Victor Martinez “really happy” with first game action since knee surgery

Victor Martinez saw his first game action today since knee surgery ended his 2012 season before it even began and felt pretty good despite going 0-for-2 against the Braves.

Martinez, who will stick to designated hitter this year and not see any time behind the plate for the Tigers, told Chris Iott of MLive.com:

I’m going to go home really happy. I thought I made good contact. I saw the ball good. It felt good … Honestly, I’m not really thinking about the knee. I’m just letting the fans know, I’m not thinking about it. I come to spring training now like I used to be: just getting ready to get to the season.

Last season Tigers designated hitters combined for a .257 batting average and .687. Martinez hit .330 with an .850 OPS in 2011 and has never posted an OPS below .800 in a full season.

Christian Yelich simply can’t be stopped. The Brewers outfielder (and defending NL MVP) entered Saturday’s game with a league-leading 11 home runs after swatting two against the Dodgers on Friday night, then clubbed another two homers in the first six innings of Saturday’s game.

The first came on a 2-1 pitch from the Dodgers’ Hyun-Jin Ryu, who lobbed a changeup toward the bottom of the strike zone before it was lifted up and out to center field for a solo home run in the third inning.

While Chase Anderson and Alex Claudio held down the fort against the Dodgers’ lineup, Yelich prepared for his second blast in the sixth inning — this one a 421-foot double-decker on a first-pitch curveball from Ryu.

One pitch. That's all. #ThisIsMyCrew pic.twitter.com/CI5BGNHdZl

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) April 21, 2019

Yelich’s 13 home runs not only gave him a stronger grip on the league’s leaderboard, but helped him tie yet another franchise record, too. Per MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy, he’s tied with Prince Fielder for the most home runs hit by a Brewers player in a single month, and sits just one home run shy of tying Álex Rodríguez’s 2007 record for most home runs hit within any club’s first 22 games of the season.

It may be far too early to predict which players will finish first in the MVP races this fall, but there’s no denying Yelich has already set himself apart from the competition. Through Saturday’s performance, he’s batting .361/.459/.880 with a 1.329 OPS and MLB-best 31 RBI across 98 PA so far.