J.D. Martinez Playing Well for Disappointing Tigers

The Detroit Tigers lost a slugfest in Detroit to the Seattle Mariners 11-9 on July 21st after Seattle’s Franklin Gutierrez hit a pinch hit grand slam in the eighth inning to put it away. The Tigers are in danger of falling out of the playoff hunt, and it doesn’t help that Miguel Cabrera is on the disabled list. One player who is doing his part to keep the Tigers’ hopes alive is outfielder J.D. Martinez.

Martinez is hitting .344 in July, with seven homers and 14 RBIs; he’s also got an on base percentage of .408 and an OPS of 1.112. Martinez hit this booming 467 foot two run home run in the loss to Seattle:

Martinez now has 27 homers, 62 RBIs and a .287 batting average.

Martinez made his major league debut with the Houston Astros in 2011. He spent three very average seasons in Houston before being released in March of last year. Almost immediately, he signed agent with Detroit as a free agent. He hit 23 homers with 76 RBIs and a .315 batting average in 123 games in 2014. At 27, he’s having a breakout season. The Tigers are rumored to be contemplating making players available for trades before the trade deadline, essentially conceding the season, but Martinez’ name is not coming up on the short list, which features pitcher David Price.