Prior to their series opener against the Cleveland Guardians, the Los Angeles Dodgers placed J.D. Martinez on the 10-day injured list due to left groin tightness and recalled Michael Busch from Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Martinez had been dealing with a groin/adductor issue for nearly one month and was scratched from the Dodgers lineup on multiple occasions. He was also removed from a game against the Cincinnati Reds on July 30 before taking an at-bat.
After being a late scratch on August 8, Martinez received an epidural injection to treat the nagging injury. He missed six games before returning to the Dodgers lineup. The 36-year-old was scratched again on August 17 but managed to play in consecutive games against the Miami Marlins after that.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts explained that Martinez was limited at the plate and believes an IL stint will be beneficial, via SportsNet LA:
“In talking to J.D. and the training staff, he just was compromised with his swing. Tried to play through it, but it’s just something that we felt he wasn’t going to be able to perform at his or our expectations, so an IL made sense.”
While the Dodgers initially looked to avoid placing Martinez on the IL, it was ultimately deemed the best course of action for the veteran slugger with October in mind. With six weeks remaining in the regular season, the hope is that rest will allow him to get healthy for the playoffs.
Martinez has been one of the Dodgers’ most productive hitters this season as he is batting .256/.309/.547 with 23 doubles, 25 home runs and 78 RBI in 390 plate appearances (92 games).
J.D. Martinez changed pregame routine
Before landing on the IL, Martinez changed his stride direction to see if it would help alleviate some of the discomfort he was feeling. “That’s what I was trying to see,” he said.
“I was like, ‘Dang, it looks like I’m striding really far and maybe I’m just putting too much pressure on it.’ Because it only hurts in BP. It doesn’t hurt in the game, but I don’t stride far in the game.”
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