J.D. Martinez doesn’t know when to quit work
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KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Astros left fielder J.D. Martinez was looking for a
personal trainer, a kindred spirit who would apply a foot to the backside
when necessary.
Martinez granted an audition to somebody highly recommended by friend and
former Nova Southeastern University teammate Dale Alberto.
“I told him, ‘If you don’t make me puke in the first week, I’m not going
to come back’
Nick Casazza needed about 10 minutes to accomplish that.
“When he went outside and threw up, he was looking at me like I was the
craziest person he ever met in his life,” Casazza said. “But you know what?
The kid showed up the next day. He kept coming back. I said, ‘This guy is
the real deal.’
Martinez, 24, remembers that first week for “puking everywhere” and for
this: “I knew then he was going to be the trainer I was going to be with.”
High pain, higher gain. The results of Martinez’s pushing his body to the
limits were apparent when he showed up for spring training a chiseled 6-3 and
235 pounds.
Martinez, who lost 20 pounds during a 2011 season that began in Class AA
Corpus Christi and ended in Houston, is counting on the extra size and
strength to carry him through his first full season in the major leagues. He
has been wearing the weight well this spring, auditioning for the No. 3 spot
in the lineup by batting .393 and slugging .643 with 12 RBIs in 28 at-bats.
Exemplary work ethic
“The guy has that certain thing, that motivation factor, that achievement
motivation, that you just can’t teach,” Casazza said. “He’s one of the
hardest-working guys I’ve ever worked with.”
Martinez’s motivational fires have been stoked since he lasted until the
20th round of the 2009 draft — No. 611 overall. Martinez considered that
such a snub that he took to writing 611 on his batting gloves as a reminder.
He has given the Astros little choice but to move him up the organizational
ladder, hitting .342 in 1,118 minor league at-bats.
Promoted from Class AA after the Astros traded All-Star Hunter Pence last
July, the righthanded Martinez had a .274/.319/.423 batting line with six
home runs and 35 RBIs in 208 at-bats.
“I still had that, ‘I’m in the big leagues, and these guys are gods, and I
’m nothing,’ at-bats.
Carry that weight
One thing Martinez is determined to do is keep up his weight. And strength.
Martinez weighed 197 when he started working with Casazza in Davie, Fla.,
after the 2010 season. By the start of last season, Martinez was at 225. The
normal wear and tear of a season, coupled with the adrenaline of being in the
majors and erratic dietary habits Casazza wants Martinez to change, melted
the weight to 205.
The problem with having a chip on the shoulder, of being willing to work as
hard as it takes to prove wrong all those who doubted his ability, is not
always knowing when to stop.
Dial it back
“That’s what I feel like I need to mature on: relaxing, knowing that when I
’ve got my work in, shut it down,” Martinez said. “I hit and I hit and I
feel good, and then I’m like, ‘Oh no, I’m not working hard enough. I want
to keep up hitting.’ It ends up catching up to me.”
Martinez entered last September batting .293 and slugging .509. He batted
.250 and slugged .315 in the final month, with only four extra-base hits in
92 at-bats. His point of emphasis at the plate this spring, as an aspiring
middle-of-the-order hitter, is finishing his swing high and driving the ball.
“Singles for me are nice, but I feel like it’s not what the team needs,”
Martinez said. “They put me in that spot because they’re counting on me to
drive the ball — not necessarily home runs, but doubles. That’s what I’m
really trying to concentrate on: When I swing it, swing it.”
September slump and all, Martinez’s production last season projected to 18
homers and 107 RBIs over 162 games.
Burning desire
And to those who doubt Martinez’s major league worthiness? Martinez asks
them to be loud, be proud about it. Those are the things that help Martinez
get through the weight training, the mixed martial arts drills, the beating
tires with sledgehammers, the sprints up a 60-yard hill with a 45-degree
angle.
“You’re always going to hear stuff,” Martinez said. “It lights that fire,
and I love it, and I want people to do it. If I don’t have that, I feel like
I’ll lose that flame.”
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