Boston Red Sox slugger J.D. Martinez is the latest MLB player to see controversial social media posts from his past resurface.
On Sunday, a pair of Martinez’s Instagram posts from 2012 and 2013 began making the rounds online.
One, posted the day of the 2012 U.S. presidential election, suggests that only republicans are employed.
The second was in favour of gun ownership, and featured an image of Adolf Hitler in Nazi salute, with the text: “To conquer a nation, First disarm it’s [sic] citizens.”
Martinez added the caption: “This is why I will always stay strapped! #thetruth”
It had not been deleted from his account as of 11 a.m. ET Monday morning.
Fellow MLB players Josh Hader, Trea Turner, Sean Newcomb and Michael Kopech have each had controversial older messages unearthed in recent months. However, posts from those players came before they reached the big leagues; Martinez shared the second image when he was a 25-year-old playing with the Houston Astros.
Martinez, who currently has 457 posts and 228,000 followers on Instagram, is a frequent user of the social media platform.
On the field, his 38 home runs are second in the major leagues.
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