PITTSBURGH — J.D. Martinez is quick to acknowledge he isn’t a kid any longer.
Manager Carlos Mendoza has been careful to avoid overextending the 36-year-old DH, and Monday was one of those days it was decided Martinez could use a rest.
Martinez said his preference when he knows a day off is approaching is to sit for a day game.
“All these day games, it’s a little bit tougher every time when you get older,” Martinez said Monday after the Mets lost 8-2 to the Pirates in a third straight day game at PNC Park. “It’s one of those things where Carlos wants to … I don’t want to say protect me, but I am not in my 20s anymore. It’s just one of those things we talked about when I first got here.”
Francisco Alvarez started at DH in Martinez’s place.
After a torrid June, Martinez has begun this month with a whimper.
He owns a .606 OPS in five games and has gone hitless in his past 13 at-bats.
Martinez noted that the Mets have played four day games in their past five.
The stretch began with an 11:05 a.m. first pitch in Washington on July 4.
“I feel the older you get you don’t have that twitch and it takes you a little bit longer to wake up in the mornings,” Martinez said. “It’s just one of those things … [but] we have all these games at home coming up now.”
The Mets will play six straight at Citi Field — against the Nationals and Rockies — to finish the first half (three are scheduled day games) and Martinez said he expects to be in the starting lineup for all of them.
Sean Reid-Foley has begun playing catch, according to Mendoza, but it’s too soon to put a timetable on his possible return.
But Mendoza indicated it is unlikely the right-hander will be ready to return right after the All-Star break.
Reid-Foley has been sidelined for the past 2 ½ weeks with a right shoulder impingement.
