J.D. Martinez: Players, not fans, should vote for All-Stars

J.D. Martinez isn't in favor of fans being responsible for selecting who plays in Major League Baseball's All-Star Game. He thinks the players should make the selections instead.

The 30-year-old is off to a spectacular start in his first season with the Boston Red Sox, but he doesn't believe performance dictates who actually deserves to play at the Midsummer Classic.

"It’s not the frustrating part about not making it, it’s more the frustrating part of not being noticed by certain people," Martinez explained to WEEI's Rob Bradford. "Because the players know who I am. People who watch baseball know who I am but people outside baseball don’t. That’s where all of that plays into this. It’s more of a popularity contest than it is about performance."

Martinez sits near the top of MLB's leaderboards in several categories such as home runs (19), RBIs (50), and OPS (1.023), but because he's listed as a designated hitter on the ballot (instead of an outfielder) he has to try and compete with two of the league's most popular players in Giancarlo Stanton and Shohei Ohtani. The league gives Stanton and Ohtani plenty of the spotlight, which is why Martinez is in favor of the players voting instead of fans whose opinions may be skewed by who MLB pushes most.

"The only year I only made it was when I was voted in by the players, which is who I think should vote. One hundred percent," Martinez said. "Because that’s how you know who your All-Stars really are. The fans don’t know. The fans like to think they know. But they only know what MLB puts out there and who they post on their Instagram, who they post on their Twitter and who they talk about, stuff like that. They push certain people and it sucks for other guys who have great years and get overlooked. That’s why I always say the players should (pick). I understand the MLB’s side of it. They want to get fans involved."

Martinez was not selected as an All-Star last season despite a career year, which included 45 home runs, 104 RBIs, and a 1.066 OPS. His slash line before last season's All-Star break was .299/.381/.610 with 14 home runs and 32 RBIs.