It would be worth a read by anyone to go to the Red Sox homepage and read the article written by Ian Browne about Martinez's defense and how he sees himself. I like JD more and more and am anxious for him to get to show people that he really isn't that bad regardless of what the analytics say. He has a lot of pride knows that he will be primarily a dh here but wants to be in that outfield from time to time as well.
The 2003 offseason was interesting for sure for the Sox due to the crunch at DH/1B/3B. They had Millar, Giambi, Ortiz, Mueller and Hillenbrand all fighting for 3 spots. The opening day lineup was Millar 1B, Hillenbrand 3B and Giambi at DH. Hillenbrand had basically a fulltime role playing 50/50 1b/3b until he was moved in May. Ortiz was stuck in a timeshare with Giambi at DH until June.Originally Posted by Emp9
I read that yesterday also, and I give JD high marks for having the right attitude. That said, JD said that he blames the metrics for making him look like a bad defender. My response to that was, it's not the metrics that are making him look bad, it's his bad defense that are making him look bad.
Obviously, I'm pulling for the guy both offensively and defensively. It's possible that he can play with improved defense going forward. But to date, he has been very bad.
It was sort of interesting what he said about being wall-shy after getting injured running into the wall.
If I recall correctly, he more or less stated that he wasn't running hard after those balls, or that he was letting them go, or something along those lines. If that's the case, then he shouldn't be surprised that the defensive metrics don't like him.
If he's going to play the field a lot for us, I hope he's over his fear of the walls.
What wall?
I read the same thing you did and my interpretation was that he wasn't surprised at all about what the metrics said. His point though is certainly worth noting.
Seriously, if JD has a case of being wall-shy, left field in Fenway might be an issue. Especially if he knows that Hanley and Swihart both got hurt out there only recently.
He can just keep playing the Mike Greenwell defense: "I'll pick the ball up, when it stops rolling."
The Fenway wall is more about learning how the ball bounces off the wall rather than catching balls against it. He could just play a shallow LF and concede any catchable line drive off the lower wall.
Does he still have the same injury concerns that kept him from being more aggressive going after wall balls? Doesn't sound to me like he does. I don't really think that suggesting that he is wall shy at this time is fair. I'm giving him a chance.
Considering what we need out of his bat, I wouldn't want him running into the wall. He should spend his time learning the bounces. Manny, Gator and Jim Ed were all good enough in LF when their bats were red hot.
Agreed. Make him play a shallow LF and tell him never to run into the wall, unless it's game 7 of a playoff series.
DH him in every AL park.
Me not advocating for what you are saying doesn't mean I necessarily disagree with this. I'm just saying give the guy a chance.
If it's game 7, don't put him in LF.
I'm just saying, he's better served not playing aggressively in LF.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote