How J.D. Martinez Rose from Division II Obscurity, MLB Reject to Elite Superstar

MINNEAPOLIS — Descending the stairway into Hell’s Kitchen, hungry souls walk past a brick wall seared with stern warnings: “No Whining.” “No Complaining.” “No Surly Attitudes.”

When Boston slugger J.D. Martinez is in town, nfl wholesale jerseys this trendy, Goth-y Twin Cities eatery boasting “Damn Fine Food” and an edgy attitude is his go-to place. As Martinez settles into a back table for a late-morning brunch on this June day, flames from his hot bat lick the MLB leaderboards: He leads the majors in RBI (55) and ranks second in both homers (22) and total bases (167).

Martinez comes for the food—the lemon ricotta hotcakes are “the bomb” (he’s correct)—and he’s also come on this day to talk about his career, which has had its own delicious twists.

In the four seasons from 2014 to ’17, Martinez ranked second in the majors in slugging percentage (.574), seventh in OPS (.936) and eighth in at-bat/home run ratio (15.1).

And yet…he attracted zero interest from any Division nfl jerseys from china  I schools out of high school, was drafted 611th overall in 2009 and was outright released by the Houston Astros in 2014.

From there, though, he has hit as well as almost anyone in the majors.

Though he played in the shadow of Miguel Cabrera official nfl jerseys cheap  in Detroit and Paul Goldschmidt in Arizona, in the first four seasons after his release, only five players in the majors recorded an OPS of at least .900 against both right-handed pitchers and lefties: Mike Trout, Joey Votto, Kris Bryant, Goldschmidt and, yes, Martinez.

And yet…when he stepped into a frigid free-agent market this past winter, Martinez, 30, was iced out until after spring training had already started, signing with the Red Sox on Feb. 26. And the $200 million that many in the industry figured he would earn melted away into a five-year, $110 million deal that places him behind, among others, Jason Heyward (Cubs), Chris Davis (Orioles) and Robinson Cano (Mariners) in average annual salary.nfl authentic jerseys

“When it was all happening, my mom said it: ‘Did you expect anything else?'” Martinez says. “I was like, ‘Nope.'”nfl authentic jerseys cheap

So she asked, what are you worried about then, J.D.? Her son took a breath, surveyed the landscape and told her, nope, not only did he not expect anything else, but he wasn’t worried, either.

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