Russell Martin
Position: C
Bats/Throws: R/R
Age: 2/15/83 (36)
Traditional Stats: .220/.337/.330, 5 2B, 6 HR, 20 RBI, SB
Advanced Stats: 0.8 bWAR, 1.2 fWAR, 79 OPS+, 83 wRC+
Defensive Stats: 2 DRS, 5.6 FRM, 6.2 FRAA. 3.0 RAA
The days of Russell Martin being an All-Star catcher and Silver Slugger are long gone. As he has aged, Martin has reinvented himself as a defensive specialist, who is coming off an impressive year as a part-time catcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers and a mop up reliever who threw four scoreless innings last year.
For a few years running, we have seen the importance of pitch framing. The state of home plate umpiring is at the stage where calls for automated strike zones increase by the day. We constantly see umpires react more to where the catcher frames the ball than where the pitch is actually thrown.
On the Mets front, we saw the effect pitch framing can have for the pitching staff. For a pitcher like Jacob deGrom who likes to work in the upper parts of the zone, Wilson Ramos is a fine catcher. In fact, given his particular skill set, he actually helps deGrom. The same cannot be said for pitchers like Noah Syndergaard and Edwin Diaz. While the ball was partially to blame for their results, both pitchers struggled with a catcher in Ramos, who really had difficulty framing and catching that low strike.
As noted by Mathew Brownstein of MMO, Martin ranked 17th out of 119 catchers in pitch framing last year. According to Baseball Savant, Martin got the low pitch 50 percent of the time. That includes framing at both corners. That is a significant improvement over Wilson Ramos, who was the worst in the majors among qualified catchers, and even an upgrade over Tomas Nido.
One note on Martin is he has always exceeded on the framing front. As noted in a Grantland article in 2013, Martin has not just focused on his framing, but he has always been able to get that low pitch in the zone for his pitcher. Following his career, Martin has been a good framer everywhere he has played. In that time, he has dealt with all sorts of different pitchers and pitching philosophies. The one thing which has always remained true is Martin is an excellent pitch framer.
When it comes to Martin, he is going to have to contribute defensively in terms of framing because we see he can no longer contribute offensively. He was last a league average hitter in 2017, and he hasn’t been better than that since 2015. Since that 2015 season, he has declined as a hitter to the 83 wRC+ player he was last year.
Contract
Given Martin’s age and his being no more than a backup catcher, he is not going to command anything more than a one year deal. Last year, we saw Jonathan Lucroy accept a one year deal worth $3.35 million, and Martin Maldonado accept a one year deal worth $2.5 million.
Even with both being considerably younger, we should expect to see Martin accept a one year deal in that $2 – $4 million range. Perhaps, you can get him on the lower end of the spectrum by giving him an incentive laden contract. That would certainly make sense for a team like the Mets who are trying to keep payroll down.
Recommendation
If the Mets are really going to stick with Ramos as their primary catcher, they are going to need to find a catcher who can complement his skill set, or rather, one who can provide those things to a pitching staff he can’t. Last year, Nido did do that, but he showed an inability to really hit leading to the team looking for an upgrade.
Martin is that upgrade. Given his status as a respected Major League veteran, he also provides the presence which would allow the Mets to more easily assign Martin to Syndergaard to ease any tensions in that clubhouse. Given the fact the Mets may not be able to go that far without Syndergaard pitching to his full potential, that alone would make signing Martin worth it.
On another note, we know Martin played two years with the New York Yankees. He knows how to handle things here when things get difficult. His presence would have been welcomed at a time when the personal catcher thing arose last year. It may arise again at some point next year. Considering that and other factors, it does seem like Martin is the right catcher for the Mets to sign as a backup on a one year deal.
