Hey there, folks! The New York Mets‘ designated hitter, J.D. Martinez, scooped up the title of National League Player of the Week just this Monday.
Now, isn’t it puzzling that this 36-year-old player, boasting a batting average of .293 along with an incredible 156 OPS+, hasn’t made much of a splash in the initial round of All-Star voting?
Last week, Martinez really knocked it out of the park, hitting an impressive .450 with three home runs and drawing six walks in six games. The Mets, showing their mettle, achieved a solid 5-1 record that week, injecting a fresh dose of hope into their NL Wild Card aspirations.
Just a heads-up: the Mets, by the end of the week, stood at 33-37, trailing the Phillies by 13.5 games in the NL East. But hold up! Their stellar performance last week catapulted them right into the thick of the Wild Card race. Would you believe it? Nine teams are jammed together, separated by a mere two games, all vying for those two precious postseason spots.
Martinez inked a sweet deal with the Mets—a one-year contract worth a cool $12 million on March 23, almost at the tail end of spring training. He eventually made his season debut on April 26, showing everyone what he’s made of.
So here’s the scoop: the competition for the starting DH position at the All-Star Game in Arlington, Texas, on July 16 is pretty intense. Factor in Martinez’s delayed start to the season and the tough competition, and you start to see why he got brushed aside when the first All-Star voting results dropped on Monday.
Now, get this—only the top five vote-getters at most positions were officially disclosed, with the outfield being the exception where the top nine vote-getters were revealed. And guess what? Martinez was nowhere to be seen.
The leading contenders for the DH spot in the National League are Shohei Ohtani from the Los Angeles Dodgers, Marcell Ozuna from the Atlanta Braves, Kyle Schwarber from the Philadelphia Phillies, Rhys Hoskins from the Milwaukee Brewers, and Donovan Solano from the San Diego Padres.
Ohtani’s switch from the AL to the NL this season posed a formidable challenge to Martinez and the rest of the DH hopefuls. With his stellar stats, Ohtani is undoubtedly the game’s standout player this year.
Although Martinez is putting up excellent numbers on a per-game basis, other players like Ozuna, Hoskins, and Schwarber have been consistently productive throughout the season, which likely worked to their advantage in the All-Star fan voting.
As for Solano, he’s been quite the surprise package, holding his own with a decent average and OPS+ despite being a latecomer to the season due to Bogaerts’ injury.
It’s quite a conundrum that Martinez, with his formidable performance in 44 games, didn’t make the cut. The top two vote-getters at each position, along with the top six outfielders, will progress to the next phase of voting starting June 30.
If Martinez can narrow the gap with Ohtani in the coming days, there’s a chance he might make it to the final round. But let’s face it; his stellar season might just be a tad too late to sway the All-Star voters, although the Mets are undoubtedly rooting for him.