Release from Houston sparked J.D. Martinez's turnaround

BOSTON – J.D. Martinez wants to thank the Houston Astros — not get back at them — for releasing him when he was struggling to make himself into a star.

The Boston slugger credits his growing pains in Houston for teaching him "how to fail," a lesson he credits with transforming him into an AL MVP candidate who helped the Red Sox win a franchise-record 108 games and reach the AL Championship Series against his former team.

"My failures in Houston is what made me who I am," Martinez said Friday, a day before the Astros and Red Sox open the best-of-seven series. "There's really no animosity there. In a sense they did me a favor by allowing me to leave and play on another team."

It will be the second consecutive year the Red Sox and Astros meet in the postseason, and the second consecutive year that Chris Sale will go against Justin Verlander in the opener.

The biggest difference this time: Boston has Martinez on its side. And the Astros could have.

Martinez made his big-league debut for Houston in 2011, driving in 28 runs in his first full month in the majors. After playing part time the next two years — hitting 18 homers with 91 RBI in 199 games — he was 26 years old and batting .167 in the spring of 2014 when the Astros released him, preferring to give the at-bats to top prospect George Springer.

Martinez landed with the Detroit Tigers that season, and by 2015 he was an All-Star, hitting 38 homers with 102 RBI. He hit 45 homers last year, when he was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks and was 14th in NL MVP voting despite playing only 62 games in the league.

Verlander was Martinez's teammate in Detroit and said he was "there from the moment he turned his career around."

"He went and completely revamped his swing that offseason, and saw immediate dividends," Verlander said. "[He] never stopped hitting. Seeing somebody like that who works so hard and turned their career around to where he's at now, as a fellow player, you respect it and I'm happy for him. I really am.'

Now Martinez is one of the keys — with Mookie Betts, who is expected to edge him for the AL MVP award — on a Red Sox team that won a third consecutive AL East title but advanced in the playoffs for the first time since 2013, eliminating the rival New York Yankees in the ALDS.

The Central Division champion Astros did OK, too, winning their first World Series last year; Springer was Series MVP.

So, no hard feelings.