Martin catches Jays’ drift
Unsettled role and backstop evolution cool with veteran
The Blue Jays’ catching situation remains cloudy for 2019, pretty much because it’s not even figured out for 2018.
On Friday against the Phillies, it was Jays’ acknowledged No. 1 Russell Martin behind the plate to catch rookie Ryan Borucki. But on Saturday and Sunday, the plan is for rookie Danny Jansen to work both day games with Aaron Sanchez and Marco Estrada, with no sign of Luke Maile.
Meanwhile, Martin has been seeing more action at third base than he has catching, a role that former GM Alex Anthopoulos foresaw for him when he tried to sign the Montrealer as a free agent in 2010. Martin is not complaining about his reduced workload behind the plate. He is living in the present, doing whatever is asked of him, so he’s not concerned about what his future may hold.
“Just the way that I’ve been used this year, I still feel fresh,” Martin cited as a positive way to view it. “There are times in a season when I get to August and September and I’m on fumes, I’m grinding, but this year hasn’t been that case.”
Martin believes in himself as an everyday catcher, but the disastrous month of May that took them out of contention early afforded Maile more playing time. Then as summer turned to dog days, it has allowed management to have a serious look at Jansen, their top catching prospect.
“We’ve never really gotten in a situation where it’s, ‘OK we’re going to make a push right here. We’re going to have you catch for three straight weeks.’ We fell behind pretty early, so we never really had to go in that direction.
“But that was kind of the goal, to be smart about it early in the year, and then we’d get to that point where it’s OK we need to make a run right here. I definitely feel fresh enough. If I had to, I could probably catch every single day till the end of the year, with how I feel.”
Aside from the Jays, it’s been interesting to examine the state of majorleague catching.
Martin has started 70 games behind the plate for the Jays. Only seven of 14 teams still in contention for a division title or wild card have fielded a starting catcher more often. There seem to be fewer and fewer teams looking for an ironman receiver. Only nine catchers have accumulated enough plate appearances to qualify among the leaders, and only three starting catchers for contending teams — Willson Contreras (Cubs), Yasmani Grandal (Dodgers) and Wilson Ramos (Phillies) — have a WAR higher than the 1.6 earned by Martin thus far.
“It’s whatever you bring to the table, that’s what matters — I don’t know about WAR,” Martin said of his lofty status in an otherwise off-year. “I don’t know what goes into that number. I just know that there are guys that are smart behind the plate who call a good game.
“It’s hard to argue who calls a better game — it changes every night — but there are guys that are known for being good behind the plate, getting strikes, being able to receive well, blocking well, keeping guys from extra bases. I think ultimately (defence) ends up being more important because even the top-tier offensive guys, if they’re not very good defensively it ends up hurting them in the long run.”
Given the large sample of MLB teams in contention without one truly stud catcher, is it possible the Jays could make it through the off-season and move forward with a tools-of-ignorance triumvirate of Martin, Jansen and Maile, with Martin seen truly in a utility role, albeit a wildly expensive one?
“I don’t think about stuff like that. I just think about getting myself ready, just be ready to play and whatever my role is, or becomes, or what it’s going to be,” Martin shrugged. “I don’t even think people know yet. They don’t think about next year when you’ve still got a season going. I remember my girl said, ‘Hey, the ’19 schedule came out.’ I’m like, ‘I don’t want to talk about the ’19 schedule right now. Let’s finish ’18 and we’ll talk about ’19.’ ”
Perhaps using multiple catchers in a mix-and-match to keep them fresh is becoming the new truth for major-league managers. There is no doubt that over the past three seasons, a time when the 35-yearold Martin was the clear No. 1, he was beat up, injured and less than his best when the Jays played late into October. If this is the wave of the future, and if Martin is unable to be traded because of his $20-million U.S. contract for 2019, then he is ready for what awaits him.
“Baseball, to me, has always been that kind of simplified,” Martin said. “You’re either creating runs or you’re keeping runs from scoring. You take both of those and that’s how good of a baseball player you are.
“I’ve played with really good offensive players, but on defence an eight-hopper gets by them in the infield and it’s like, ‘Man, we need outs. Time doesn’t run out in baseball. We need outs.’ So even if that guy has three RBIs but he lets four hits go to the right side, it’s like, ‘Did he really help the team today?’ ”
One might think Martin’s reduced role as a secondary catcher and utility infielder would be a blow to his ego after leading his team to the playoffs as the primary receiver in nine of 13 seasons. But Martin knows he has one more year, and if his role changes he already seems ready, willing and able to take on that altered challenge. Teams are proving you can win using more than one catcher, but with the Jays likely non-contenders in 2019, will Martin’s new role be with the Jays?