Inside The Red Sox

MLB.com Names Red Sox Player With Most To Prove By Season's End

It's been a weird season for the All-Star designated hitter.
Scott Neville|
MLB.com Names Red Sox Player With Most To Prove By Season's End
MLB.com Names Red Sox Player With Most To Prove By Season's End

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Boston Red Sox

There is a long list of Boston Red Sox players underperforming this season but one has more on the line than his peers.

Designated hitter J.D. Martinez is counting the days until free agency at this point, with a few weeks left to boost his numbers and garner more attention when the offseason kicks off. 

"While it seems all but inevitable Martinez, a free agent at season’s end, will be playing somewhere else in 2023, he needs to prove to potential suitors that he has something left in his bat," MLB.com posted Tuesday. "Martinez’s lack of production this season has been stunning. From 2015-21, Martinez was considered one of the top hitters in the game. 

"Through his (464) at-bats this season entering action on Sunday, Martinez, 35, had only 11 homers and (52) RBIs. Is it a case of bad mechanics or decreased bat speed or a combination of both? Martinez still has three weeks to get hot. But it hasn’t happened in months. From June 27-Sept. 10, Martinez had a line of .214/.282/.321 with three homers and 20 RBIs. It’s hard to see him getting more than a one-year deal at this point."

The 35-year-old slugger started the 2022 campaign as one of the hottest hitters in baseball and did enough to earn his fifth All-Star nod but still did not meet the expectations placed upon him due to years of elite play, especially during his time in Boston.

Martinez has the pedigree to earn a hefty prove-it deal, especially since his season-long numbers are still quite strong despite the second-half decline.

Martinez is hitting .274 with 49 extra-base hits, the aforementioned 52 RBIs and a .770 OPS in 120 games. Those numbers are far from his prime but he's still a premier slugger that would be a notable and impactful addition to a number of contenders in need of offensive help.

Whether Boston retains him or not, Martinez should be just fine come free agency, and has a few weeks to further increase his value. 

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Scott Neville
SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer.  His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu

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