The Tigers got a bit of a scare in spring training on Saturday, as outfielder J.D. Martinez left the game limping and later showed up in the dugout on crutches. The season is still a few weeks away, sure, but that’s pretty worrisome. It sounds like he avoided major injury, though. 

So while it’s far from ideal, it looks like Martinez and the Tigers have avoided an injury that would impact the regular season. He’s not totally out of the woods yet, of course, so it’s a situation worth monitoring. 

Obviously, the Tigers need a healthy Martinez in order to contend. He’s a proven middle-of-the-order power bat and there’s very little outfield depth. To wit, without Martinez, the Tigers would be looking at Tyler Collins and Steven Moya being 2/3 of their outfield along with good-but-inconsistent Justin Upton. 

Martinez, 29, hit .307/.373/.535 (144 OPS+) with 35 doubles and 22 homers in just 120 games. He missed time with an elbow injury. He heads into 2017 in a contract year. On the latter point, Martinez becomes trade bait if the Tigers don’t contend, though they expect to hang around in the AL Central.