J.D. Martinez: ‘I would never have imagined that I would have hit 250 homers’

Seven years and two months before hitting his 250th major league home run, J.D. Martinez was released.

Uncertain if he’d ever get another chance, Martinez packed his bags and left the Houston Astros organization as a .251 hitter with just 24 homers in almost 1,000 plate appearances.

Thursday night, after clubbing his 250th career homer with two outs in the ninth to save the Red Sox from a loss and propel them to an 8-7 win over the Blue Jays, Martinez took a moment to appreciate how far he’s come.

“It’s a blessing,” he said. “It’s a blessing from God. I would never have imagined that I would have hit 250 homers. If you had told me that 10 years ago — my career kind of took a roller coaster early on, but God guided me and he got me to here. I give thanks to him.”

Martinez was sad that his family wasn’t able to attend the game in Dunedin, Fla., about 300 miles from Miami, where he was born.

“I wish,” he said. “But it was during the week. They’ve gotta work.”

Since being released by the Astros on March 22, 2014, Martinez has hit .302 with a .940 OPS and 226 homers in more than 3,800 big league plate appearances, about one homer every 17 at-bats, a far cry from the average of one homer every 42 at-bats he had hit over parts of three seasons with his original franchise.

“J.D. is one of the best hitters in the game,” said Red Sox closer Matt Barnes. “His approach and ability to pull you to left field and hit a homer to right field — but it’s not surprising. The work he puts in off the field, the number of reps he takes and his recognition of his body and ability to make adjustments from at-bat or even pitch to pitch, it’s incredible. It’s not surprising at all. He’s an incredibly hard out.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3u5SeGZ