J.D. Martinez Not A Lock In Saturday’s Red Sox Lineup Due To Back Spasms

UPDATE (8:24 p.m.): J.D. Martinez was a late scratch from Saturday’s game. Travis Shaw assumed the role of designated hitter.

ORIGINAL STORY: J.D. Martinez is in the Red Sox lineup for Saturday’s game against the Chicago White Sox, but it might not stay that way.

Martinez was a late scratch from Friday’s series opener in Chicago, as the Boston slugger was dealing with back spasms during batting practice.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Friday that Martinez could also miss Saturday’s game if he wasn’t completely healthy, but with hours to go before the second game of the series, his status was up in the air.

Cora said during his media availability (around 4 p.m. ET) that Martinez was in the lineup, which had not been completely announced, but that he was prepared to take him out if needed.

“He has to go through the whole thing, go hit and all that. So we’re not sure that will happen. I talked to him last night, I talked to him today, I said ‘Hey man, we need you healthy. If you can’t go today, it’s not a big deal. I’d rather lose you for two days than actually lose you for a week.’

“We’ll see how he feels, we’ll see how it goes.”

Martinez was originally slated to be the designated hitter and bat third in Friday’s game. When he was scratched with minutes to go, Kyle Schwarber assumed the DH role and Danny Santana took over for Schwarber in left field.

Despite a late rally, the Red Sox dropped Friday’s game 4-3.

The Red Sox proved Friday that they weren’t going to risk anything happening to Martinez, scratching him with just minutes to go before first pitch, so we’ll have to wait and see what happens with this one.