Red Sox J.D. Martinez is Having an MVP Caliber Season

Boston Red Sox designated hitter J.D. Martinez hit his major league leading 24th home run of the season as Boston beat the Los Angeles Angels 9-1 in Boston on June 26th. Three other Red Sox homered in the rout as lefthander David Price picked up his ninth win of the season.

In the 2017 season, Martinez hit .303 and had career highs of 45 homers, 104 RBIs, slugging percentage of .690, and a 1.066 OPS while playing in just 119 total games with Detroit and Arizona. He was a free agent at the end of the season, but strangely, no team signed him despite the monster numbers. Finally as Spring Training got underway, Boston signed him to a five year contract on February 26th.

In return, Martinez is putting up MVP numbers. Besides leading the majors in home runs through games of June 26th, he also leads in RBIs with 61. He’s also hitting .326 and has an OPS of 1.039, and a slugging percentage or .646. Martinez is basically splitting playing time between being the DH and playing in the outfield, is the leading vote getter on the All Star Ballot at DH, with more than twice as many votes as #2 Giancarlo Stanton.