J.D. Martinez, seemingly like everyone else in the baseball world, is awfully impressed with Shohei Ohtani.
Ohtani put his dual-threat abilities on dazzling display Sunday night when he zipped in a 101 mph fastball in the first inning of the Chicago White Sox-Los Angeles Angels series finale. A half-inning later, the Japanese phenom walloped a 451-foot home run that had an exit velocity north of 115 mph.
Martinez has similar pop -- if not greater -- as Ohtani, but the two aren't even in the same stratosphere when it comes to pitching. The Boston Red Sox slugger on Monday recalled the last time he took the mound.
" ... I pitched in high school one time," Martinez said, per MLB.com. "We were playing like the worst team in our division and our coach told me straight up, 'J.D., you should throw a perfect game. You should throw a no-hitter against these guys. I'm not even joking. This team is awful. There's no way they beat you.' I gave up four runs in the second inning and I never pitched again. He's like, 'All right, get back to the outfield.' "
Judging from this anecdote, there might not be a score lopsided enough for Alex Cora to consider handing the ball over to Martinez.
But in the batter's box, Martinez is off to a scorching start to the season. The three-time All-Star is 8-for-15 with two home runs, three doubles and six RBIs through four games.
He'll look to stay hot Tuesday when the Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays meet for the middle matchup of their three-game set, which will have complete coverage on NESN beginning at 6 p.m. ET.
