Red Sox catcher Victor Martinez will be a free agent after this season and he’s proving now that when healthy, he’s still a very, very good catcher.
NESN’s Red Sox analyst Jerry Remy agrees and has named Martinez the Top Dawg of the Week for the past week, a week in which the Red Sox went 3-3.
The catcher joins Red Sox third baseman Adrian Beltre as two-time winners of the weekly honor.
Martinez is seeing his free agent stock rise by the day, especially following a week in which the 31-year-old hit .455 with one home run and three runs batted in. The home run came on Saturday afternoon, a 7-3 defeat of the Yankees, in the middle of a three-game series in which the Red Sox took two of three.
Martinez, who battled injuries to his thumb and foot earlier in the year, is ending the year strongly and is showing the level of play that makes him one of the best catchers in the game. He entered Sunday night’s contest hitting .299 with 19 home runs and 74 RBIs. He’s also seen his batting average increase by 22 points since Aug. 15.
The fan voting this week went to rookie first baseman Lars Anderson. He received 30 percent of the vote while closer Jonathan Papelbon picked up 20 percent.
Here are this season’s Top Dawgs.
Week of Aug. 2
Jerry: Adrian Beltre
Fans: Kevin Youkilis
Week of Aug. 9
Jerry: Jon Lester
Fans: Mike Lowell
Week of Aug. 16
Jerry: Jed Lowrie
Fans: Adrian Beltre
Week of Aug. 23
Jerry: Victor Martinez
Fans: Clay Buchholz
Week of Aug. 30
Jerry: Daniel Bard
Fans: Daniel Bard
Week of Sept. 6
Jerry: Ryan Kalish
Fans: Victor Martinez
Week of Sept. 13
Jerry: Adrian Beltre
Fans: Adrian Beltre
Week of Sept. 20
Jerry: Victor Martinez
Fans: Lars Anderson
Every Monday or Tuesday (depending on when the Red Sox series starts), NESN.com will release which Red Sox players are the Top Dawg contenders. The following Sunday, Jerry Remy will pick a Top Dawg of the Week.
But Jerry also wants to hear from you, Red Sox Nation, and find out who you think is the week’s Top Dawg for the Red Sox. Fans can vote for their Top Dawg of the Week. At the end of the week, we’ll see if Jerry’s Top Dawg matches up with Red Sox Nation’s Top Dawg.
