2010 Player Profile: Russell Martin, Backstop Bounceback?

.285 / .391 / .413 in 594 PA

Martin is supposed to start today against the Giants. I haven’t heard otherwise yet. If he does start, that means any DL trip, if needed, couldn’t start until tomorrow at the earliest, rather than March 26 (which is currently the case). In other words, I think Martin is a lock for opening day.

.270 / .360 / . 385 in 600 plate appearances and 135 starts at catcher.

They need his bounceback. He could be the sole difference between COL and LA this year.

Is he a starter or a reliever?

A. You know, I think he can do either, or… If you really had to pen me down, he’s best suited as a pen guy because he’s done it more. When you see the pitches that he throws up there – he has four pitches, he throws strikes, he’s big and physical – I think he can start, but he’ll throw harder out of the bullpen. I think he’s somewhat of a quicker fix out of the pen and could help us quicker there.

New interview on LADodgerTalk. (Link from DodgerThoughts)

I was a little disheartened yesterday with the news of Stults being sold and continued talk of Nick Green making the team. I wonder what it would be like to have an OD roster that actually made some sense 1-25? I can understand the reasoning behind Ramon Ortiz and Jeff Weaver and the desire to keep Monk, but keeping a roster spot for someone like Green is stupid and will probably be compounded when April 25th rolls around and DeWitt gets the shaft because of the perceived need to have Green. Oh well, the roster is largely good, it is just easily avoidable mistakes like this that annoy me.

.272/.365/.399
140 catcher starts

bounces back, but not as far back as we hope

.292/.371/.412

If Martin can slug .400 then he should be fine. Here’s hoping for this line:

.288/.375/.415 in 128 starts at catcher

Yes, he used to be a guy who was really good, had a short swing, used the center of the diamond and went to opposite way. He was really good at taking the outer pitch and going the other way. He’d hit ball over the second basemen (in his first two years) and in the gap and then he’d surprise you and hit one out in dead-center. You know, I’ve watched his swing over the years and when he’d get out of whack is always when he would fly open, his front foot would lift and collapse. Then I could talk to him or the coaches would talk to him and get him back on track. Now, Donnie’s really working with him and getting him staying consistent with what he is doing and I believe that will help him a lot. I do think the fact that he went into a "lean, lean" program last offseason affected his ability to stay strong. I think the added strength will show up in improved bat speed, and you know what, Russ has a lot of pride. He’s young player who strugged and didn’t know how to get out of it. On thing I will tell you is that Russ Martin has one of the greatest work ethics around. He works his butt off. It may not always show up in the boxscore, but he is always working. One winter he stayed at my house all winter and everyday he was up at 6 AM and he was working hard every day. That hasn’t changed. I think he has to be smart how he works as he gets older. He’s one of those guys who could work too hard. The thing with Russ is that he plays hurts. Every little hangnail, he’s not going to Joe or the trainers. He doesn’t ask out.

Russell Martin is the bookends to the Arizona portion of spring training for the Dodgers. He played in the first game of the spring (March 5), and he’ll play in the final game at Camelback Ranch, today. In between, nothing.

.283/.383/.417

http://www.truebluela.com/2010/3/31/1398806/ladodger-talk-must-read-interview

Hopefully the woeful power has nothing to do with a certain something that Manny dealt with for 50 games last year. Nonetheless, my preds are…

AB: 515
Hits: 131
1B: 101
2B: 20
3B: 0
HR: 10
Ave: .255
Obp: .347
Slg: .351
Ops: .698
wOBA: .319
Babip: .284

so he will show a surge of power.
.301 avg, .425 slug, .478 obp
high hopes=nice dreams