The first is obvious. Who will replace Martin? Word from Joe Torre is that A.J. Ellis will get most of Martin's starts to begin the season, which is something I'm only 60% ok with. I like Ellis, and I like the fact that he's stuck in there for the last seven seasons since he's been drafted by the Dodgers, and I've even supported Ellis as backup catcher for the last two seasons or so, I'm just worried with the idea of "A.J. Ellis, starting catcher." Still, there aren't many other options, none especially better, so that issue kind of settles itself.
Here's the bigger issue, Martin has in a round-about way declared that he's going to push hard to try to come back quickly which is, really, just the worst thing he can do.
Martin has always been known as a hard nosed guy, who doesn't want to sit out a game, or who wants to play through injuries, etc. but in this instance, he would be putting himself at risk for no reason.
I mean, really, we're not just talking about a handful of games in April, but here are the teams we are playing:
3 @ Pittsburgh, 3 @ Florida, 3 vs Arizona, 3 vs SF, 3 @ Cincinnati, 3 @ Washington, 3 @ New York Mets, 4 vs Pittsburgh
That takes us to May 3rd. 8 weeks from now. Which is more than enough time to heal up and make sure you are 100% ready for the season.
Is there one series in those eight (in April, by the way) that is an absolute must win? There is absolutely no need for Martin to rush back.
Russell, you feel like you need to play, but you couldn't be further from the truth. Sit. Heal. Watch some scouting videos or something.
Or grow your totally awesome mustache back....and get paid to do it. We'll see you in six weeks.
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