PITTSBURGH — J.D. Martinez is quick to admit that he’s not a kid anymore.
Manager Carlos Mendoza has been careful to avoid assigning the 36-year-old Martinez to the DH role too often, and Monday was one of those days when it was determined Martinez needed rest.
Martinez said he prefers to play day games when he has an off day coming up.
“It gets a little tougher as you get older with all the day games,” Martinez said Monday after the Mets lost 8-2 to the Pirates in a three-game day series at PNC Park. “That’s one of the things Carlos wants…I don’t want to ask you to protect me, but I’m not in my 20s anymore. That’s one of the things we talked about when I first got here.”
Francisco Alvarez started as designated hitter in place of Martinez.
After a tumultuous June, Martinez started the month on a weak note.
He has a .606 OPS through five games and has not recorded a hit in his past 13 at-bats.
Martinez noted that the Mets have played four of their last five games as day games.
The series began on July 4 in Washington with the first pitch thrown at 11:05 a.m.
“As you get older, I feel like the twitchiness goes away and it takes you a little longer to get up in the morning,” Martinez said. “And that’s just how it is… [but] We have a lot of home games coming up.”
The Mets will close out the first half of the season with six straight games against the Nationals and Rockies at Citi Field (three of which are scheduled as day games), and Martinez said he plans to start all of them.
Mendoza said Sean Reid-Foley has started playing catch, but it’s too early to put a timeline on his return.
However, Mendoza suggested it’s unlikely the right-hander will be able to return immediately after the All-Star break.
Reid Foley has missed the past two and a half weeks with a right shoulder injury.
