A 35-year-old veteran hitter who signed a one-year 10 million dollar (approximately 12.7 billion won) contract in the free agency market last winter is hitting the jackpot. He did not play 50 games, hitting the same number of home runs as last year.안전놀이터
The LA Dodgers acquired the best long hitter in the National League with a relatively inexpensive (?) investment of 10 million dollars.
JD Martinez (35) signed a free agent contract with the Boston Red Sox for 5 years and 110 million dollars (approximately 145.9 billion won) at the end of last season.
Offseason Martinez was unpopular on the free agent market. Martinez, who played an active role in 2018 with a batting average of 333 with 43 homers and 130 RBIs (first place), and a batting average of 304 with 36 homers and 105 RBIs in 2019, was downhill with a batting average of 2074 with 16 homers and 62 RBIs last year.
Age in mid-30s, weakness in defense. No team offered a multi-year deal, and the Dodgers acquired Martinez for a one-year, $10 million deal. With Trey Turner (Philadelphia) Cody Bellinger (Chicago Cubs) and Justin Turner (Boston) out of the offseason, the Dodgers tried to use Martinez as the designated hitter.
[Photo] ⓒGettyimages (Unauthorized reproduction and redistribution prohibited)
Martinez hit a three-run home run against Philadelphia on the 11th (Korean time). It was his 16th home run of the season.
Martinez hit 16 home runs in 139 games for Boston last year. By the way, he hit 16 home runs in 49 games in a Dodgers uniform this year. Last year, he recorded 16 homers in 533 at-bats, but this year, he recorded 16 homers in 193 at-bats. He hit a .277/.310/.681 slash line with 13 homers and 33 RBIs over the past month.
MLB.com analyzed that Martinez’s revival resulted in a lot of strong hitting balls and a lot of pulling balls.
According to the media, Martinez’s hard hits (exit velocity over 95 mph) increased by 13.1 points from last season. Also, the hard hit of the fly ball increased from 47.9% to 64.4%.
Of Martinez’s batted balls last year, 14.8% of his hard hits were fly balls. This year it has increased to 23%.
Martínez has appeared in 50 games as of Thursday and has a .265/.306/.610 slash line. OPS is .916. 16 home runs, 17 doubles, 2 triples, 47 RBI. He leads the National League in slugging percentage and is tied for seventh in home runs. He is third on the Dodgers team behind Max Muncy (18 home runs) and Mookie Betts (17 home runs).
Martinez is leading the National League designated hitter, surpassing Bryce Harper in the 2023 Major League All-Star voting. Martinez, who participated in the All-Star five times in his career, is expected to become the first All-Star in the National League.