J.D. Martinez's Power Is Lacking
6 years agoBoston Red Sox outfielder J.D. Martinez is slashing a healthy .309/.384/.475 this year, but he hasn't been quite as good of a hitter as in years past. Only Jose Ramirez and Matt Carpenter have declined more than Martinez in OPS compared to 2018. Martinez is down .173 points from his 1.031 OPS last season, which was third-best behind Mike Trout and Mookie Betts. Before going deep on Wednesday, Martinez hadn't homered in 62 at-bats. Martinez's OPS is solid, but it's down compared to his norms since 2013. Other than that, though, his strikeouts and ground balls are down. His expected slugging percentage is .647, but he's slugging only .475, which is concerning. However, only three hitters in baseball have had more hard-hit balls turn into outs, and the underlying metrics look solid. It simply appears to be some bad fortune, mostly at home, so you shouldn't be too worried about Martinez, who remains one of the best hitters in the game.
Source: MLB.com - Mike Petriello
Source: MLB.com - Mike Petriello