Competing against each other with a trip to the World Series on the line isn’t enough to break the bond between J.D. Martinez and Mookie Betts.
Martinez, who joined the Mets in March, and Betts, who stars for the Los Angeles Dodgers, played two seasons together with the Boston Red Sox from 2018-19 and won the World Series in the first of those years.
They reunited last year in Los Angeles, where Martinez spent one season as a Dodger before signing a one-year deal with the Mets as a free agent.
“We became like brothers,” Martinez told the Daily News before NLCS Game 3 at Citi Field. “It’s been a fun ride with him, watching him grow in his career from 2018 to what he is now.”
Martinez, 37, was already an All-Star when he joined the Red Sox on a five-year, $110 million contract before the 2018 season, but his career reached new heights in Boston.
He hit 43 home runs and led the American League with 130 RBI in 2018, forming a superstar tandem with Betts, who led the majors with a .346 average, a .640 slugging percentage and 129 runs that year.
Betts won AL MVP honors in 2018, while Martinez finished fourth in the voting.
Both were All-Stars in 2018, and in 2019, too, but Boston broke up the powerful pair in February 2020 when it traded Betts to the Dodgers for a package that included now-Yankees left fielder Alex Verdugo.
Betts, who was one year away from free agency at the time, signed a 12-year, $365 million extension with Los Angeles and remains one of baseball’s best players. He’s been an All-Star in each of the last four seasons and twice finished within the top five of NL MVP voting, including last year, when he was the runner-up after hitting .307 with a career-high 39 home runs.
Martinez, meanwhile, signed a one-year contract with the Dodgers before the 2023 season after his deal in Boston expired and hit 33 homers with 103 RBI en route to his sixth All-Star selection.
“Last year, [Betts] definitely helped me a bit, kind of reminding me of stuff I used to do because he saw me during those years in Boston,” Martinez said.
Betts, who bats second in the Dodgers’ lineup behind Shohei Ohtani, and Martinez, who recorded 16 home runs and 69 RBI in 434 at-bats as the Mets’ designated hitter this season, both played roles in their teams advancing to the NLCS.
And while they’re in opposite dugouts for the best-of-seven playoff series, Martinez and Betts did get a chance to catch up, chatting about their families and pickleball.
“Even though we’re battling against each other, that’s my brother,” Betts said before NLCS Game 3.
“That brotherhood runs really, really deep. Obviously, in between, the lines we’re going to take care of business. There’s a brotherhood, but we’re not going to be friends then. But as soon as we step away from the lines, that’s my brother and I love him.”
