J. D. Martinez

My teammate Torii Hunter taught me how to lead and provide encouragement to the locker room.

Any time you go into the playoff game everyone's adrenaline is high and tensions are going, stuff like that.

That's why, to me, Spring Training is so hard, because every time you go up there, there's a new pitcher, and you have to come up with a new plan.

It's so hard to win a World Series.

The last thing I wanted to do was get buried in Triple-A behind prospects.

Learning how to slow the game down is the biggest thing.

It's easy to sit there in the dugout when the game's going on and talk, chitchat about this and that. But I think paying attention, watching the pitcher, watching the game develop, putting yourself in situations you're not even in yet, anticipating the game, stuff like that, I think that really helps you take that extra step.

Starting in middle school, I would play on two or three baseball teams at the same time, because that's just how things worked in south Florida. I would practice six or seven days each week. I honestly don't know how my parents did it, but my dad always found a way to make it to each and every game.

I have so many memories of going fishing and camping as a kid, and my dad had season tickets to watch the Marlins - and that's where I fell in love with the game.

I started playing ball when I was 4 years old.

I played street basketball for a while and wanted to play competitively, but I was so used to the street-style of game that I would have fouled out by the end of the first quarter.

Just kind of finding it, that's what Spring Training is for, to work on stuff and get ready.

I'm usually rough during Spring Training. My Spring Training numbers aren't very good, but I never expect them to be.

Contrary to everyone's belief of 'J.D. is a launch-angle guy. He wants to get the ball in the air and this and that.' This is true, but you're not trying to force situations, trying to force things.

My parents taught me that in life, you get out what you put in.

My preparation and my routine are the foundations to my success.

I busted my butt in '15. Then in '16, I broke my arm running into a wall, so then I got scared of running into walls because I didn't want to get hurt again.

You can ask every coach from Ron Gardenhire to Dave Clark, anyone who has seen me play, they don't know why they say I'm a bad defender.

I found a place in Boston, a home in Boston, and I'm pretty happy here.

I love the game and I love to play. You have to admire fans who are the same way.

I just want to go deep in the playoffs and be put in that situation where I'm locked in and the game and the season is on the line.

I've always loved hitting, and even as a kid, I always hit.

Obviously, I have to do what's best for me and my family; I've got to put that first. But I definitely want to be on a team that's in contention.

All through Miami, the guys who grew up with me hitting at the place I hit, they all call me Flaco. Nobody calls me J.D. It's like, 'Hey, Flaco.'

I've always been hungry, but when people ask what drives you - 'How do you stay so driven throughout this whole thing?' - you just don't stop. It's every single day. The people that know me and the people that love me and are in my life see it.

I preach about getting the ball in the air.

I had to make baseball work. I threw myself into it.

I never go a day without talking to either my mom or dad, and my sister is one of the smartest people I know.

I love to talk about hitting. It's a passion of mine.

I never pressure anyone to believe what I believe. It's their choice. But when guys ask me, I'm always open, and I share.

I was able to play alongside, in my opinion, the best hitter with Miguel Cabrera and kind of watch the way he goes about it and the way he looks at situations, when to try to drive a ball versus when to shoot a ball.

I think I've grown over the years and learned about who I am and what I can do and what I can't do.

Man, it literally starts from after the game. I get every at-bat sent to me from the game. I'll go home, I'll watch every at-bat, kind of break down the game, kind of see, OK, what did I do? Why'd I miss this pitch? Why'd I hit that pitch?

You play 162 games so let's say 100 of them come down to the end where you see the game is out of reach one way or the other. I feel like the other 62 are close games so you're going to be into those at-bats. If you do that, that's 100 at-bats. That's almost a month worth of at-bats where you're not as focused as you might be in those 62.

I think about my journey sometimes.

You want to see the team that is in the playoffs.

Kids want to see relevant teams.

Whenever you see me and I'm hitting ground ball after ground ball, you know I'm not feeling right.

I mean, I learned a lot from Houston. And you know what? It made me who I am and there's really no animosity there. In a sense, they did me a favor by allowing me to leave and going to play on another team.

I'm always just grinding and figuring out what adjustment I need to make and how to tweak my swing to where I want it to be for that game and that pitcher.

Obviously, I love Boston. I love the passion. It kind of matches my personality. The fans, I almost feel like they're just as passionate as me.

I'm going to tell you right now, no one is harder on me than me. The fact that fans sit there and boo me, I'm booing myself when I'm walking in.

I really judge me on me.

Detroit will always have a special place in my heart.

I always talk about it like I'm a hitter first and if I'm doing things right and my body's in the right place, I drive the baseball.

I think my failures in Houston is what made me who I am. I think it's given me that drive, that drive to keep working, because you never know what can happen type deal.

If a pitcher goes up there and he's throwing a ball and it's a breaking ball down and away or a fastball up and in, a perfect pitcher's pitch, and you're able to just foul it off and stay alive in the at-bat, just keep grinding, keep working through the at-bat and hoping for that mistake that he's going to make. And if he doesn't, then you walk.

To me grinding out a good at-bat is pretty much fighting. And it's not trying to do too much with pitches, just finding a way to spoil a good pitcher's pitches, really.

I believe that you're a hitter first and you're a slugger second type deal.

I don't go up there and try to hit home runs.