After enjoying a career year in 2014, Victor Martinez returned to the Detroit Tigers on what was reported to be a four-year, $68 million deal last offseason. Unfortunately for the Tigers and Martinez, 2015 turned out to be a rough year.
In the aftermath of enduring another knee injury last February, Martinez struggled out of the gate last year and ended up batting only .245/.301/.366 with 11 home runs and 64 RBIs. The switch-hitter batted only .219/.276/.339 from the left side.
Despite all of his struggles, Martinez remained a fixture in the cleanup spot. A whopping 342 of his 485 total plate appearances came in the No. 4 spot. Still, considering Martinez’s stellar track record, it was hard to fault manager Brad Ausmus for showing a tremendous amount of confidence in his veteran and sticking with him in that spot.
Going into 2016, even though he is now 37 years old, it is still quite possible that Martinez has another comeback in him. He probably won’t have another 30-plus homer season like the one he had in 2014, but the career .302 hitter’s batting average should climb back up to a much more respectable territory.
However, should the struggles continue, the leash should be much shorter this time around. Although it remains to be seen how the lineup will shake out, many do seem to expect that Martinez will reclaim his role as the team’s cleanup man. This would likely place him right in between superstar Miguel Cabrera and J.D. Martinez (many believe new addition Justin Upton would be a good fit in the No. 2 spot).
Obviously, driving in runs is going to be V-Mart’s job in the No. 4 spot. It doesn’t necessarily have to be by way of the home run, and it is important to remember that this is a guy who once drove in over a 100 runs while only hitting 12 homers.
If he can’t bring those big runs home one way or another, though, it may be time to try someone else in the cleanup role.
