The 2014 version of Victor Martinez is back
My favorite fantasy league is my auction keeper league with 11 of my close friends. We all travel to New York for a weekend, have our auction, and then celebrate afterward with a steak dinner. This year, I went into the auction with Anthony Rizzo and Nolan Arenado as two of my keepers. Pretty early on in the auction, I sort of fell into purchasing Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas. And I immediately regretted it. Not because I was down on either player. But because it locked up my corner-infield and utility slots, which meant that I had to cross off one of my favorite sleepers; Victor Martinez.
2016 Victor Martinez was my perfect player. An older player coming off a terrible year that can largely be attributed to injury. Fantasy owners HATE those players. Not me. My buddies love to tell me that I won’t draft a player unless he’s over 30 and has had at least one major injury. That’s overstating it, but certainly, no one would have been surprised to see me end up with V-Mart. Unfortunately, I have zero shares this year, and that stinks. Because not only is he raking, but he’s not going to slow down. 2014 Victor Martinez is back.
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First of all, let’s dispatch with the notion that Martinez’s numbers last year meant anything. His poor numbers were entirely the product of the left knee injury he suffered in Spring Training. Martinez said in May last year that his left knee hurt when he batted left-handed and had to put weight on it. Well, take a look at his splits from last year:
- .348 batting average with an .870 OPS batting right-handed
- .219 batting average with a .616 OPS batting left-handed
Now back to being fully healthy, you know who 2016 Victor Martinez looks like? 2014 Victor Martinez.
- 2014 V-Mart: .335, 87 runs, 32 homers, 103 RBI, .974 OPS
- 2016 V-Mart: .341, 84 runs, 30 homers, 108 RBI, 1.009 OPS (on pace numbers entering Thursday)
Look, if you want, I’ve got a lot more for you. We can talk exit velocity, wOBA, or wherever you want to go. But just look at those numbers! You don’t need to be a genius to realize that V-Mart is back.
Really, there are only two counter-arguments. First, he’s 37. And yes, I’ll grant you that. But sometimes, players age well. More often than not, those players are guys like Martinez, who have great plate discipline and close to a 1:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. So, that age thing isn’t enough to counter his numbers.
Second, he’s only eligible at utility. And yeah, that’s a bummer. But, who cares? Take your production where you can get it.
Oh, and you know where he’s not only eligible at utility? On FanDuel. Where he’s STILL catcher-eligible and almost always reasonably-priced. More often than not, he should be your starting catcher there, unless you feel the desperate need to play Welington Castillo to make the Vin-Scully “Beef Wellington” joke whenever he bats.
So, yeah, V-Mart is back. For real. Go ahead and buy high, and for goodness sake, pretend he’s a catcher on FanDuel! Oh, and if you’re desperate for those next level stats on V-Mart, go ahead and email me. Happy to prove that V-Mart is back in the nerdiest way possible.
Dan Fisher is a correspondent with FantasyPros. For more from Dan, check out his archive or follow him @dfisher80.
