The veteran hitter joins the Mets’ lineup for their series opener tonight.
The Mets have officially recalled J.D. Martinez from Triple-A Syracuse, where he spent two games as he worked toward being ready for major league action, and designated Zack Short for assignment to make room for him on the roster.
SIgned just a week before the 2024 season began, the 36-yerar-old right-handed hitter figures to be the Mets’ designated hitter the vast majority of the time moving forward. Tonight, he’s batting fifth—behind Pete Alonso and ahead of Jeff McNeil—as the Mets open their three-game series with the Cardinals.
Last year, Martinez hit .271/.321/.572 with 33 home runs, 103 runs batted in, and a 135 wRC+ in 479 plate appearances with the Dodgers.
As for Short, the 28-year-old infielder earned a spot on the Mets’ Opening Day roster with a strong showing in spring training. Since the season began, however, he only got 12 plate appearances, as he and fellow infielder Joey Wendle proved to be somewhat redundant. In that extremely small sample, Short hit .111/.273/.111.