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When the 2013 fantasy baseball season started, almost everyone predicted Detroit Tigers DH Victor Martinez to have a career season. Martinez was well protected in Detroit’s lineup of monsters and the fact that he was finally healthy only added to his fantasy potential.
However, amidst all of the excitement, I was one person that wrote that you should avoid V-Mart this season. He isn’t exactly in his prime anymore, and at 34-years-old, injuries would make him a questionable start each week.
Martinez missed all of the 2012 season following surgery on his left knee, so he obviously wasn’t in the best of shape heading into the 2013 season. Most thought he would instantly bounce back and become a superstar, but he simply hasn’t looked like himself in the batter’s box.
As we sit here after nearly five weeks of the fantasy baseball season, Martinez only has nine RBIs and finds himself miserably tied for 72nd in the American League. He also has the same amount of home runs as I do, which stands at a big fat zero. Not exactly starter quality numbers from one of the most popular sleeper picks from this past spring.
Martinez was held hitless in 13 of his 25 games this season, which can honestly be kryptonite for a fantasy week. He currently has an embarrassing .212 batting average and has been an utter disappointment game after game. The veteran has shockingly only missed one game this season, though, so his struggles are clearly not due to missed time.
He is making solid contact with the ball, but he simply needs to get back into a groove. He may eventually figure it out, but the season is pretty much one fourth of the way over, so I hope you are plugging someone else into your ever-valuable DH spot.
Martinez has frustrated fantasy owners all year long and has to be one of the frontrunners for fantasy bust of the year. If you are unlucky enough to still have V-Mart on your roster, I would highly suggest parking him on the bench until he shows some signs of life.
Adam McGill is the Senior Fantasy Sports Writer at Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @adammcgill83, like him on Facebook, or add him to you networks on Google here or here.
