Steve Dillbeck discusses Russell Martin’s blowup at the plate Sunday night in the wider context of his batting slump:

Martin had suffered through another tough night in the Dodgers’ 8-6 loss to the Yankees Sunday.

Already in a miserable slump, he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. He is now in a 2-for-27 skid that has seen his batting average slip to .241. Martin has only 17 RBI in 245 at-bats.

Behind the plate, he continues to be dogged by inconsistency. He’s been charged with five passed balls, third in the majors, while Dodgers pitchers have thrown 29 wild pitches, 11th in the National League.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers have fallen five games back of the Padres in the NL West.

It should be noted that Martin has not lost his batting eye. He owns a .349 OBP this season. While that his below his career average, it’s still pretty good for a catcher. Martin drew eight walks during this slump, so his OBP is .278. That’s not great, but it puts his poor batting average in a better context.

Martin’s slide is mostly a batting average/power slide. Over the last two years he’s done a good job of getting on base. He would be a perfect candidate to bat ninth in the Dodgers lineup with the pitcher batting eighth. He doesn’t have the power to drive in runs, so you put him behind batters who don’t get on base. He does a decent job of getting on base, so he serves as a second lead-off man. I’d love to see Torre try this.