The Los Angeles Dodgers have been without J.D. Martinez since August 22, when he was placed on the 10-day injured list due to left groin tightness.
The veteran slugger recently advanced to taking batting practice with his Dodgers teammates and went on to join Triple-A Oklahoma City for a rehab assignment this week.
Martinez went gone 1-for-8 with a double and three RBI in two games.
The 36-year-old hasn’t experienced any setbacks and will likely be activated off the IL ahead of the series opener against the Washington Nationals on Friday.
Martinez has been one of the Dodgers’ most productive hitters when healthy as he is batting .256/.309/.547 with 23 doubles, 25 home runs and 78 RBI in 92 games this season.
Martinez remains somewhat at a loss over his nagging left groin/hamstring/adductor injury, but the hope is time taken off will prove beneficial.
“It’s important,” manager Dave Roberts said of the Dodgers lineup returning to full strength. “I think getting Will (Smith) untracked, which he hasn’t been since the break, is important.
“Getting J.D. Martinez in there consistently, adding length versus right and left, is crucial. Max is back on track, which I think you’ve seen the last couple weeks our team offense has been better because of that. It just makes everyone better around them.”
Can J.D. Martinez stay healthy?
While the Dodgers ultimately placed Martinez on the IL after multiple weeks of trying to navigate his lingering injury that resulted in being scratched from the lineup several times, there is not any assurance he has fully moved past the trouble.
Part of the issue is doctors Martinez has met with were unable to pinpoint the exact cause of the injury. Martinez adjusted his pregame routine to reduce the stride when swinging because the injury has been isolated to the left leg only.
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