88 CARDINALS MAGAZINE @CardsMagazine
wherever he’s hit in the order: cleanup (.950
OPS), two-hole (.362 batting average),
five-hole (.554 slugging). He’s hit at home
(.311 average), on the road (.301) and with
runners in scoring position (.292).
He’s also proved he can hit in the pinch,
one of the most difficult assignments in the
game. As a rookie in 2017, Martinez set a
franchise record by batting .462 (12-for-26)
in pinch appearances – the highest mark in
the majors since 2009.
‘IF IT AIN’T BROKE ...’
It’s OK to be loosey-goosey in the batter’s
box. At least that’s what Martinez contends
his coaches have always told him. Some have
suggested even more movement, he says,
“if it will relax me more.” But his formula
isn’t one that other tall players have applied,
historically or in today’s game.
When 6-foot-7 Yankees phenom Aaron
Judge arrived in the majors late in 2016,
he told the Wall Street Journal the goal
of his approach was “all about just trying
to simplify the game and simplify your
mechanics and all your moves.”
In the same report, a 6-foot-8 veteran of
15 big-league seasons, Tony Clark (currently
executive director of the Major League
Baseball Players Association), maintained that
hitting is more difficult for taller players. It
demands extra work, he explained, “to have
all your appendages connected in a fashion
that allows you to be consistent.”
For Martinez, that translates to
movement, not silence, for those
appendages. For as long as he can remember,
in “every video I have,” Martinez reveals, hehas expressed himself with emotion – and
motion – when he hits.
At least one teammate is convinced that
more, as in movement, usually means even
bigger results for Martinez. The more he
wags his bat in the box, the more likely he
is to punish the pitch, according to Greg
Garcia’s unscientific but careful scrutiny.
“There’s something about the way he’s
moving that I can tell when he’s really
getting in rhythm,” Garcia says. “Four times
I’ve called it that he’s going to hit the ball
really hard, and he has.”
No manager, coach or instructor in any
organization has ever asked Martinez to
“quiet” his stance. But why would they? The
proof is in the performance.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” says
Terry Bradshaw, the former Cardinal (1995-
96) and current Kansas City batting coach
who was minor league hitting coordinator
when Martinez played in the Royals system
(2015-16). But he’s quick to add a footnote:
If Martinez were a younger player trying to
get signed in today’s game, his style might
not be so attractive.
“The difference in the game now
compared to years ago, if you see a guy
like that in the draft now, nobody would
(take) him because he doesn’t fit the mold,”
Bradshaw says. “Individuality is what is
comfortable to him. But when you have an
unusual style like that, you better perform.
If you don’t, they will want to change you.”
That doesn’t mean Martinez himself won’t
tweak things along the way. He spent the
offseason before 2017 working on a change
of his doing – one that has become common
among today’s hitters. He increased the
launch angle of his swing with the goal of
improving his power production. And the
results followed, with Martinez hitting more
home runs (14) last year than he’d recorded
in any other season in the minors.
But as a player changes, so does the rest
of the league. As Martinez has elevated his
hitting to a position among the NL’s batting
leaders, pitchers have adjusted their approach.
He is seeing fewer strikes and four-seam
fastballs, more sinkers and changeups,
and plenty of pitches off the plate.
Though Martinez’s chase rate has gone upMoves likeMartinez isn’t shy about turning the dugout into a dance floor, whether celebrating a homer
by a teammate (Tyler O’Neill) or taking the pregame lead in handshake tomfoolery.