BOSTON — Mike Trout has been walked intentionally 16 times this season. Bryce Harper’s gotten a free pass a dozen times and Manny Machado 11. Heck, Eric Hosmer’s gotten six free passes.
J.D. Martinez has been walked intentionally twice.
Why do they bother pitching to a triple-crown threat who seems incapable of slumping, or missing anything he shouldn't?
Opponents can throw the kitchen sink at the guy, but nothing works. He doesn’t fall off, and he doesn’t take an at-bat off. (He has said he doesn't have statistical goals other than to never give away an at-bat. Perhaps he's being modest as he puts himself in position for 50 home runs.)
Consistency is something of a myth in baseball. Players all the time say they want to be more consistent. Yet, no one avoids ebbs and flows. Except, seemingly, Martinez and a handful of others.
The last time Martinez went more than three games he started without a hit was 2016. Only Jose Altuve and Joey Votto can boast the same thing.
Boston Red Sox
Trout cannot: he’s gone five starts without a knock this year already.
“They’ve tried a lot of different things, but I go back to, he’s such a student of the game,” hitting coach Tim Hyers said. “He prepares. He always has such a good game plan. But they do try some things. They might get him a couple times. He’s able to make that adjustment, and that’s the reason he’s been successful over the years, his career, is because he does make really good adjustments — and in-game adjustments.”
Martinez has hit third or fourth in the order the entire season. Lately, his protection has been either All-Star Mitch Moreland or Steve Pearce. Pearce, like Martinez, went deep for the Red Sox in Monday’s 5-0 win over the Rangers. So it’s not like there’s a black hole backing up Martinez. It's not like there's a huge brand name, either.
But the traditional concept of protection is questionable to begin with. Having good hitters in front of Martinez might actually be the reason teams are forced to pitch to him.
Mookie Betts and Andrew Benintendi both singled ahead of Martinez’s major league-best 28th home run on Monday night. The Sox led 2-0 in the eighth at the time Martinez stepped in and drilled yet another home run, like clockwork.
“All depends how you feel about intentional walks,” Sox manager Alex Cora said when asked if he was surprised teams keep throwing to him. “At the end of the day it’s an intentional walk. There are a lot of people in the game now where we don’t feel like an intentional walk is worth it. You’re just putting more traffic out there.
"He hits mistakes, that’s the thing. They’re probably not trying to throw strikes to him, or they’re trying to pitch around him, but when they make a mistake and he’s ready for that. That’s the whole thing about him. It doesn’t matter who is on the mound, their strength or their weaknesses, he stays with his strength, looks for a pitch in a certain zone. And if he sees it, most of the time, he doesn’t miss it."