J.D. Martinez has only been with the Diamondbacks for 58 games, but he’s made them count. Since Arizona acquired Martinez from the Tigers, he’s hit .303/.370.752 with 28 home runs, good for a 172 OPS+ that beats out Giancarlo Stanton’s season numbers even though Martinez is in a hitter-friendly home stadium and Stanton is not.
J.D. Martinez could be MVP, if not for one small problem
Wednesday’s Say Hey, Baseball includes J.D. Martinez’s ridiculous season, Chris Sale’s bad start, and Andrew McCutchen’s big night.
Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images
It’s not just the 58 D-Backs games in which Martinez has dominated, either. With the Tigers, he batted .305/.388/.630 for a 163 OPS+, and his overall season line is at .304/.379/.694 with 44 homers and a 168 OPS+ — that slugging percentage is the highest in the majors, and his overall OPS+ bests that of Aaron Judge and Jose Altuve and Stanton, too.
Listen, we know it’s tough to catch up on everything happening in the baseball world each morning. Trying to find all of it while on your way to work or sitting at your desk just isn’t easy. It’s OK, though. Subscribe to our daily MLB newsletter and let us do the heavy lifting for you each morning to find the things you need to see.
The only MVP contender Martinez isn’t outhitting is Mike Trout, who has managed a .309/.446/.629 season with a 188 OPS+. The problem for Trout in any MVP discussion is the same as any involving Martinez, however: both sluggers missed significant time with injury — for Martinez, it was a Lisfranc sprain in his foot — so the likes of Judge, Stanton, and Altuve are going to be the likely MVP recipients.
It’s not Martinez switching leagues that’s an issue, even if history is against him in this regard: no player has ever won an MVP award after changing leagues, and Rick Sutcliffe stands as the lone pitcher to win a Cy Young in that situation. We’re not even going to have the discussion of whether Martinez merits inclusion in the NL MVP race because he’s only played in 115 games, so even though he has 44 homers and rate stats that everyone save Trout can be jealous of, he’s a non-factor.
Stanton is going to be the NL MVP. He’s played in 154 games, and his season numbers are pretty close to Martinez’s. The AL is more wide-open, but it’s likely coming down to Judge and Altuve with Trout probably receiving some votes as a nod to his injury-shortened greatness, but not enough to win. Combine starting the year in mid-May with switching leagues, and Martinez stands little chance of even getting those kinds of votes.
- The Twins defeated the Indians on Tuesday, and that’s a good reminder that we’re just not appreciating them enough. Yes, they’re going to have the worst record of any AL team in the postseason, but they had the worst record in the league just last season. This is a huge step up!
- Andrew McCutchen drove in eight runs against the Orioles on Tuesday, and hit his first career grand slam in the process.
- The Royals have been officially eliminated from postseason contention even though they won on Tuesday.
- Chris Sale might have been brilliant in his previous start, but last night, he pitched so poorly against the Blue Jays he might have cost himself the AL Cy Young.
- In his first game back from the DL, Aaron Hicks robbed Wilson Ramos of a grand slam.
- MLB players are raising money for Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria, which devastated the U.S. territory.
- Bryce Harper is back.
- A Jeopardy! flub led to the Colorado Rockies finding a Marcus Allen on their payroll. However, he’s still not a former NFL running back, so, it doesn’t count.
- It’s the last week of the season, so for some fans, knowing how the MLB Draft order tiebreaker works is key.
- The 2018 season is the most important year in the Braves’ rebuild.
- Good on Mike Matheny.
- See, this is why I never want to write about Rhys Hoskins. It’s only going to get me hurt.
- The O’s can still salvage the Chris Davis and Mark Trumbo contracts. It’s just going to require some changes.
- Hardball Times continues their look at the pennant race of 1967.
- Jeff Sullivan wonders if it’s a good thing that the Twins have a chance at winning the World Series. Personally, adding a team like the Twins whose record is clearly inferior adds a level of excitement to the postseason if they do well, because I’m also very much Team Chaos.
See More:
