Baseball Prospectus | | Hot Stove Scouting Report

Russell Martin


	Born: 02/15/1983 (Age: 31)
	Bats: Right	Throws: Right
	Height: 5' 10"	Weight: 215
	Primary Position: C
	Secondary Position:

Evaluator	Chris Rodriguez
Report Date	10/17/2014
Present Role	65; 1st division catcher, borderline all-star
Years expected to perform at current level	3-4 yrs
Future Role	1st division starter; Martin will stick behind home plate for the rest of his career with his skill set pending health. I see a 3-5 win player until age 35.

Simple, balanced stance; square to the pitcher; slightly crouched; loose hands and wrists before he starts his swing; hands drift back into hitting position on time with a small leg kick; consistently on-time getting front foot down; bat comes through the zone on a slightly uppercut plane and with bat speed; two-handed follow through; minimal movement throughout; head stays on the baseball; can sell out for power and jerk his head on occasion but it's rare.

Very impressive approach; rarely swings at the first pitch; in my sample of 36 at-bats in September, he swung at seven first pitches and all were within the zone; took on the roll of hitting behind Neil Walker and Andrew McCutchen, so he tried to become somewhat of a run producer; doesn't give away any at-bats; adjusts to off-speed and breaking balls well; tries to work up the middle most often; doesn't mind a walk in any situation; gears up for a plus fastball; had the green light on a couple 3-0 counts.

Good makeup; revitalized his career in Pittsburgh after a strenuous departure from LA and a somewhat disappointing stint in New York; works with the pitching staff very well; plays like he wants to win and he'll do whatever it takes; intense, hard worker; adored by fans in Pittsburgh.

Tool	Current Grade	Report
Hit	55	Plus hitter; good strength; hand-eye coordination is solid; plenty of bat-speed; rarely beat by fastballs in the zone; puts a barrel to any quadrant in the strike zone; always seems to get a pitch to hit in an at-bat; in a 36 at-bat sample, he ended his at-bats with 20 hard hit balls; stays within himself most of the time; battles; definitely has a plan at the plate; you want him up in a big spot.
Power	40	Below-average power; raw power is average; more gap-to-gap type of pop; some leverage; swing isn't made for plus power; line drive/up-the-middle type of approach keeps some balls in the yard; sells out for power in favorable counts and when facing a pitcher for the 2nd or 3rd time in a game; don't see 20+ home runs again, but 10-15 is still possible.
Baserunning/Speed	40	Clocked 4.4 on most digs; gets down the line well; hampered by hamstring tightness late in the season; no longer a double-digit base stealer like early in his career; can still go first to third; solid base runner; will likely slow another tick as the years go by.
Glove	70	Well-above average defensive catcher; blocking ability is fantastic; a knack for putting his body in the proper positions to receive the ball; agile and quick on his feet; always on the tips of his toes with runners on base, no matter the speed; can back-pick runners off of 1st base; framing ability is top notch; consistently gets called strikes on the outer edges of the strike zone to lefties; never takes strikes away from the pitcher; according to Baseball Prospectus, from 2008-2013 he was top four in "framing runs earned" with 91, just behind Lucroy, J. Molina, and McCann; handles the pitching staff well; many attribute the staff's success with Martin; a very good game-caller; doesn't mind heading out to the mound multiple times in an at-bat if it's high leverage; fantastic all-around catcher.
Arm	60	Above-average arm; puts his body in a good position to receive the ball; very quick release helps him deliver the ball to second base with plus accuracy and carry; clocked 1.88, 1.83, and 1.90 pop times respectively; lead all of MLB with 37 caught stealing and was 4th with a 38.5 caught stealing percentage.

vs LHP			vs RHP
Batted Ball Percentages
GB	LD	FB	GB	LD	FB
50.91%	30.91%	12.73%	50.20%	23.32%	20.55%

	vs LHP			vs RHP
Plate Discipline
	FA	SI	SL	FA	SI	CH
Chase %	12%	20.45%	27.91%	23.2%	35.85%	35.16%
Swing / Miss %	15.38%	33.33%	33.33%	8.63%	7.51%	43.44%

*Stats are for the 2014 season

Fantastic behind the plate; plus hitter with a great approach at the plate; field general; good game-caller.

Injuries on his record; limited power and speed; career year offensively, could see a natural decline in offensive production.

Getting ahead with strike one is most important; he's a patient hitter, so forcing him to look to swing is big; vary first pitches; if you go with a fastball first pitch, go changeup or slider with the first pitch in the second at-bat; stay on the outer edges with the fastball as he can turn on one with ease; breaking balls and changeups down in the zone can give him a problem, as well as well located fastballs at the letters and above; be as precise as possible, and if you're going to miss, miss down in the zone with the chance he could ground out.

Martin put together a career year in his age 31 season, and it's tough to see him get any better. In fact, in all likelihood he'll regress with the bat a little, but still bring extremely valuable defense and invaluable leadership to a team that decides to sign him. If a contending team has a hole behind the plate, and ownership doesn't mind losing a first round pick, I wouldn't hesitate giving Martin 3-4 years and around 10-12 million dollars a year.