J.D. Martinez: 'I Was Released Last Year, So That's The Kind Of Pressure I'm Going To Put On Myself'
By: Jeff Riger
@riger1984
The Tigers J.D. Martinez was a pleasant surprise for Detroit last season. In fact he was much more than a pleasant surprise; he was also a much needed surprise. Do you remember how many times Martinez saved the Tigers with a key 3-run homer when the game was on the line in the late innings? Well, I don't have the exact answer but it was a lot.
Martinez was great in 2014 hitting .315 with 23 homers and 76 RBI. He also registered a .912 OPS in 123 games proving that there was nothing fluky about his season. With all of the above, coming after being released by the Astros to start the season. Did I mention that?
So with the numbers and the success Martinez had, you would imagine that the Miami native really enjoyed his offseason?
"It was awesome" Martinez said. "It was really cool, talked about it with all my friends but at the same time all I kept thinking about when we talked about it, we always got back to the playoffs. Just being, I wouldn't say humiliated by Baltimore, but not really showing up."
What a guy! I'll be honest, I figured JD loved his offseason. Having no clue what Martinez likes to do in his spare time, I pictured him enjoying everything that a professional athlete might do in a city like Miami and maybe he was. However he was also thinking about his team's postseason failure which is something that every fan did afterwards as well.
"For the first month for sure, every time you look at the TV and there's a baseball game on and you're like (shaking your head) I don't even want to watch it" Martinez said. "We beat them all year (the Royals) that should be us we were better than their team."
I've always been of the belief that the fans take losses harder than the players. The players have the money, women and everything else that comes with being able to do something that most of the public can't while fans are forced to go back to their routine and stew about it. Not that losing doesn't hurt athletes, but I figured everything else helped them get over it pretty quickly. Than you have a guy like Martinez who sounded like he was embarrassed by how his team played and it stuck with him. Of course the fans felt the same way. That's kind of cool, isn't it?
Oh....one more thing...
If you're one of the those people who believes there's no way that Martinez can repeat what he achieved last season he doesn't seemed bothered by it.
"I don't even pay attention to it, I don't even care" Martinez said. "To be honest with you, I'm not even supposed to be here. I was released last year so that's the kind of pressure I'm going to put on myself? No expectations! Expectations you put on yourself are things that I think hold you down."
Maybe he's right, after all he is hitting .455 in Spring Training.
