J. D. Martinez | |||
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![]() Martinez with the Detroit Tigers
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Detroit Tigers – No. 28 | |||
Outfielder | |||
Born: Miami, Florida |
August 21, 1987 |||
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MLB debut | |||
July 30, 2011, for the Houston Astros | |||
MLB statistics (through 2016 season) |
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Batting average | .281 | ||
Hits | 673 | ||
Home runs | 107 | ||
Runs batted in | 372 | ||
Teams | |||
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Career highlights and awards | |||
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Julio Daniel "J. D." Martinez (born August 21, 1987) is an American professional baseball right fielder for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has also played in MLB for the Houston Astros. Martinez is of Cuban descent.
Martinez was drafted out of Flanagan High School in 2006 by the Minnesota Twins in the 36th round, 1086th overall, but he ended up going to college. He grew up a Florida Marlins fan. Martinez went to Nova Southeastern University, where from 2007–2009, he was a two-time All-Sunshine State Conference baseball player.
The Houston Astros selected Martinez in the 20th round, with the 611th overall selection, of the 2009 Major League Baseball draft. He was signed by Greg Brown who is now the head coach at NSU. He became the first player drafted out of Nova Southeastern University to debut in Major League baseball.
Martinez started his professional career with the Greeneville Astros of the Rookie-level Appalachian League, where he batted .403 before earning a promotion to the Tri-City ValleyCats of the Class A-Short Season New York–Penn League. He started the 2010 season with Lexington Legends of the Class A South Atlantic League, where he earned a mid-season promotion to the Corpus Christi Hooks of the Class AA Texas League. He started the 2011 season with Corpus Christi before earning a promotion to the big leagues.