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Toronto Blue Jays: Russell Martin Has Got His Groove Back

By Bobby Mueller

Mar 2, 2016; Dunedin, FL, USA; Toronto Blue Jays designated hitter Russell Martin (55) bats in the third inning of the spring training game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Florida Auto Exchange Park. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 2, 2016; Dunedin, FL, USA; Toronto Blue Jays designated hitter Russell Martin (55) bats in the third inning of the spring training game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Florida Auto Exchange Park. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports /
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Toronto Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin got off to the worst start of his career, but he has turned his season around.

The Toronto Blue Jays got off to a sluggish start this season and a slow-starting offense bore much of the blame. At the end of April, they were 11-14 and in fourth place in the AL East. Their pitching staff was ranked 10th in baseball in ERA and their fielders were fifth in Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR). It was the team’s highly regarded offense that was squatting in mediocrity.

This was unexpected. The Blue Jays had the best offense in baseball last season, leading the league in runs scored, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. Through the first month of 2016, they were 13th in runs scored, 14th in on-base percentage, and 15th in slugging. The biggest culprit in the team’s slow start? Catcher Russell Martin.

While Josh Donaldson, Michael Saunders and Jose Bautista got off to very good starts, Russell Martin was abysmal in April. He hit .150/.224/.167 for the month and struck out in nearly 50 percent of his plate appearances. His wOBA was .186 and he had a wRC+ of 6. He was a mess at the plate and not in a good way. In fact, it was the worst month of Russell Martin’s career. Before this April, Martin had three months in his career with a wRC+ below 50. A wRC+ of 50 means a hitter creates 50 percent fewer runs than a league average hitter. Three times before this April, Martin was even worse than that. Those three months are shown below, along with April of this year:

.185/.274/.241, 43 wRC+, June, 2011

.127/.214/.222, 26 wRC+, September, 2013

.138/.263/.231, 38 wRC+, August, 2015

.150/.224/.167, 6 wRC+, April, 2016

One key difference among these four months was the Batting Average on Balls In Play (BABIP) for Martin. In June of 2011, his BABIP was .200. In September 2013 and August 2015, his BABIP was .143 for both months. This year, Martin’s BABIP was a healthy .300 in April and he still couldn’t hit the floor if he fell off a ladder.

The strikeout rate was the biggest concern. Martin struck out 31 times in 67 plate appearances in April. His 46.3 percent strikeout rate was almost three times higher than his career average. He was also walking less often than he normally does. At the same time, it wasn’t all bad. Even though he wasn’t making contact very often, when he did make contact, he hit the ball hard 33.3 percent of the time, which ranked him 101st out of 231 hitters with 60 or more plate appearances in April. There was hope.

Martin improved in May. He cut his strikeout rate in half, upped his hard hit percentage and hit .230/.284/.345 for the month (.276 wOBA, 68 wRC+). That still wasn’t great, but it was better.

Now that June has rolled around, Martin has been en fuego. He’s had a little luck with BABIP (.333), has kept his strikeout rate down, is walking more and has a .277/.419/.468 average (.384 wOBA, 142 wRC+). This is the Russell Martin we’ve been waiting for.

Next: Jays' Stroman Still a Work in Progress

Donaldson, Saunders, Encarnacion and Martin are the Blue Jays’ leading hitters in June and the team is second in runs, on-base percentage and slugging percentage for the month. They’ve gone 11-8 in June and are now just 2.5 games out of first in the AL East. With a resurgent Russell Martin returning to relevance, the Blue Jays’ offense is clicking like it was expected to all along.

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