It was great to spend some time with NY Mets’ DH Slugger, J.D. Martinez to talk about his playing with the Mets; his nickname 'Flaco;' his go-to workout exercises; his music taste and the OMG team hit anthem; and more.

As a player with asthma, he also highlighted how important it is to consider having a vaccine for Pneumococcal Pneumonia, especially with certain risk factors, such as having asthma.

This conversation was brought to us by Pfizer, who informs that Pneumococcal Pneumonia is a potentially serious bacterial lung disease. Symptoms can hit without warning and take you out for weeks, possibly even landing people in the hospital. You are at higher risk being age 65 years or higher, or 19 and older with certain chronic health conditions, such as asthma, chronic lung disease, chronic heart disease, diabetes, and more, according to Pfizer. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist to see if pneumococcal vaccination is right for you.

Visit https://www.KnowPneumonia.com/ to learn more.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Your nickname is Flaco how did you get that nickname?

J.D. MARTINEZ: My hitting coach when I was in Little League growing up, he was my mentor, Paul Casanova. I was super skinny, and he just started calling me Flaco. That was my nickname. He'd call me Flaco. It's one of those things, through Miami. It was like my code word almost, where like you'd call me Flaco, you knew I hit with Cassie, and I worked with Cassie. (Editor's Note: Paul Casanova's teammates also called him 'Cazzie')

AM: You were diagnosed with Asthma posing challenges way back in Little League, what risks does having Asthma play in sports and what can people do about it?

JDM: Asthma was a big part of my childhood. I remember being in Little League, and I think I was maybe 3 year old when I was diagnosed with it, and being in Little League and trying to play baseball with asthma and constantly being in and out of the hospital, like once a week with my mom and my dad. Throughout my whole career it's just been managing it, and finding ways to manage it, like with medicines and stuff. That's why I'm here today and partnered with Pfizer to help spread the word about Pneumococcal Pneumonia, and how having asthma puts me at over 5x higher risk for the disease, compared to healthy adults age 18-64. So, I got vaccinated to help protect myself and I recommend that everyone with asthma to talk to your pharmacist or your doctor or go to KnowPneumonia.com. It's very important for me. I just know so many kids that should know this stuff playing with asthma.

AM: When working out, what are 3 go-to exercises for you?

JDM: For me, it's turning my hips on, doing a whole hip circuit - a routine that kind of loosens up my hips and strengthens them at the same time. Then from there, I really turn on my core and stabilize my trunk. Then I like to do legs, because they are my weakest part of my body, so for me, I feel so much strength, when my legs are strong, so I like to do legs as much as I can.

AM: What music do you listen to energizing for the game? This whole OMG song really took off!!

JDM: For me, it's kind of whatever is hot at the time. I know sometimes we're in the clubhouse and Winker's putting on some rap, and if we're riding with that, we're riding with that - and feeling like you're Eminem I guess, and you're having fun with it. And for me, EDM, like House Music, with a lot of beats, that's what gets me going. That's kind of what me and Mark Vientos listen to in the gym when we're warming up and activating. And then obviously you got Oh My God, OMG, our victory song, you know, and the whole Iggy thing that happened. (Editor's Note: Met's teammate José Iglesias is also a Latin Pop music artist who performs under the name Candelita). It was hilarious. It was just funny how that whole thing came about..

AM: Sure, well you said you had to hear it first - and then you were like Wow it's good right --

JDM: Yeah I was in Triple-A, and all of a sudden Iggy was like, "I got to show you this song, I got to show you this song." I was kind of making fun of him, I was like, "what are you like Marc Anthony now," because he was being represented by Marc Anthony for some time now, coming up with all of these songs. And he was like, "you got to hear this song," and then he played it for me in the speaker, and he was like, "I think this one is going to be the one that really blows up, like really helps me." I said, "dude, this is really good, I kind of like this! If you get called up to play for the Mets, we're playing this, so you gotta send it to me..' He wanted to play it for the walk up song, and so when he got called up I got it played on the speaker for everyone, kind of in honor of Iggy coming up. And the team was in a fragile state at that point, we weren't playing very well, and we kind of all jumped on board and it became our team anthem I would say. We made it a joke that every time we hit a home run we would play it.. so then they did it, and it kind of caught all of the fans off guard.

AM: We also see you like Reggae music a lot?

JDM: I also love reggae when I'm on my boat!

IG @jdmartinez28

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 52, 56 - 63 + 9DRIP STORI3S PG 60 - 63 NY Mets | PG 54 - 55 Pfizer |