People want to compare what Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez are doing to the days of the Manny Ramirez/David Ortiz combo, but they always stop short. The feeling is that as good as what we're seeing is, it can't be as good as those days of the two Red Sox sluggers.
Through 89 games, it's better.
Since Ortiz and Ramirez were broken up in 2008, every season has seemingly included some sort of bemoaning the need for that dynamic that lived in the Sox lineup from 2003-08. Even when the likes of Jason Bay, Adrian Gonzalez, Kevin Youkilis and a very young Betts were helping carry the middle-of-the-order workload with the designated hitter, it wasn't viewed as the same sort of dynamic as when Manny was around.
Thanks to Betts and Martinez, we can officially start turning the page.
After Friday night's game, Betts is hitting .336 with slugging percentage of .672, and OPS of 1.100 while boasting 22 home runs. Martinez? He has a .328 average, .647 slugging percentage and 1.039 OPS with 27 homers.
Through the same number of games, here is what the Ramirez and Ortiz combo provided for their six seasons together:
2003
Ramirez: .322 batting average, .584 slugging, 1.001 OPS, 21 homers; Ortiz: .300, .548 slugging, .932 OPS, 9 homers
2004
Ramirez: .342, .674, 1.108 OPS, 26 homers; Ortiz: .303, .601, .959 OPS, 24 homers
2005
Ramirez: .272, .545, .906 OPS, 22 homers; Ortiz: .313, .593, .986 OPS, 23 homers
2006
Ramirez: .305, .603, 1.033 OPS, 24 homers; Ortiz: .280, .617, 1.009 OPS, 32 homers
2007
Ramirez: .288, .478, .863, 12 homers; Ortiz: .318, .556, .992, 14 homers
2008
Ramirez: .280, .497, .871 OPS, 16 homers; Ortiz: .252, .486, .839 OPS, 13 homers
Outside of Ramirez's 2004 start to the season, and Ortiz in 2016 (.330, .670 slugging, 1.100 OPS, 22 homers) one could make the argument that both Martinez and Betts have supplied better overall production than any of Manny or Ortiz's 89-game starts to a season with the Red Sox.
It might be time to accept this reality: the Red Sox may have finally found the 1-2 punch many thought would never come around again.
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