04-10-2019, 05:48 AM
GLENDALE Ryon Healy Jersey , Dodgers pulled the trigger on their January trade to bring back catcher Russell Martin, they watched enough video to convince themselves he would bounce back from career lows in batting average and slugging percentage.On the first official day of pitcher and catcher workouts Wednesday, they couldn’t be more pleased with the four-time All-Star.“Bringing Martin back, just him getting up to speed with our guys, the early returns have been unbelievable,” said Andrew Friedman, Dodgers president of baseball operations. “Not surprising just how much he’s already invested into our guys, the questions he’s asking. All he wants to do is win and you can see it in everything he does.”As a replacement for Yasmani Grandal, who signed as a free agent with Milwaukee, Martin is connecting with returning catcher Austin Barnes and eliminating concerns about the possibility of splitting time.“As far as Barnes, he looks like he’s a tremendous athlete, a good catcher, a good teammate,” Martin said. “Good teammates have one goal in common, they want the team to win and I think we share that so I am not going to be (complaining) at all about playing time. As long as we win games, and we put ourselves in position to hopefully win a championship, that’s all we can do.”Martin, who will turn 36 on Friday, has made the playoffs nine times in a 13-year career that began with the Dodgers (2006-2010), and continued with the Yankees (2011-12), Pirates (2013-14) and Blue Jays (2015-18).With Toronto out of the playoffs last season and committed to developing younger players, Martin did not play the last month and was limited to 289 at-bats, a far cry from his more than 500 at-bats in 2013 http://www.marinersfanproshop.com/authentic-edgar-martinez-jersey , 2015 and 2016.“I was horrible last year,” Martin said. “Still a tough out, still could work a count, still hit the ball relatively hard, but it was a down year. I wasn’t as good as I can be. When you get older, they give an excuse for you, ‘Well, you’re getting old.’ But my body felt great. I got zero excuses.”He’s already pleased with the approach from new Dodgers hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc and his staff, including hitting strategist Brant Brown and assistant hitting coach Aaron Bates. Van Scoyoc came aboard Nov. 28 to replace Turner Ward, who was hired by the Reds, new home of former Dodgers Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp.From their analysis of Martin’s 2018 performance, they recommend change.“They told me, ‘We can clean up your lower half. We feel we can synchronize it to where it is working together,'” Martin said.Manager Dave Roberts expects improvement.“No. 1, Russell gives you a professional at-bat, the quality of contact is there,” he said.“I am sure he understands there was an angle issue there, a negative angle consistently.”The goal is for the ball to jump off his bat via an effortless swing.“An effortless swing is a swing you can control, and when you are in control, you typically have better at-bats,” Martin said. “I’ve always been good at pitch recognition; I always draw walks . last season I was not in position (mechanically) to hit the ball.”Defensively, he is studying an analytics package provided by Friedman, which shows key aspects of each Dodgers pitcher. Plus http://www.marinersfanproshop.com/authentic-edgar-martinez-jersey , he is picking Barnes’ brain.“The biggest part about being a catcher is knowing your pitchers, building that relationship, building that confidence,” Martin said.Left-hander Rich Hill appreciates Martin’s seasoning.“One thing you can’t teach is experience, so what he brings into this clubhouse of over a decade of playing in the major leagues is going to help immensely,” Hill said.Clayton Kershaw is the only Dodgers pitcher to have ever worked with Martin. They reunited on Tuesday for a bullpen session.“I thought their discussion during the pen session was great,” Roberts said. “I know Russell is very excited to catch him.”NOTES:Roberts said life without Puig “is going to be different.” ”It is going to be a quieter camp, whether that is good or bad.” … Closer Kenley Jansen threw his first bullpen Wednesday and was pleased with his spin rate, which dipped last season as he struggled to overcome a hamstring injury and dealt with atrial fibrillation. An August episode in Denver led to an ablation procedure on Nov. 26. “He looks great,” said Friedman. . Mark Prior will be the primary pitching coach in the absence of Rick Honeycutt, who underwent surgery Tuesday and is expected to be away for a few weeks while recovering. ATLANTA (AP) — Ian Kinsler describes Boston’s lineup as “electric.”Now that he’s back on track following his return from a hamstring injury, Kinsler is showing he can add even more spark to the lineup.Kinsler drove in three runs and the Red Sox continued their interleague success, beating the Atlanta Braves 8-2 Monday in a matchup of division leaders.Kinsler came off the disabled list on Aug. 17 after missing 11 games with the injury. He was hitting well before the injury and now has regained momentum with two or more hits in four of his last seven games.Asked if it was difficult to find his timing again, Kinsler said “I want to say no, because I don’t want to make any excuses. … In a player’s head you think it should happen quick in a day or two.”The Red Sox led only 3-2 through seven innings before putting the game away.“We can score a lot of runs early, score a lot of runs late,” Kinsler said. “That’s the great thing about this team. It can happen at any moment. The thing about this offense is it’s electric and it can happen quickly.”The Red Sox have won 23 of their last 27 games against National League teams. Boston has the best record in the majors and is atop the AL East.Kinsler hit a two-out, two-run single in the eighth after a throwing error by first baseman Freddie Freeman prolonged the inning, making it 5-2. Xander Bogaerts hit a two-run single as Boston scored three times in the ninth off Bryse Wilson.“The two-out error hurt, obviously, but I liked our chances before that,” said Braves manager Brian Snitker.Boston scored three runs in the fifth off Braves rookie Touki Toussaint, making only his second start in the majors. Consecutive doubles by Eduardo Nunez Felix Hernandez Jersey , Kinsler and Christian Vazquez off Toussaint (1-1) in the fifth gave the Red Sox a 2-0 lead. Mookie Betts added an RBI single with two outs to finish Toussaint.Boston right-hander Nate Eovaldi started only two days after his last start against the White Sox was shortened by rain to two innings.“It was definitely different,” Eovaldi said. “I needed to step up and try to go as deep as I could in the ballgame. Unfortunately it was only into the fourth inning.”Eovaldi issued four walks, including three in the first, but did not allow a run in 3 1/3 innings. His previous season high for walks in a game was two.Brandon Workman (3-0) recorded two outs after replacing Eovaldi in the fourth. Ozzie Albies led off the sixth with his 22nd homer against Joe Kelly.A sellout crowd of 40,394 included a strong turnout by Red Sox fans.TRAINER’S ROOMRed Sox: 3B Rafael Devers (strained left hamstring) will join the team on Tuesday, a day after completing his rehab assignment with Triple-A Pawtucket. … Manager Alex Cora said LHP David Price (bruised left wrist) believes he could start against the Braves on Wednesday. But the Red Sox will avoid having Price swing a bat. Price instead may start in Friday’s opening game of a home series against Houston. Cora said he had not decided on Wednesday’s starter.Braves: RHPs Arodys Vizcaino and Jose Ramirez, each recovering from right shoulder inflammation, threw back-to-back scoreless innings in rehab stints with Triple-A Gwinnett.RISP WOESThe NL East-leading Braves loaded the bases in the first, fourth and seventh innings. Kurt Suzuki’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the seventh produced the only run from those chances as Atlanta was 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position.HOME AGAININF Brandon Phillips, who had a successful Atlanta homecoming with the Braves in 2017, when he hit .291, will return again on Tuesday when he will be recalled from Pawtucket by the Red Sox. Phillips attended Redan High School in Stone Mountain, Georgia, in the metro Atlanta area.Phillips, 37, hit .302 in 38 games with Pawtucket.GLOVE WORKNick Markakis made two strong defensive plays in right field, catching a foul ball hit by J.D. Martinez against the wall in the fifth and making a sliding catch of Betts’ sinking liner in the right-center gap in the ninth.UP NEXTRed Sox: RHP Rick Porcello (15-7, 4.27) is 2-1 with a 3.32 ERA in three career starts against Atlanta. He has a 20-8 record in 39 career interleague game.Braves: LHP Sean Newcomb (11-7, 3.85) will try to reverse his downturn after posting an 8.48 ERA in his last four starts. He allowed six runs in four innings in a loss to the Rays in his last start.