J.D. Martinez wants to set the record straight about what it’s like to be a designated hitter.
Martinez ended an 0-for-20 skid that spanned parts of five games on Saturday as he led the Boston Red Sox to a 5-3 victory over the Cleveland Indians. He went 3-for-5 on the night with two runs, but everything came down to his heroics in the 10th inning, when he hit a three-run go-ahead home run.
That one swing changed the game. But Martinez wants you to know that his job is much, much more than any one swing.
“The industry kind of just always says, ‘Oh, he’s a DH. He doesn’t work. You don’t play the field. He’s a DH, he just goes up there and takes four at-bats,'” Martinez said after the game. “I wish it was that easy. I wish I could sit over there, grab my bat and go over there and take four at-bats.
“It’s a mental grind. You don’t get to go out there and disconnect and think about defense. You’re literally thinking about your at-bat until the next time you come up. It’s the spot in the lineup, it’s my job. They put a lot of pressure on me to go out there and perform. Nobody’s harder on me than myself.”
After starting two straight games in the outfield — which used to be a rarity for the slugger, who has seen more time on the grass this season — Martinez got the day off on Friday before returning to his DH duties on Saturday.
He said he used the rare off day to relax both physically and mentally, focusing on his teammates and the game at hand rather than his individual performance. And it showed Saturday as he came out firing from the start, launching a first-inning single to end his slump.
It sure seems like he got the well-deserved rest he needed.
