When the Los Angeles Dodgers acquired Russell Martin in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays this past January, the club did not expect to tap into much of his versatility. Manager Dave Roberts said Martin would serve as the backup catcher, and added Austin Barnes was more likely to move around the infield.
While Martin has indeed been used sparingly at third base, it didn’t take long for the 36-year-old to add another feather to his cap. In just the third game of the season, Martin was sent out to the mound against the Arizona Diamondbacks for his pitching debut.
It wasn’t because the Dodgers trailed by a wide margin, they instead held an 18-5 lead after scoring seven runs in the eighth inning and were looking to protect their bullpen. Martin has since made three more relief appearances.
The latest of which came Tuesday night against the San Diego Padres. While a position player pitching has become something of a running joke, Roberts praised Martin for his ability to shine in the role and leave the Dodgers in good shape moving forward, as seen on SportsNet LA:
“When you get past the surface of seeing that it’s a position player out there and all the jokes, for him to be able to throw strikes, even in a win situation, to save Caleb from having to go two innings in a 9-0 game, is huge value for [Wednesday] and the next day. For him to go out there and throw strikes, the zeros are icing on the cake.”
Of Martin’s four games on the mound, only one has come in a lopsided loss for the Dodgers. He nonetheless has logged four scoreless innings and only faced one batter over the minimum during that span.
Martin nearly loss his 0.00 ERA to the Padres when Ty France, who tried his had at pitching in the top of the ninth, led off the bottom half of the inning with a double. Martin bounced back to retire the next three batters faced.
Per STATS LLC, he became the first position player to pitch in a shutout win since Oct. 3, 1917, when Hall of Famer George Kelly tossed five scoreless innings for the New York Giants in their final game of the season. It marked his only career pitching appearance.
Martin previously made history this season by becoming the first Dodgers player in franchise history to catch, play third base and pitch in a single year.
