Red Sox star J.D. Martinez glad for the struggles he had while with Astros

BOSTON J.D. Martinez wants to thank the Houston Astros — not get back at them — for releasing him when he was struggling to make himself into a star.

The Red Sox slugger credits his growing pains in Houston for teaching him “how to fail,” a lesson he credits with transforming him into an MVP candidate who helped Boston win a franchise-record 108 games and reach the AL Championship Series against his former team.

“My failures in Houston is what made me who I am,” Martinez said Friday, a day before the Astros and Red Sox open the best-of-seven series Saturday. “There’s really no animosity there. In a sense they did me a favour by allowing me to leave and play on another team.”

It will be the second straight year the Red Sox and Astros meet in the post-season — last year it was the ALDS — and the second straight year that aces Chris Sale will go against Justin Verlander in the opener.

The biggest difference this time: Boston has Martinez on its side. And the Astros could have. Martinez made his bigleague debut for Houston in 2011, driving in 28 runs in his first full month in the majors. After playing part time the next two years — hitting 18 homers with 91 RBIs in 199 games — he was 26 years old and batting .167 in the spring of 2014 when the Astros released him, preferring to give the at-bats to top prospect George Springer.

Martinez landed with Detroit that season and by 2015 he was an All-Star. He hit 45 homers last year, when he was traded from the Tigers to Diamondbacks.

Now Martinez is one of the keys on a Red Sox team that won a third straight AL East title. The Central Division champion Astros did OK, too, winning their first World Series last year; Springer was Series MVP.