Things can go south in a hurry. That was the reminder J.D. Martinez received in 2020.
"It was obviously a rough two months," said Martinez when asked about his struggles last season. "It was one of those things that I felt like I really wasn't prepared for last year. I feel like it kind of caught me off guard, with whether we were going to play, whether we weren't. I kind of went back to doing the same thing I always do, staying ready, staying prepared for the whole season like I usually do.
"Last year when they shut down spring training it was one of those things where like, are we going to play, are we not? Type deal. It's my fault, I take accountability for that, because I didn't stay ready. This year I say to myself, they're not getting me again. They're not catching my off guard. So I stayed ready the whole time."
It sounds good. But Martinez still has to prove it was just a bump in the road.
If it is, then the 33-year-old's career path starts to get interesting.
While so much focus is on when Martinez's Red Sox contract will run out (after the 2022 season), he introduced a different conversation Tuesday. One that suggests his focus is not only playing for a long time, but doing so in this uniform.
“I mean that's what I'm hoping," Martinez said when asked if he hoped to play through his 30's as a member of the Red Sox. "Honestly, I've hoped that since the first time I signed here. Now this is a special organization. A lot of guys don't get to play for the Red Sox, the Yankees, the Dodgers the Cubs, like those historic franchises, you know. So anytime you get to you know go into one of those franchises it's just a family at that point you know you're, especially when you've been there for a while and you win, you become one of those names where you're, you're known forever. You know, everyone I feel like in Red Sox history will forever know David Ortiz and Pedro Martinez, and those guys that have been here for years so obviously you know it's one of those things where that would obviously be a dream."
Coming off his dismal two months in 2020 it's hard to envision Martinez following in Ortiz's footsteps. But a closer look suggests the idea of the current designated hitter coming close to the former designated hitter isn't crazy.
They are two hitters who took a bit to get going before ultimately evolving into some of the game's most potent power-hitting threats.
Martinez heads into 2021 with 4,661 plate appearances. Ortiz reached the same mark on July 18, 2007 at the age of 31.
The numbers at this point in their respective careers? Eerily similar.
Martinez: 1,122 games, 238 home runs, 738 RBI, 1,213 hits.
Ortiz: 1,131 games, 247 home runs, 822 RBI, 1,141 hits.
Now, as it turned out, Ortiz's career wasn't even half over. The former slugger would go on to turn in 5,431 plate appearances that produced 294 homers, 946 RBI and a .932 OPS. And that was with a 2012 season that saw him play in just 90 games.
If Martinez is going to enter into the conversation with the likes of Ortiz, 2021 has to represent a serious about-face. If he manages that, it might be setting up for a very interesting second act.
"I think I feel at least like I'm in one of those unique roles where I feel like I could do the same thing," said Martinez when asked about the career paths of players like Ortiz and Nelson Cruz. "I feel healthy. I feel like I take good care of myself. I feel like I study enough where I can keep myself at a certain level. So, like you said, I think those guys honestly, they give me motivation. I actually worked out with Nelson Cruz, you know, in the offseason a little bit and I was just picking his brain the whole time. I was like Nelson talk to me, how do you do it. what is he, 42, 43 now? 41? Dude, I don't know how he does. it is amazing to me and he's more productive the last two years then he's been as I feel like his whole career if you look at his numbers. That's impressive and it gives you motivation because in your mind you're like well if he can do it why can’t I. So in my mind I'm gonna, you know I'm gonna do the best I can to strive and just keep working hard and, you know, take each day how it comes.”