Detroit Tigers: Week 6 Heroes and Zeroes

May 14, 2015; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Tigers designated hitter J.D. Martinez (28) hits a single in the first inning against the Minnesota Twins at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

#2 Hero: J.D. Martinez

Much like the previous post on Alburquerque, the Detroit Tigers’ 4-2 week allowed for plenty of redemptive stories, none more important than that of J.D. Martinez.

J.D. resided on this column the past two weeks as a zero although we did note in last week’s article that he did appear to be emerging from his struggles.

Emerge did he ever and Martinez seemingly made the most of the absence of Victor Martinez for much of the week by moving up in the lineup to hit directly behind Cabrera.

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His .409 average was first on the team (not counting Bryan Holaday‘s .500 in six at-bats) and he sported an OPS of 1.162.

These statistics are much more J.D. Martinez-like from a year ago than this year, but let’s remember something. Martinez was called up in late April 2014 and struggled through limited playing time. He did not get regular at-bats but he wasn’t earning more in his few chances.

Right around this time last year, Martinez really started to rake and never cooled off. Perhaps this is the case again?

As we discussed earlier with Ian Kinsler, while V-Mart works out his issues, the Tigers really need offense from other sources to have success. Kinsler fits that mold and so does J.D. Mart.

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