The Mets’ late spring free-agent addition J.D. Martinez takes a swing at some Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby.
Q: What is the biggest adversity or obstacle you had to overcome?
A: I think it’s when I hurt my foot in 2017.
Q: You thought your career was over in 2017?
A: Yes. … I tore my Lisfranc. I missed seven weeks of the season. … It was very depressing. It was very scary. It was my free agency year.
Q: How did you get through it?
A: Praying. Being with my family and my friends. There were days I was like, “This is not getting better.” There were weeks at a time when it just did not get better. I spent literally two weeks, and it hasn’t moved forward and it just still feels like s–t. That’s what the doctor was telling me, he’s like, “It’s not gonna get better, it’s one of those things where it can and it cannot.” It was very scary and a very tough time for me.
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Q: What were you thinking you might do?
A: I really wasn’t thinking about that. I was thinking about my Lisfranc and getting heathy.
Q: Was that a worst moment emotionally than being released by the Astros in March 2014?
A: Obviously when I got released, that was a huge obstacle … [but] no. ’Cause I knew what I had done and I knew the change I had made. It was funny ’cause [Mets GM] David Stearns was in the office when I got released — he was [then-Astros GM] Jeff Luhnow’s assistant. The one thing he always said when I talked to him about it, he goes, “Yeah, I just remember how confident you were when you left that room.” And I was like, “That’s when I felt the most confident.”
Q: Why was that?
A: ’Cause I had made my swing change, so I already knew what I got.
Q: The criticism that bothered you the most or you felt was unfair?
A: I think it was that COVID year. The northeast media, man, they’re tough, and they’re just relentless, and they just expect such a high performance every day. I remember coming off ’18 and ’19 and literally being at the top of the list for every category offensively, and then ’20 comes in, the damn doctor’s telling me that I’m not allowed to hit BP, I’m not allowed to freakin’ lift weights, I’m not allowed to do anything because I’m scared I’m gonna die of COVID ’cause I have bad asthma. So I go out there, they take my video away from me, I don’t have anything to look at. I spent the last two months sitting at home not being able to do anything, just doing little in-home workouts. And had a bad year in a year that nobody even thought we were gonna play baseball, and the media in Boston just absolutely destroyed me, told me they need to trade me, that I’m terrible, I’m washed up, and this and that, and it was just nonstop. That was probably the most unfair thing that happened.
Q: Signing with the Mets in the New York market didn’t give you any pause?
A: I can handle it, they’re already saying I’m old anyways, you know? It plays for me. If I suck, “Oh I’m old.” If I do good, it’s “Oh, but he’s old.” So I don’t even sweat it.
Q: What does Mothers Day mean to you?
A: To me it means nothing. To her it means everything (laugh).
Q: Describe your mom.
A: My mom’s a hard-working woman. She raised three of us working a 9-to-5, and still had time to come home and cook and clean and made sure we lived in a good home.
Q: Did she help you with your asthma growing up?
A: Yeah, she was always like in charge of all my medical side of stuff. She’s a nurse.
Q: Is that something you still have to manage now?
A: Yeah.
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Q: How do you do that?
A: My inhalers.
Q: That’s another thing you had to overcome, right? You’re like Mr. Overcomer.
A: Dude, I had freakin’ meningitis when I was 3, tested positive for TB when I was like 2 or 3 or something. I’ve been through the wire.
Q: As a kid how did the asthma affect you?
A: When I was a kid playing ball, it was tough just ’cause we had to constantly just go in and out of the emergency room. Playing Little League and stuff like that I’d have asthma attacks. As kids got older, we just understood how to handle it more, and then everything was great after that.
Q: Do you still have a chip on your shoulder that you brought into this league?
A: Yeah, sometimes you know? I feel like the older you get, you start to kind of like lose it a bit, but sometimes it pops up every now and then. I felt like the way the offseason went and the way free agency went it was kinda one of those things too … just add to the story.
Q: Can anything be done about catcher’s interference?
A: I mean, you gotta come up a little bit … get ‘em further back.
Q: Is that realistic for Major League Baseball?
A: Major League Baseball’s trying to tell the teams, but the team’s trying to steal strikes.
Q: You texted Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras, who has surgery on his fractured forearm, and you wished him the best.
A: Obviously apologized. He was like, “Nah, it’s nobody fault.” He told me to sign his cast the next time he sees me (laugh).
Q: How did the nickname “Just Dingers” begin?
A: I don’t know, someone in Arizona started that (laugh).
Q: I also think the following apply for J.D.: Just Driven … Just Determined . .. Just Defiant.
A: I like those, those are nice.
Q: Which one applies most?
A: I think they’re all pretty good.
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Q: Who had the prettiest swings you’ve ever seen?
A: Righties or lefties?
Q: Whatever you like.
A: I mean, everyone’s gonna go to [Ken] Griffey [Jr.], obviously. Everyone’s gonna go to these guys, I think they’re swagger swings, great-looking swings. To me, I’ve always liked Miguel Cabrera’s … Manny Ramirez. I think those two had like the best swings. I used to study righties. It’s weird, righties can’t do what lefties do, it’s just weird.
Q: How pretty now is your swing?
A: Right now at this moment? It ain’t very pretty, I’ll tell you that (laugh). It gets pretty, but it’s one of those things where just a lot of grinding and I gotta line up a lot of things and then it’ll get pretty. Obviously I’m gonna be harder on my swing than anyone else’s.
Q: It’s a curse being a perfectionist, isn’t it?
A: It is.
Q: Describe your mentality in the batter’s box.
A: What’s the word I’m looking for here? When you’re just locked in on your goal and what you’re trying to do. Some word for that.
Q: Laser focused?
A: Yeah, I would say focused.
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Q: In general, how would you describe your baseball mentality?
A: I’m just trying to get the job done, you know? Trying to find a way to survive that day and get it done and thrive … hungry.
Q: From your Instagram: “When backed into a corner, one has two options: he can lie down and die, or he can fight regardless of the odds.”
A: I think we [Diamondbacks] were trailing in the [2017 NLDS against the Dodgers] 2-0 and were about to get swept.
Q: It can actually apply to your baseball life and story.
A: Yeah, it’s what my dad always taught me. Any obstacles that you come across, you can just fold it, or you go against it and you figure out a way to overcome it.
Q: Describe Carlos Mendoza.
A: Nice, understanding, open-minded I would say.
Q: How do you feel about DH now compared to when you were younger?
A: Obviously I didn’t want to do it when I was younger. And now it’s just one of those things where they put you in a corner where you’re DH now, you know?
Q: Is it easy for you to adapt to now?
A: I’ve been doing it for how long now … since 2018? So I feel like I’ve adapted well.
Q: Even now though you would still love to get out in the outfield?
A: Oh, I love playing the field. It’s fun.
Q: What do you remember about Kodai Senga last year?
A: Nasty forkball.
Q: What are your thoughts on the Mets’ lineup?
A: Talented lineup. It’s just one of those things they just gotta continue to grow. Got a lot of young guys, and they just have to grow.
Q: What is the benefit of your toy bag — elastic bands, weights, Frisbees, a small kickball — and how long have you had it?
A: Since 2014, it was part of my whole swing change, so it’s full of toys that help me find feelings for my swing.
Q: Would 400 home runs be a goal?
A: It would definitely be great.
Q: Did you ever imagine when you started your major league career you’d be talking about the possibility of 400 home runs?
A: Not at all.
Q: Do you think about Hall of Fame?
A: I did. I think it’s very tough for me though right now where I’m at in my career. I think if I woulda just dodged some injuries early … and that COVID year I think really hurt me, I was in the prime of my career. After coming off ’17, ’18 and ’19 I felt like I was locked in, and then having that COVID year and not being able to train in the offseason and getting shut down right before the season started, I feel like kind of f—-d me up. Ever since then it was trying to find my swing again.
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Q: That’s a constant everyday process for you, right?
A: It is.
Q: How do you prevent it from driving you nuts?
A: (Laugh) It’s hard. it’s not easy, I’ll tell you that right now.
Q: You study a lot of video, obviously.
A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I study every night, it’s just one of those things where you just kinda compartmentalize it: “All right, this is what I gotta do tomorrow, let’s go.” Instead of when I was younger, it was like, “Oh my God, I gotta do this, this and that,” and you start freaking yourself out. And you end up like, I don’t know, just unwanted stress on your body. You just wear yourself out for it.
Q: How do you handle it emotionally now?
A: Now I just kind of tell myself what I have to do, and then I just go out there and do it. But I know stressing out about it’s not gonna fix it.
Q: What drives you?
A: Competition. Winning. It’s a lot fun when you’re on a team that’s constantly winning and you’re competing against the best talent out there, and you are also the best talent out there, that’s what really drives me. Moments when I feel the best I feel in the box and I’m facing against the pitcher when he’s feeling the best he feels.
Q: If you could go back in time and test your skills against any one pitcher in MLB history, who would it be?
A: Probably Roger Clemens. … To me he was probably one of the most intimidating pitchers to watch when you’re a kid. He’s just this huge guy. It was his son Koby in Double-A, he was retired. He ran like 10 miles to the stadium in Corpus Christi [Texas], and the moment he would get there, he’s like, “All right, let’s go.” And he would throw a live session to me and Koby Clemens, and he would tell us what’s coming: “All right, fastball, catch it out front.” I actually remember he was throwing probably 84, 85 [mph]. He wasn’t throwing hard, but even then, his balls were just jumpin’. Like, oh my God, you could tell when this guy was mid-90s, he was electric.
Q: When was this?
A: 2010. He would hide the ball so well in his hand you couldn’t even see it coming out of his hand, I was like, Oh my gosh!
Q: Describe winning the 2018 World Series with the Red Sox.
A: It’s one of those things where it takes you by surprise, it’s just like you don’t even know how to react. You work just your whole life for it, you don’t think it’s possible and then it’s right there and you’re like … it’s just so crazy. When you get to that point, the best thing about the postseason is no one keeps track of stats. You go into the playoffs and nothing else matters but winning.
Q: How was that rivalry with the Yankees?
A: Oh, it was a blast. The best year was ’18. Both teams were 100-plus win teams and it was just a battle.
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Q: Favorite All-Star Game memories?
A: They’re all so cool. Last year was cool. Being able to start I think is the best. That’s where you get the most memories. So then starting and getting two hits is one of the highlights, you know?
Q: What does the nickname “Flaco” mean?
A: Flaco means skinny, and when I was a kid, [former Cuban MLB catcher] Paul Casanova used to call me Flaco all the time. That was my nickname that he gave me ’cause I was really skinny when I was like in high school and Little League and when I got to college.
Q: You were very close with him, right?
A: Yeah, he was my mentor growing up.
Q: He passed away in 2017.
A: He couldn’t breathe and had to go to the hospital, and he filled up with fluid and the doctors couldn’t get it out and he slowly passed away. … Years of smoking. … He had a bad back, and the moment he got it fused his health deteriorated. It was tough. I was in Arizona when it happened.
Q: Who was your boyhood idol?
A: I always looked up to my dad. He came from Cuba, started with nothing and he started his own business, and always telling me to never quit no matter what life threw you, to keep going and never stop and don’t use excuses to get out of things. You find a way, and he went from working 100 hours a week at Domino’s to starting his own business and having about 30 employees working for him.
Q: Favorite movie?
A: “The Count of Monte Cristo.”
Q: Favorite actors?
A: Denzel [Washington]; Leonardo DiCaprio.
Q: Favorite actress?
A: Margot Robbie.
Q: Favorite singer/entertainer?
A: Drake.
Q: Favorite meal?
A: Piccadillo.
Q: How much longer do you want to do this?
A: I don’t know. It could be this year, it could be next year. It’s just one of those things where I just want to see what happens. It’s gotta be worth it for me to come back.
Q: What would constitute being worth it?
A: Salary [$12 million this year]. I think a lot of people this offseason were like, “Oh, maybe it’s gonna take 4 or 5 million dollars or 8 million dollars.” … I’ll stay home, to me it’s not worth it. I made enough money in my life that I’m gonna be very comfortable … to make 2, 3 million dollars is not gonna change my life, you know?
Q: What do you hope Mets fans say about you?
A: That I’m the most prepared for an at-bat. They can count on me being the most ready for a game out there, ’cause I take a lot of pride in that. I study and do my homework, I train my body and do anything I could possibly do to go out there and succeed.
Q: Do you have any favorite New York City things?
A: No. I’m here just to hit baseballs.
Q: What would you say you’re most proud of about what you’ve accomplished in baseball?
A: The adversity that I overcame.
