With Four Homers Already, J.D. Martinez Picking Up Where He Left Off
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
CBS DETROIT - Seven games into the season, Detroit Tigers outfielder J.D. Martinez has smacked four home runs, two up the middle and two to the opposite field.
During the season-opening series against the Minnesota Twins, Martinez's performance prompted Tigers manager Brad Ausmus to compare Martinez's power, on two separate occasions, to that of two-time MVP Miguel Cabrera.
Needless to say, the Tigers might have gotten one of their best bargains ever when they snapped up Martinez before the 2014 season after the Houston Astros released him.
The old saying "If it seems too good to be true, it probably is" applies to baseball as much as anything, but Martinez has shown again and again that he might be an exception to the rule.
Martinez turned in a batting average of .315 and 23 home runs last season, and some have wondered whether he can stay at such a high level in a second straight season. He earned a few more believers, no doubt, when he smacked the first home run of the 2015 major league season on Opening Day. He hit another two days later. He did the same Sunday, and he homered a fourth time on Monday.
Only Adrian Gonzalez, the hottest player in the game with a .556 batting average and mind-blowing 1.884 OPS, has more home runs than Martinez.
Maybe Martinez's production - his batting average is a relatively modest .290 - will fall to a less compelling level at some point this season. For now, baseball's most improbable budding star continues to shine.
Last season, Martinez played his best at the end of the year. In 26 games in September, Martinez turned in a batting average of .354 and smacked three doubles, a triple and six home runs. He also batted in 17 runs. He walked eight times, and teams intentionally walked him on five more occasions.
Previously, Martinez had hit .345 over 22 games in June. His 29 hits in that span included nine doubles and seven home runs. Then Martinez hit .345 over 24 games in July.
While he would like to prove wrong the folks who doubt he can duplicate the success he had last season, Martinez is not consumed by that element by any stretch.
"I really don't pay much mind to it," Martinez said last week. "I just kind of, like I said earlier, just try to worry about today. I feel like if you get caught up in all that stuff, that's all the elements that you can't control. You can control going out there, preparing yourself for a game, studying the pitcher and going up there and putting some good at bats together."
