If we told you there was a point in time that not one college was interested in J.D. Martinez, you probably wouldn’t believe us.
Well, believe it.
The Boston Red Sox designated hitter won two Silver Slugger Awards in 2018 after batting .330 with 43 home runs and 130 RBIs. Martinez is a two-time All-Star and three-time Silver Slugger winner, and even blasted 29 home runs in the second half of the 2017 season after he was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Oh, he’s also a World Series champion.
It’s certainly hard to believe there was no one interested in Martinez given the success he’s had, but he recalled a time there was just one team that showed interest in him.
“The (Minnesota) Twins called a bunch of jucos (junior colleges) and nobody wanted me,” Martinez told MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince. “Everybody was full and didn’t have space.”
That didn’t stop Martinez’s high school infield coach, Eric Cruz, from bringing the slugger around Florida to try out for three different schools.
“I probably did about five or six workouts in two days,” Martinez said. “By like the fourth or fifth one, I couldn’t even throw. My arm was just shot. I was letting everything air out. Running, sprinting, hitting. Everybody said, ‘Nope, nope.’ So why did you even let me try out?”
Martinez finally got an offer from Nova Southeastern University in Davie, Fla., not far from his high school, where he played baseball and eventually was drafted by the Houston Astros in the 20th round of the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft. He later was released by the team and signed with the Detroit Tigers before being traded to the D-Backs.
He became a free agent and signed with the Red Sox ahead of the 2018 season, and, well, the rest is history.
