Behind a resurgent Victor Martinez, the Tigers offense is rolling

There were plenty of questions facing Detroit Tigers designated hitter Victor Martinez when he signed a four-year, $68 million deal to stay with the club in 2014. Sure, Martinez was coming off a spectacular season at the plate, but he was 35 years old. Martinez might be one of the best hitters of his era, but Father Time comes for everyone.

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It certainly looked like that was the case last season. Father Time came in the form of a knee injury in February. While Martinez was able to return April 6, it was clear some issues still lingered. Martinez just wasn’t himself, hitting .245/.301/.366 over 485 plate appearances. Given his age, it was fair to wonder whether Martinez would ever get back to his elite hitting performance.

He hasn’t waited long to prove the doubters wrong. At age-37, Martinez is back. The Tigers designated hitter is living up to his job title, slashing .347/.391/.545 on the year. With Martinez now back to form, the Tigers have been able to put together one of Major League Baseball’s most potent offenses.

Yahoo Sports' Free MLB Game of the Day schedule this week. That offense will be the focus of Yahoo Sports Free MLB Game of the Day on Tuesday. The Tigers are set to take on Jose Bautista and the Toronto Blue Jays. The game, which starts at 7:10 p.m. ET, will be streamed for free on Yahoo’s Sports Home, MLB index and video home. Local blackout restrictions apply.

For Martinez, being healthy has played a huge role in his resurgence. He’s making hard contact 40.9 percent of the time according to FanGraphs, that’s 10 percentage points higher than last season, and more in line with his 2014 and 2013 levels. He’s also hitting line drives at the highest rate of his career.

A big reason for that might be that Martinez is destroying fastballs again. Last season, he had a tough time getting around on heaters. Martinez, who has always been an excellent fastball hitter, posted negative pitch values against the all variations of the fastball last year according to FanGraphs. Through two months this year, he’s seen those figures rebound.

With Martinez putting up vintage numbers, the Tigers offense has been the sixth best in the league according to wRC+, an advanced stat that measures a club’s offensive performance. It’s not just Martinez, though. Ian Kinsler, Nick Castellanos and Cameron Maybin have gotten off to hot starts. Miguel Cabrera is doing his usual thing while J.D. Martinez is finding his power stroke again.

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The club has been able to produce despite the fact that their big offseason acquisition, Justin Upton, is hitting just .225/.274/.343 this year. If he can get things going, the Tigers could challenge for the best offense in baseball.

Until then, Martinez and the Tigers will just have to settle for just being pretty good. After last season, both sides will take that.

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