Among the new additions to the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup this season is J.D. Martinez, who was signed to a one-year contract after spending the last five years with the Boston Red Sox.
Martinez is coming off somewhat of a down 2022 season, but before that was one of the league’s most feared hitters. The veteran slugger is looking to bounce back and help replace some of the production that was lost with Cody Bellinger, Justin Turner and Trea Turner signing with different teams during the offseason.
“Yes, he has to be,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Martinez being a key part of the team’s success this season. “He’s going to be in the middle of the order, he’s going to have to get hit with two outs, he’s going to have to drive runs in, and he understands that.
“I’m not fretting. But to your question, yeah, he’s absolutely important to our offense.”
Martinez struggled for most of Spring Training and is off to a disappointing 5-for-23 start at the plate in the regular season. “I think he’s still trying to work through some things,” Roberts began.
“I think that he’s a very mechanical type player, and does a lot of studying. So if there’s guys that he doesn’t know, I think that’s something that is a little bit of a challenge. And as he gets to know pitchers more and gets more familiarity, he’ll be better suited.
“So I think if you look at kind of this first couple of games, there’s some guys he wasn’t familiar with. Not to make any excuses, nor J.D. will, but I think that he’s still gathering information and working through some mechanics.”
Roberts attributed Martinez’s slow start to being too focused on his mechanics and not enough on his timing. “Yeah, I think sometimes it could be as simple as that,” Roberts said before Tuesday’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
“And when you’re not, you don’t give yourself a chance to have success. So the way he was covering the fastball last night, that’s who he is. And when you get ready early enough, you have that chance, and if you don’t, then it’s tough.”
J.D. Martinez close to breaking out?
Even with a lack of consistent results thus far, Roberts believes the hits will start falling soon for Martinez. “He’s a worker. He’s a pro. I just think for me, just seeing he was ready earlier, he was more on time the last three at-bats,” Roberts added.
“Where I think sometimes hitters get into a mechanical mindset where you still got to be ready, and get your load ready, and I thought he did a great job making that adjustment [Monday] night.”
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