J.D. Martinez always will be known more for his bat than his glove.
The Red Sox slugger spent 93 games as the designated hitter in 2018, but he also made 57 appearances in the outfield. And by his own and his manager’s opinion, he doesn’t get enough credit for his defensive abilities.
While Martinez’s main responsibility remains driving in runs and hitting balls into the gap rather than tracking them down, Red Sox skipper Alex Cora said he is “comfortable” with the Silver Slugger winner roaming the outfield.
Cora said we can expect to see more of Martinez in right field, where he played 25 games, as opposed to left, where he made 32 appearances, 17 of which at Fenway Park, last season.
“As far as positioning, we put him spots that he’s going to make plays, and he actually makes good decisions,” Cora said via WEEI.com’s Nick Friar. “Throwing-wise, he throws to the right bases and he has a good arm and then … Mookie is a great center fielder. I think we maximize everybody that way. Actually, I feel we were better defensively when we went that way, instead of early in the season. We’ll stick to that one.
Right and left field at Fenway both present sizable challenges to defenders, but very different ones. Right is one of the more open spaces in the American League, with tons of ground to cover and a tricky corner by Pesky’s Pole. Left has the Green Monster, need we say more?
It appears Cora might rather risk Martinez covering a vast space than put his star slugger in danger of a collision with the Monster.
“With everything that we get information-wise, you put him in a spot that he’s going to make plays,” Cora said. “It’s more than — with our defense, and everybody in the big leagues, it’s not about just putting three guys out there and let’s play guys here. A lot of stuff goes into consideration: first step, speed, all this cool stuff, all the information we get and then you put them there.”
Cora also noted that he expects Martinez to play around the same number of games in the outfield this campaign as he did in 2018.
