JD Martinez’s day off Saturday against his old team did not sit well with some.
The Boston Red Sox All-Star outfielder was out of the lineup for their game against the Detroit Tigers, marking just his seventh missed contest of the year.
After the game (a 5-0 victory for Detroit), Tigers starter Mike Fiers, who fired 6.1 shutout innings to earn the win, seemed to rip Martinez. He said that Martinez was scared to face him and accused the AL RBIs leader of asking for a day off against him, according to Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press.
Mike Fiers did not mince words after the game: He thinks J.D. Martinez was scared to face him today.
— anthony fenech (@anthonyfenech) July 22, 2018
“He ducked me today,” Fiers said. “He had been talking about that all year and I think he told (Red Sox manager Alex) Cora to get a day off against me.”
— anthony fenech (@anthonyfenech) July 22, 2018
Jason Beck of MLB.com indicated that the comment was in good fun though, as the two used to be teammates in college at Nova Southeastern University.
Fiers teasing fellow Nova Southeastern product J.D. Martinez for being out today. "We've been talking about it all year, and I think he told Cora to take a day off," Fiers said.
Martinez is 7-for-14 with 2 doubles and 2 HRs off Fiers. "But I felt really good today," Fiers said.
— Jason Beck (@beckjason) July 22, 2018
Martinez spent four seasons with Detroit before being dealt to the Arizona Diamondbacks last trade deadline. However, he was never teammates on the Tigers with Fiers, who just arrived from the Houston Astros last winter.
Granted, the last feud that Fiers had with an opposing slugger was very real, so this is definitely a good change of pace for the veteran righty.
