Víctor Jesús Martínez (born December 23, 1978), also known by his nickname "V-Mart", is a Venezuelan former professional baseball catcher and designated hitter. Martínez played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, and Detroit Tigers. After joining the Tigers, he played mostly as a designated hitter.
Martínez was a five-time MLB All-Star. He won the Silver Slugger Award twice, and the Edgar Martínez Award once. He finished runner-up for the American League Most Valuable Player award in 2014. When he retired in 2018, he was seventh among all active players in RBI (1,178).
Career
Cleveland Indians (2002–2009) Martínez was signed by the Indians as an amateur free agent in 1996. He was named the Indians 2001 and 2002 Minor League Player of the Year (receiving the "Lou Boudreau Award"). After a pair of minor league MVP awards and batting titles in 2001 and 2002, Cleveland added Martínez to their active roster as a September call-up on September 9, 2002. He made his debut with Cleveland on September 10, going 1-for-4 with 2 RBI in a 5–4 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. Martínez's first major league hit was a two-run single in the seventh inning off Blue Jays pitcher Justin Miller. On September 29, Martínez and Earl Snyder hit back-to-back home runs in a 7–3 win over the Kansas City Royals. Both home runs were the first of their careers. In 12 games with Cleveland, Martínez hit .281 with a home run and 5 RBI.
In 2003, Martínez played for the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons and the Indians. He finished with a combined .315 batting average, hitting at a .349 clip in August and September with the big league club. Exhibiting knowledge of the strike zone and an ability to make contact, he reduced his strikeout totals and produced a combined .376 on-base percentage. He also drove in 63 runs, hitting .323 with runners in scoring position, and was selected to participate in the All-Star Futures Game played at Chicago's U.S. Cellular Field. From 2001 to 2003, the Venezuelan slugger batted a combined .330 with 40 home runs and 194 RBI.
2004 In his first full major league season, Martínez hit .283 with 23 home runs and 108 RBI in 141 games as the Indians' starting catcher for 2004. His 108 RBI set a record for Indians catchers. He also earned his first All-Star selection, and shared the Silver Slugger honor as the top-hitting American League catcher with Iván Rodríguez. For the first time since the awards began in 1980, there was a tie at one position. On July 16, Martínez also had the best offensive night by an Indians catcher in franchise history; he hit three home runs, singled twice, drew a walk, and drove in a career-high seven runs in a perfect 5-for-5 game against the Seattle Mariners.
2005 At the end of Cleveland's game on June 11, 2005, Martínez was batting .207. However, he turned his season around in the second half, batting .380 (100-for-263) after the All-Star break, the best for any Major League player in that stretch. He finished the season with a .305 average, 20 home runs and 80 RBI in 147 games.
2006 Beginning in 2006, the Indians occasionally played Martínez at first base. As a catcher in 2006, he allowed 100 stolen bases, the most in Major League Baseball. He had a successful season at the plate, hitting .316 with 37 doubles, 16 home runs and 93 RBI in 153 games.
2007 In 2007, Martínez hit .301 with 25 home runs and led all major league catchers with a career-high 114 RBI in 147 games. He finished seventh in the American League MVP voting, and also made his second AL All-Star team. The Indians won the American League Central, marking Martínez's first postseason appearance. In his postseason debut in Game 1 of the 2007 American League Division Series, he finished the game 3-for-5 with a home run, a double and 2 RBI in Cleveland's 12–3 win over the New York Yankees. Martínez went on to bat .353 with a home run and 4 RBI in the four-game series victory. In the 2007 American League Championship Series, Martínez hit .296 with a home run and 3 RBI in Cleveland's seven-game defeat to the eventual World Series champion Boston Red Sox.
2008 The 2008 season was an injury-marred season for Martínez. In Cleveland's first game of the season on March 31 against the Chicago White Sox, he exited the game in the second inning with left hamstring tightness. He made his return to the starting lineup on April 7, finishing 2-for-4 with an RBI double in a 6–4 loss to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. From April 17 to May 4, Martínez posted a 15-game hitting streak in which he batted .344 with five doubles and 5 RBI. After batting .350 in April, Martínez subsequently hit .221 in May and .200 in June. On June 13, he underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow, which had been bothering him in mid-May. On August 29, Martínez was activated from the disabled list. He finished the season with a then career-low .278 batting average, two home runs and 35 RBI in 73 games.
2009 On June 19, 2009, Martínez hit his 100th career home run against Rich Harden of the Chicago Cubs. On July 5, he was selected to represent Cleveland in the 2009 All-Star Game, his third career selection. In 99 games before being traded, Martínez batted .284 with 15 home runs and 67 RBI. His departure from the Indians created a public relations problem for the ballclub. The team had scheduled two separate Martínez-related promotional giveaways (bobbleheads on August 1, chest protector backpacks five days later) for dates subsequent to the transaction. Despite the trade, both promotions went off as planned.
Boston Red Sox (2009–2010)
2009 On July 31, 2009, Martínez was traded to the Boston Red Sox for Justin Masterson, Nick Hagadone, and Bryan Price. Martínez made his debut with the Red Sox on August 1, starting at first base and finishing the game 1-for-5 with an RBI single in Boston's 4–0 win over the Baltimore Orioles. In his second game on August 2, he recorded five hits and 4 RBI in an 18–10 rout of the Orioles. After joining the Red Sox, Martínez played both first base and catcher, splitting time behind the plate with Red Sox captain Jason Varitek. His combined totals for the 2009 season (with Cleveland and Boston) included a .303 batting average, 23 home runs, and 108 RBI in 155 games. He also established a career high in walks, with 75. In the 2009 American League Division Series, Martínez hit just .182 with 2 RBI as the Red Sox were swept by the Angels. Following the season, the Red Sox exercised his 2010 option for $7.1 million.
2010 On June 27, 2010, against the San Francisco Giants, Martínez suffered a fractured left thumb, and was placed on the 15-day disabled list. He was activated on July 26, and was placed back into the starting lineup for Boston's game against the Angels that night, hitting an RBI single in his first at-bat. He was limited to 127 games, finishing the 2010 season with a .302 batting average, 20 home runs, and 79 RBI. He was also named to his fourth career All-Star Game.
Detroit Tigers (2011–18)
2011 On November 23, 2010, Martínez and the Detroit Tigers organization reached an agreement on a four-year, $50 million free agent contract. On March 31, 2011, Martínez made his debut for the Tigers as a designated hitter against the New York Yankees, going 1-for-4 in the 6–3 loss. Martínez was used almost exclusively as a designated hitter for the 2011 season, playing only 26 games at catcher and six games at first base. He had a slow start to the season, batting .250 in the month of April with two home runs, but he then batted .337 in May and .370 in June. On September 11, in a game at home against the Minnesota Twins, he had perhaps his worst-ever game at the plate, going 0-for-4 and hitting into four double plays (three of them GIDPs, one a line drive); his team managed to win anyway, 2–1. It was the first time a batter had hit into four double plays in the American League since Hall of Famer Goose Goslin did so in 1934, also while playing for the Tigers, and also in a game the Tigers won, 4–1. Although his power numbers were down, with only 12 home runs all season, Martínez posted his best career batting average (.330, good for fourth-best in the American League), tied his career high with 40 doubles, and had his fourth career 100+ RBI season (103, tied for 10th in the AL). He also led the Major Leagues in batting average with runners in scoring position, hitting .394. In the 2011 postseason, Martínez batted .250 with two home runs, a triple, 5 RBI and five walks in 11 games, helping the Tigers to the ALCS. The Tigers would lose the series to the Texas Rangers in six games.
2012 Martínez tore his ACL during off-season training in Lakeland, Florida and missed the entire 2012 season. On March 12, Martínez was placed on the 60-day disabled list. On June 22, owner Mike Ilitch optimistically reported that Martínez's rehab was progressing better than expected, and speculated that he might rejoin the Tigers in August or September. However, on August 17, athletic trainer Kevin Rand officially announced that Martínez would in fact not return for the 2012 season, and that his rehab would instead target a return in 2013.
2013 Martínez started slowly in 2013. Through the end of June, he was hitting just .232. From July 1 onward, however, he hit at a .367 clip, contributing to a final line of .301, 14 home runs and 83 RBI in 159 games. It marked the sixth season that Martínez topped .300, and he also set career highs in hits (182) and at-bats (605). He continued to play well in the 2013 postseason, batting .405 with four doubles, a home run and 5 RBI in 11 games, but the Tigers eventually lost the ALCS in six games to the Boston Red Sox.
2014 Entering the 2014 season, new Tigers manager Brad Ausmus indicated that he wanted Martínez to be prepared to catch, particularly during interleague games in a National League ballpark where there is no designated hitter. Martínez had the best statistical year of his career in 2014, setting career highs in several hitting categories.
On April 23, 2014, Martínez singled in the ninth inning of a game against the Chicago White Sox for his 1,500th career hit. On July 6, Martínez was selected in the player voting to participate in his fifth AL All-Star game, and his first as a Tiger. Martínez did not participate in the All-Star game due to side soreness, and was replaced by teammate Ian Kinsler. In a game against the New York Yankees on August 27, Martínez hit his 26th home run of the 2014 season, establishing a new career high. His previous high mark was 25 home runs for the Cleveland Indians in 2007.
Martínez was named the American League Player of the Month for August 2014. Martínez tied for the Major League lead in hits with 41 in the month, along with a .350 batting average in 31 games. Martínez slugged at a .547 clip in August, hitting six home runs and driving in a league-leading 30 runs. He also had 14 multi-hit games and was third in the AL in on-base percentage (.442) thanks to 19 walks.