Dodgers' Martin minds his defense

By Chris Kline
March 28, 2005

VERO BEACH, Fla.--As cheers erupt at the big league game about a half-mile away at Holman Stadium, Dodgers catcher Russ Martin works on blocking balls in the dirt at the club's minor league complex.

He squares up for the first one, centering it and deadening the ball as it drops in front of him. The next one catches him on the outside of his left elbow as he lunges out to keep the pitch under wraps.

This is his job, first and foremost--controlling the game, controlling the pitching staff and today, keeping himself under control.

As he fires down to second to try to catch the Nationals' Shawn Norris, the ball skips into second baseman Delwyn Young's glove. But his arm strength makes up for the bounce, the ball beating Norris by a couple feet.

"What happened there?" Double-A Jacksonville hitting coach Steve Yeager asked him.

"I just felt tight, like I was trying to be too quick and I lost my release point a little bit," Martin answered.

Yeager, a Dodgers lifer who caught in the big leagues for 15 seasons, dispensed some advice to his 22-year-old catcher.

"Just stay under control," Yeager said. "When you rush things, it throws off your legs, which throws off your timing, which throws off your release point."

Martin, a 17th-round pick out of Chipola (Fla.) Junior College in 2002, has a plus arm, solid transfer, advanced game-calling skills and handles the pitching staff well. But he still has work to do.

"Right now I'm kind of where I'm starting to get the feel where my arm is dead a little bit, if that makes any sense," Martin said. "It's not sore, but it doesn't feel like it has that zip that it normally does. You have to rely a lot more on your lower body and getting your feet set so your arm's going back and you just get your release point.

"You try to get the release point the same every single time, and that's what I'm working on right now. When you get into the season, everything comes more natural, but right now I'm just trying to get that feel back to where everything feels right to me."

While Martin's defense was stellar in high Class A Vero Beach last year, the Arizona Fall league and again in camp, his bat has also developed into an impressive tool. He is a contact hitter with great strike-zone discipline, posting a 14-5 walk-strikeout ratio in the AFL after a 72-54 mark in the regular season at Vero Beach. While he batted .250-15-64 in the pitcher-friendly Florida State League, the Dodgers are hopeful that Martin will build on his AFL success when he begins at Double-A Jacksonville this season.

"I think my biggest asset as a hitter is that I don't really give myself up, and I don't really swing at bad pitches," Martin said. "I just shortened down my swing a little bit and took the approach of simplifying the game as much as possible. It has to be in the area--that's how simple it is, really. I don't take a big bat up there, I take something I can handle, choke up with two strikes and just try to never give the pitcher anything."

Martin will no doubt be challenged in the Southern League this year, in all phases of the game. But his biggest goals for the year revolve around his pitching staff, rather than his personal numbers.

"My goal every year is for our staff to have one of the lowest ERAs," he said. "My main focus is on getting those pitchers ready every day. I mean, if a guy gets going and he's shoving it out there, then me calling a better game is better than me going 2-for-3. It's better for us in the long run.

"Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't mind going 2-for-3 and calling a good game too. But that's in a perfect world night in, night out."

SPRING THINGS

• Nationals catcher Erick San Pedro will be held back in extended spring. The second-round pick out of Miami in 2004 had surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb and will miss at least six weeks. "I hurt it playing in Savannah last year, but it I was told it didn't need surgery," San Pedro said. "But when I started hitting again this winter it was still a little shaky." San Pedro played just 18 games last season, 14 at low Class A Savannah, where he hit .200 in just 40 at-bats.

• Meanwhile, back in Vero Beach, the preseason Jacksonville lineup appears to have a power punch, but don't tell that to Nationals righthander Chris Schroeder. Schroeder walked Martin before back-to-back-to-back strikeouts against a Murderer's Row of shortstop Joel Guzman, first baseman James Loney and second baseman Delwyn Young. Schroeder went 2-1, 4.39 in 27 innings at Triple-A Edmonton last season.

• With camps ending in less than a week, a lot of players were discussing their least-favorite aspect of the minor league season: the travel. "I've never been to Mississippi in my life and I never thought I'd be going there," Dodgers righthander Chad Billingsley said about the new Braves' franchise in Pearl, Miss. "But I've heard the people there are really excited and the stadium there is really nice, so it'll be fun playing in front of a lot of people."

Guzman also talked about the road trips, since they tend to be a little bit rougher on the shortstop's 6-foot-6, 225-pound frame. "I'm not looking forward to the bus," the 20-year-old Dominican said. "But this is the minor leagues. This is the way to get over there (pointing toward Holman Stadium). I'll just put on my headphones and listen to some Meringue to remind me of home."