Alex Cora played with some of the best players to don a Boston Red Sox jersey since the turn of the millennium, and J.D. Martinez reminds him of one of them.
Manny Ramirez.
The Red Sox’s free-agent acquisition clubbed 45 home runs last year while hitting .303, and for that ability to hit for both average and power at a high level, the Red Sox skipper can’t help but think of Ramirez.
“Manny,” Cora said when discussing who Martinez reminds him of, via MLB.com. “And I know people go crazy, ‘Oh, he’s Manny Ramirez.’ But he can hit for average and he can (go the opposite way). There’s certain situations we know he’s going to hit the ball out of the ballpark, but he’s going to be able to get on base and hit for average, and that’s key.”
Cora and the rest of the Red Sox can only hope he performs like Ramirez, who hit .312 with 274 home runs over eight seasons, all while helping Boston to a pair of World Series titles.
Martinez played in his second spring training game Thursday, driving in a run while going 3-for-3 in a 6-6 tie with the Tampa Bay Rays.
