Fantasy Baseball Stud: J.D. Martinez Primed for Another Great Season

Boston Red Sox outfielder J.D. Martinez will once again reward fantasy baseball players that draft him in 2020.

Coming off his sixth straight season of batting over .300, J.D. Martinez once again looks to dominate from the plate in 2020. The Red Sox outfielder won’t surpass the 100 RBI mark for his fourth straight year due to the shortened MLB season but he’ll still be productive when it comes to driving in runs. 

According to the latest ADP data, Martinez is coming off the board as the 21st overall selection in fantasy baseball drafts. 

SI fantasy baseball analysts Jaime Eisner and Shawn Childs joined Corey Parson to discuss Martinez’s value for the 2020 MLB season. 

Read the full transcript from the interview below: 

Corey Parson: Hey what’s up, it's Corey Parson, the fantasy executive here for SI.com. Major League Baseball could unpause and be on the way back. Fantasy baseball owners, it's time to get your rosters together. Most of you have drafted already, but if you get a chance to rerack, we want to bring you a couple of tidbits going into this season. Joining me to talk Boston Red Sox outfielder J.D. Martinez is SI fantasy and gambling analysts Jaime Eisner and Shawn Childs. Shawn, last season, J.D. Martinez, pretty good. What do you think you've got coming for him this season?

Shawn Childs: You know, when you're building a fantasy team, he fits one of the top three bats you're always looking for. I'm always looking for a high average power bat or somebody can steal a lot of bases and hit for high batting average. Martinez probably reminds me of Manny Ramirez. He had over 300 three years in a row, over 40 home runs a couple of years in a row. Last year, he kind of slid back in, only had 33. But he's going to hit in front of a very good hitter. He's going to have three hitters hitting very good in front of him. So he has a lot of upside, a lot of power, a great foundation that probably gets discounted a little bit because a lot of players had good offenses last year. So, he'll probably a second-rounder. Yet he's a guy that if you're not going to take an ace with the first two hitters, he's a probably a guy you're going to be very attracted to in the second round.

Corey Parson: Listen to that, the Manny Ramirez Comparison... Jaime, let me ask you: When it comes to ranking the outfielders, how do you rank Martinez?

Jaime Eisner: He's my no. 7 outfielder right now. I agree with Shawn completely. I love him where he's going right now in the second round. He's going in the back end in the second round and I would take him more to the early mid-portion. I understand maybe some fantasy owners that took him around pick 5 or 6 last year felt a little bit burned at that level. Yet, all this guy has done, since really finding his groove in Detroit a few years ago, is pretty much guarantee 30 plus home runs, a high batting average, 100 plus RBI, and that's what I think he would do. My pre-season projection for him had him around 98 runs, 38 homers, 110 RBI and 300 batting average. Now you'll have to cut those in half but I see him as a top 20 overall player and I'd be more than happy to have him as my second-round pick.

Corey Parson: All right. Thanks a lot, fellas. For more from the majors, make sure you keep it locked right here at SI.com/fantasy.