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The Dodgers learned Sunday that Russell Martin, their starting catcher, has a pulled groin muscle and will miss somewhere between a month and six weeks. That means he's done for the rest of spring training and almost certainly out for Opening Day as well. Joe Torre said that the Dodgers are likely to replace Martin with internal options -- the 29-year old rookie A.J. Ellis and the 40-year old all-glove no-bat specialist Brad Ausmus.
According to Torre, Ellis will get the bulk of the playing time while Martin is out. Over the last two years at Triple-A, Ellis has batted over .300 with an on-base percentage of over .400, but he's been blocked by Martin. If Martin misses the maximum amount of time, it would give Ellis his first extended shot at big-league play. In two short call-ups in the last two seasons, he's made only 13 plate appearances.
Martin himself had a bit of a down year in 2009, with his power disappearing to the tune of just 26 extra-base hits and a .329 slugging percentage, both career lows by a considerable amount.
He says he's going to try and be ready by the Dodgers' first game in Pittsburgh on April 5. Given the nagging nature of groin injuries, though, he might be better served getting completely healthy and focusing on having a better year rather than rushing back for a handful of early season games.
I'm sure the Dodgers would rather have Ellis and Ausmus catch a few games in April and have a completely healthy Martin for the pennant race rather than have Martin at less than full speed for the whole season.
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