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What’s Changed for J.D. Martinez?

Before the 2012 season, some folks drafted J.D. Martinez as a deep sleeper, coming off a decent debut with the Astros in 2011 and a solid minor league profile. He went on to slug only 11 HR in 439 PA and hit a disappointing .241/.311/.375.  What went wrong? Well, he pounded the ball into the ground at a 51.8 % clip. His line drive % dropped to 16.6 % and he hit only 31.6 % flyballs. It’s hard to hit HR’s and hit for average with that kind of batted ball profile.

He got demoted to AA after failing to impress in 2013 and got injured. This year, for the Tigers, he mashed in AAA, was called up in late April, and has already hit 7 HR’s in only 117 PA with a .312/.342/.596 batting line. So what has changed? Read the rest of this entry »