Word surfaced last week that the veteran appointed the striker and the safe six times, JD Martinez, wants to continue his baseball career. However, this does not prevent him from making plans for what comes next. Namely, the manufacturer of German Paddlesports Equipment Joola announced Tuesday that they had signed Martinez on an exclusive pact that will see him pass to Pickleball after his retirement from baseball.
Martinez has already started to receive instructions from the Pro Eric White pickleball. In addition, as part of the arrangement, he “will receive the support of Joola to participate in professional events such as the PPA Challenger series and to organize his own pickleball tournaments”.
“I see pickleball as a sport in which I will be involved in the long term and Jooola’s commitment to sport and my personal growth of the game makes this partnership even more special”, ” Martinez said as part of a press release issued by the company.
Martinez, 37, struck .235 / .320 / .406 (106 ops +) in 120 games with the New York dishes last season. CBS Sports ranked it as the 44th best free agent available this winter, noting that “all of his good strike was contained in May and June, since he withdrew more times in the second period (63) that he does not reach the base (61).
In 14 seasons in the large leagues, Martinez compiled 131 ops + and 331 Home Runs. According to Baseball Reference, his contributions were worth around 30.5 victories above the replacement. In addition to these statistical brands and his appearances in the aforementioned stars match, he also won three Silver Slugger prizes and was part of the 2018 World Series Champion Boston Red Sox Squad.
