J.D. Martinez 'tired of being judged on 2 months' after subpar 2020
J.D. Martinez might be looking forward to the upcoming campaign more than anyone else after enduring one of the worst seasons of his career in 2020.
"Obviously I'm excited," The Boston Red Sox slugger told WEEI's Rob Bradford. "I just want it to be a normal season. I'm kind of tired of being judged on two months."
Martinez hit .213/.291/.389 with seven home runs and 27 RBIs in 54 games in 2020. Those totals were a far cry from his previous two seasons with the Red Sox when he combined to hit .317/.392/.593 with 79 homers and 235 RBIs.
While it's been well-documented that Martinez's performance took a dip without in-game video, the 33-year-old also blamed his poor campaign on doctors "freaking" him out about COVID-19 and on "bad habits" he created as a result of the stop-and-start season.
"I ended up spending two months sitting on my butt trying to stay alive during this whole pandemic," Martinez said of the hiatus between the two spring trainings. "Then they were like, 'Hey, you've got three weeks to try and get ready before you have to report.' It was crunch time. I was trying to crush everything in three weeks after sitting down for two months."
Martinez's numbers have not been strong this spring (.243 average, zero homers), but he believes all the at-bats will help him find his old form before the Red Sox begin the year against the Baltimore Orioles on April 1.
"Just being able to get into it again. It's been great."