TAMPA — Results in February and March should be taken with a grain of salt, but the Mets looked at their .686 spring training OPS — the fourth-worst in the league — and decided it wasn’t good enough.
After months of rumors connecting the two parties, the club came to terms with designated hitter J.D. Martinez on a one-year, $12 million deal Thursday night, a source confirmed to the Daily News. The six-time All-Star will give the Mets more pop in the lineup and potentially provide crucial protection for cleanup hitter Pete Alonso.
Martinez, a 35-year-old South Florida native, is coming off a stellar season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, hitting .271 with an .893 OPS, 33 home runs, 27 doubles, two triples and 103 RBI in 2023. He’s driven in 100 or more runs for the fifth time in his career.
After 13 seasons, his right-handed bat is still as impactful as ever.
There wasn’t much drop-off in his underlying numbers either. Statcast lists him in the 93rd percentile for run value and he’s above the 90th percentile in xwOBA, expected slugging, exit velocity, barrel percentage, hard hit percentage and sweet-spot percentage.
A disciple of Craig Wallenbrock, Martinez’s hitting philosophy is to lift the ball in the air. Wallenbrock’s teachings are based on data that has shown that batting averages are higher when the ball is hit in the air instead of on the ground. Martinez has also been working out at Driveline this spring in anticipation of the upcoming season.
The Mets need some power. Last season, the team’s .723 OPS ranked toward the bottom of the league. Daniel Vogelbach and a rotating cast of hitters produced little. A .700 OPS by the DH group ranked 23rd and the .391 slugging clip ranked 24th. Mark Vientos and DJ Stewart helped boost the home run total late in the season.
But it’s unclear what this means for Vientos and Stewart. Vientos, another right-handed hitter, was expected to see most of his at-bats this season as a DH. He could split time with Brett Baty at third base, or the Mets could send him to Triple-A. He’s hitting .212 with four home runs and a .722 OPS this spring.
Stewart is a left-handed hitter, so he’ll likely platoon with Martinez. The Mets invited Ji-Man Choi and Luke Voit to camp to compete for DH at-bats, but neither one has produced much in Grapefruit League play.
With the Mets being taxed at a 110% rate this season, some of Martinez’s salary is expected to be deferred. Martinez previously turned down an offer for $14 million from the San Francisco Giants.
President of baseball operations David Stearns has continued to search for ways to improve the team at all levels this spring. He saw an opportunity to fortify the lineup and he took it.
