ATLANTA — J.D. Martinez is a veteran of many important late-season games, but that experience doesn’t carry much weight as a slumping player.
And Martinez is certainly slumping.
He arrived at Truist Park on Tuesday in an 0-for-32 nosedive, prompting manager Carlos Mendoza to exclude him from the starting lineup against the Braves.
Jesse Winker was in the lineup as the Mets DH and went 0-for-4 in the Mets’ 5-1 loss.
“We’re in a playoff run and I want to be in there obviously, but I just want to win — that is the most important thing,” Martinez said before the game. “We have got our best hand out there right now, the hottest hand and right now I haven’t been hot. The other guys have been hotter.”
Mendoza said there was a possibility Martinez would start Wednesday with lefty Chris Sale as the Braves’ scheduled pitcher.
“I’m working hard and I’m too good a hitter to continue it,” Martinez said. “It’s one of those things where I have just got to keep chipping away and it will turn.”
Martinez entered the day with an abysmal .271 OPS in September.
That included a 1-for-44 at the plate (his lone hit was a single).
