Citizen Street started a little #freejd hashtag on Twitter. And he couldn't be more right. We've championed J.D. Martinez' move to Corpus before (and here), but this is silly.
Some notes:
*Martinez' OPS is 1.006, best in the South Atlantic League. And it's not like he's just loading up on slugging. He's leading the SAL in average (.358), OBP (.424), and SLG (.582).
*He's also leading the SAL in runs (77), hits (120), doubles (30).
*He's second in homers (15), RBI (61 - Kody Hinze is leading with 67).
*Martinez has 55K in 335 ABs - 16.4%.
*Those 120 hits are second in all of minor-league baseball, while his Avg is 3rd.
*Just considering Single-A players, Martinez' Avg is 2nd, hits are 1st, RBIs are 2nd, OBP is 3rd, and SLG is 2nd.
*He's hitting .345/.389/.512 against LHP and .363/.435/.606 against RHP. At home, he's hitting .354/.439/.599 and .362/.412/.569 on the road.
*His OPS by month:
April: .940
May: .998
June: .994
July: 1.293.
As was noted in a post linked above, Martinez is about two years older than his SAL competition. What else do the Astros need to see? Send him to Corpus, and challenge him against guys who are a little older and see what he can do.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
