DETROIT -- The Tigers are finally facing an obvious fact -- they have to do something about Victor Martinez.
After a game where Martinez's left knee hurt them in multiple ways -- he went 0-for-4 and was thrown out twice on the bases on plays where 99 percent of major-league hitters would have been safe -- Brad Ausmus acknowledged that a change is needed.
"I think we're going to have to look at some other options for Victor," Ausmus said after Monday's 3-2 loss to Milwaukee. "But we're going to do that privately."
Ausmus wouldn't rule out putting Martinez on the disabled list, and he had a lengthy meeting with team president Dave Dombrowski and head athletic trainer Kevin Rand after the game.
Martinez, though, isn't sure if that will help. He harkened back to 2013, when he was coming back after missing the previous season with a torn ACL. On July 1, he was hitting .232, but hit .367 in the final three months of the season.
"I don't know," he said, admitting that he's in more discomfort than he was two years ago. "It took a lot of time that year -- pretty much through the All-Star break -- but I don't know if this is like that year.
"It's a good question."
Martinez's batting is a significant problem -- he's hitting .216 and has grounded into more double plays than he has extra base hits -- but it was his lack of speed that hurt Detroit on Monday.
In the third inning, with a runner on third and two out, Martinez hit a ball down the third-base line that Elian Herrera snagged behind the bag and made a weak jump throw to first. However, it was enough to get Martinez, even as Miguel Cabrera crossed the plate with what would have been the Tigers' third run.
In the eighth, the Tigers had runners on first and second with no one out, but Martinez couldn't beat out a slow roller for a 4-6-3 double play. He lunged for the bag, and was close enough for a lengthy replay challenge, but the call stood.
"I think this was the best I've gotten down the line, but when I reached for the bag, I felt that little pinch again," he said. "It is the same as before."
Martinez can still hit from the right side -- he has as many hits in 26 at-bats against left-handed pitching as he does in 84 against righties -- but he is adamant that he will not give up switch hitting.
"It's something I've never done, and it is something I am never going to do," he said. "Honestly, I don't even know how I would react when the pitcher threw the ball. I might jump out of the way."
No matter how much Martinez struggles, though, his teammates are not going to ask him to change.
"I want him in the lineup every game, and everyone in this clubhouse wants him in the lineup for every game," said Ian Kinsler. "Even right now, he makes every team adjust their strategy to account for him, because they all know what he is capable of doing.
"And they know he's a great hitter, so he's not going to stay like this."
There are also factors at play that go beyond statistics. Martinez is probably the most respected player in the clubhouse by both Ausmus and his teammates -- something the manager alluded to when he was asked if he had thought about using Yoenis Cespedes to hit for him in the eighth.
"It was never a consideration," he said. "Part of baseball is understanding human beings and how to deal with them. We need Victor Martinez for the rest of the season, and that's bigger than one at-bat tonight."
Martinez is also a smart baseball player, though, and he knows what is happening. While he won't give up hitting left handed, he said he would be OK with moving down in the batting order or considering a stint on the disabled list.
"There's no excuse -- if I'm playing, it is because I can go out there and put up good swings and good at-bats," he said. "I always say I'm willing to do whatever is best for the team."
Right now, as much as he hates missing games, that probably means taking 15 days or three weeks to let his knee do some healing. It won't get back to 100 percent -- full recovery from a torn meniscus doesn't happen that fast -- but at this point, any improvement would be better than what he's going through now.
