last couple of weeks.
Story was hitting .196 at the end of the day on May 15. He’d shown brief signs of life prior to this day but had yet to put together anything consistent.
Consider that issue solved.
Since May 15, Story is batting .310. He has eight home runs and 22 RBI during the span. This includes a monster game on May 19 against the Seattle Mariners where he had three home runs and drove in seven.
The entire month of May has been a spectacular one for Story. Despite an 0-3 night on Friday, Story has nine home runs, 32 RBI, and scored 18 runs so far.
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The Red Sox appear to on the verge of fully righting this ship. This lineup can go toe-to-toe with the best in the league. Martinez is in a prime position right now, not only with opportunities to drive in runs but getting around the bases himself.
Doing both will be needed going forward, especially where it appears the Red Sox will need to win 10-9 or 11-10 games. It didn’t happen on Friday but at least the Red Sox offense is trending in the right direction to be on the better side of those scores in the future.