“JD Martinez will be playing as a designated hitter 99.9 percent of the time.”
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts made it clear that Martinez, who was newly recruited this season, is a designated hitter.토토사이트
The Dodgers signed a one-year, $10 million contract with Martinez on December 30 last year (Korean time). Martinez is a slugger with a batting average of 0.288, 282 homers, 899 RBIs and 790 runs in 1,409 games. In particular, during the past five years with the Boston Red Sox, he perfectly played the role of a central hitter with a batting average of 0.292, 130 homers, and 423 RBIs. Last year, his performance dropped somewhat, but his bat is evaluated as a hitter with a ‘class’.
The reason why the Dodgers recruited him is, of course, because of his offense. The Dodgers, who were eliminated in the first stage of the postseason despite winning 111 wins in the regular season last year, have a serious power outage. In particular, with the transfer of Trey Turner (Philadelphia Phillies), he lost one of his main players. While catching Martinez here, they let go without catching Justin Turner, who was no different from a franchise star.
In terms of offense, Martinez can expect at least Justin Turner’s level of contribution. The problem is defense. Martinez has played exclusively as a designated hitter in recent years. Whether he is a first baseman or an outfielder, it is difficult to expect as a defensive player. In particular, in the Dodgers, which operated the lineup flexibly to an extreme level, the fixed designated hitter is a very difficult existence.
The Athletic of the United States introduced on the 20th, “In the Dodgers last year, four players – Justin Turner, Max Muncy, Will Smith, and Edwin Rios – played in more than 20 games as designated hitters.” This means that there was virtually no professional designated hitter. Justin Turner and Muncy alternated between third baseman, Smith as the main catcher, and Rios as an infield backup, playing in their respective defensive positions.
In particular, the designated hitter position was useful to manage catcher Smith’s physical strength. The media said, “The designated hitter gave Smith a chance to avoid exhaustion behind the plate and entered 578 plate appearances.” The second most consistent hitter.” Martinez playing means Smith can’t play as a designated hitter.
“I don’t expect Martinez to play 162 games as a designated hitter, but 99.9% of his games will be as a designated hitter,” manager Dave Roberts said. did.
The media pointed out, “As the Dodgers have become more dependent on Smith’s offense, the burden of his (catcher) participation has become a task for the team.” .