On Michael Martinez
CLEARWATER, Fla. — Ever since the Phillies traded away fan favorite Wilson Valdez, there has been a general cloud of angst regarding the utility infielder position. Mostly, it concerns Michael Martinez, the Rule 5 pick who spent all of 2011 on the Phillies.
On Michael Martinez
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
CLEARWATER, Fla. — Ever since the Phillies traded away fan favorite Wilson Valdez, there has been a general cloud of angst regarding the utility infielder position. Mostly, it concerns Michael Martinez, the Rule 5 pick who spent all of 2011 on the Phillies.
Then Martinez made two errors and botched another ball Sunday against the Yankees and the floodgates opened.
First, the most imperative point: We are two games into spring training. Martinez is viewed as an above-average defender at three positions (2B, SS, 3B) and the Phillies quite like him.
"He had a rough day," Charlie Manuel said. "But it's only the second game we've played. At the same time, you'd like to catch those balls.
"Michael did a good job defensively for us last season. One off day doesn't mean he can't play defense."
Secondly, the utility infielder position is not paramount. Yes, Wilson Valdez and Michael Martinez combined for 534 plate appearances in 2011. Many of those were at second and third base for Chase Utley and Placido Polanco.
That's why the Phillies acquired Ty Wigginton for insurance. Wigginton can play second and third. Previously, the Phillies used Valdez and Martinez because they valued defense when replacing their injured infielders. Now? They want offense. Wigginton can fill that role while Martinez is the defensive option on the bench. Now, instead of two light-hitting backup infielders, the Phillies have diversified options.
Having both Valdez and Martinez was superfulous. But when they traded Valdez, they did not decide Martinez was the guy. Is he the favorite? Certainly. Could he lose the job this spring? Absolutely.
Freddy Galvis has begun work at second and third base, as detailed in Monday's story. If the Phillies were to suffer a long-term injury at shortstop, it's likely Galvis — not Martinez — would be the guy to replace Jimmy Rollins. The Phillies would prefer that Galvis spend the year getting 600 or so at-bats at triple-A Lehigh Valley to foster his development. His path to the majors is currently as a utility player, but that is more likely for 2013 than 2012.
And don't sleep on Kevin Frandsen. He's a guy who hit .303 at triple A in 2011 with a .768 OPS. He can play a little shortstop, and that is important to demonstrate if he is to unseat Martinez for the job.
Frandsen is the starter at second Monday as the Yankees come to Clearwater again. Placido Polanco makes his spring debut.
1. Jimmy Rollins 6
2. Placido Polanco 5
3. Shane Victorino 8
4. Jim Thome 0
5. Hunter Pence 9
6. Ty Wigginton 5
7. Domonic Brown 7
8. Brian Schneider 2
9. Kevin Frandsen 4
Joe Blanton 1
In relief: Scott Elarton, Austin Hyatt, Brian Sanches and David Herndon.
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OK today he hit a HR. Still, Luna drove in 3, Kevin was fine in the field with a bad throw. After all Brown made another bad OF play diving. So, why keep Mart. when we know in the real real real game time, he will hit below the Mendoza line. Both Kevin and Luna could do better for an entire season and drive in some runs too. But, if Charlies loves him like he does Herndon, that will be that.— Koons- Not that fast, not great defensively, got a few timely hits. Gave up a few runs that balanced the ones he drove in so what can you say?— alwaysphil1
- "Martinez is viewed as an above-average defender at three positions (2B, SS, 3B)"
Oh, really. Says who?
— PhightinPhil - The Phillies have been one of the best teams in baseball over the last 5 years...why don't all these people with negative comments go root for the Mets or SHUT UP.— philly19
- "SHUT UP.
"why don't all these people with negative comments go root for the Mets."
Note the irony.— PhightinPhil - Martinez is golden on this team. They Rule 5'd him last year and used that rationale to allow him to take up a roster spot all year long, despite the fact he was meaningless to this team. Now, clear of the Rule 5 provision, one would think Ruben would have seen just how much more valuable Valdez was and sent Martinez back.
Instead, Ruben did what he had to do to secure Martinez's spot on the team by unceremoniously shipping Valdez out. Despite this writer's assertion that the utility IF job is not that important, the history of injuries to Rollins, Chase and Polanco scream otherwise.
Clearly, this is just one more example of Amaro covering his arse and never admitting a mistake. Martinez is terrible everywhere! Valdez was valuable everywhere!— advantasux 
Comment removed.- What is Frandsen's main position? His home run was nice, wind-aided or not. Is he a Tim Teufel type? I don't know anything about him. First time I saw him he hit a home run. That is all I know.— gmo709
- I like Kevin over Martinez because...he can actually get a hit once in awhile. Marti. is what, 29 or 30 now? What makes him so magical? I hope he is in Lehigh instead of Phila.— Koons
- Michael Martinez = Pedro Serrano. Curve balls bats are afraid.— JusWonderin
Mendoza Martinez is just a wasted roster spot. Uncle Charlie characterized Valdez as a "borderline major-leaguer", just what does tha make Martinez?
"Having both Valdez and Martinez was superfulous." I beg your pardon, having both made Martinez "superfluous" is how that comment should read. I doubt that Martinez made a difference in any of the Phillies 102 wins, yet it is unlikly the Phillies would have won 100 games had MM been substituted for Valdez' appearances last season.
Maybe Manuel doesn't realize that Valdez was one of the Phillies top two clutch hitters (it's doubtful that he realizes Vicorino was the other), but Phillies broadcasters brought it up time and again. The statistics also bear it out.
If Martinez somehow makes the active roster, his value to the Phillies will probably depend on how often Thome gets on base in the late innings of close games. Anyway, I guess a team that can afford to carry a pinch-runner for it's 25th man has few worries about making it to the world series.
- What? Wigginton & Polanco @ 3rd & playing without a first baseman? I've seen crazy defense alignments in beer league softball... But this is the major leagues guys!! lol— FetchDixon
- lol @ "floodgates opened." good god.— Jerome99RIP
- Valdez had a better bat than Martinez, was a better defensively, and could PITCH!!! Geez, what more do you want!— dogman5
- I truly miss Wilson Valdez and his crazy rainbow goatee. :(— bingbangbong
- I truly miss Wilson Valdez and his crazy rainbow goatee. :(— bingbangbong
- I truly miss Wilson Valdez and his crazy rainbow goatee. :(— bingbangbong
- I truly miss Wilson Valdez and his crazy rainbow goatee. :(— bingbangbong
- After two losses the the Yankees in Spring training, I guess the pundits are out already looking forward to 2013. Really? Martinez will get plenty of looks. He can play infield/outfield, so his versitility gives him some points. However, his lack of hitting will also hurt him. Kevin Frabdseb gas ML experience and if he doesn't make the team, some other team WILL pick him up as he won't necessarily go back to AAA. RAJ/Cholly know this. Don't be surprised to see Kevin Frandsen on the major league roster come April. His bat alone will alleviate some worries about Polanco/Utley. Martinez may also make the team out of Clearwater, until Ryan Howard gets back. Remember, while Howard is on the DL, the Phillies can carry an extra position player. As for Piniero, wait for a few starts. He was injured most of last season and it was his first "live" pitching in a long time. I was more concerned about Dontrelle Willis. However, with Savery, no need to worry if the Dontrelle experiment fails. All in all, lets let the cards fall where they go. Dominic Brown will get a wake up call WHEN (not if) he gets sent down to AAA. His lack luster hustle makes you think that Super Agent Scott Boris has already promised him Jayson Werth money.— drhoffman
- He's a dog. And I love that a major league baseball franchise literally can't find a better back-up player on a sandlot field. They can't find worse! The guy is hitting worse than 3 of their starting pitchers!!— justacarpenter
- amazing how clueless rube continues to get useless benchwarners like Nix and Wigginton who, like Ben Francisco and many before them, just take three hacks and take a seat ... rube has absolutely no idea how to build a 25-man roster with decent players off the bench or in the bullpen..shoots his load on a few big "stars" and then fills the roster with bargain basement garbage ...amaro method hasn't worked in 3 tries and will continue not to work but he's wasted league's highest budget and traded away Phils best prospects— warbiscuit
- RAJ lucked out with this team. It is half Gillick and half luck, and they didn't recognize Howard for 3 years either. Their ability to evaluate talent is pathetic. — justacarpenter
- and the sad thing is - the owners dont care... i mean, as long as fans continue to give them consecutive sellouts, they dont care if we ever win another world series. if the owners really cared about winning world series, they would put amaro and manuel on notice this year that after 3 straight years of going backwards in the postseason, they lose their jobs if we dont show significant improvement.. — zwarte piet
- not only did brown gaffe in the OF, but did anybody notice on a grounder to second he lollygagged it and pulled up about 80% down the line. it wasn't hit hard and you still have to turn it up at this point! what part of this doesn't he get? i don't know about this guy. he seems to be okay in the hitting dept. he has good ab's but his effort just isn't there. he has to stop thinking he's the man. maybe he was the man on other levels but at this level with that kind of effort the only man he's gonna be is the man sent to the minors!— Ryne Duren
- I see no issues in the outfield at all. Pence and Vic are two of the best. Between Nix, Mayberry and whoever our of will not be a problem for a few months until Howard comes back. If Jimmy gets hurt I would love to see Freddie get the call up. Brown won't make the team in April but his bat will be needed at some point during the season. I think the kid can hit and lf is not as big a deal as any other spot. Our defense was great even with all the crying over Raul covering lf for us. Giving up on Brown will prove to be a mistake imo.— pattymac3
- Joe Savery looked very good yesterday. You gotta llike our bullpen depth.— hotelguy
- We have bigger issues than Martinez. If he struggles, he'll get sent down and some combination of Wigginton, Galvis, Orr and Frandsen will fill in. Also, trading mid-season for backup infielders is pretty easily done. To me, Pineiro had a bad day as well. His fastball looks real hittable and his breaking pitches didn't have much bite.— eman
- Spring Training is exactly this--training. They have plenty of time to work on the fundamentals. It looks like defense will be the key to this season. I see no bats in this line-up.— A. Martinez
- I'm not worry about Martinez. He showed last year he can catch the ball and there is not reason he can do it again. That would be his job. It was one of those games. However, if Frandsen shows he can play SS, MM could be in trouble. However, the writers and management need to be more concern with Brown. He worked in the Winter with Steve Henderson on defense and he needs to improve that part of his if he wants to remain with this team. With Howard's latest setback, the team is giving him a long look again (he has started all the games so far) and yesterday lazy play in LF that resulted in an error should be a concern. If he makes the team, he would see significant playing time with Mayberry playing a lot of 1B. Jr looked pretty good with the leather this weekend, making an outstanding over the shoulder catch in a windy day Saturday and robbing Teixeira of an extra base hit yesterday. Face, this team won't outslug many teams anymore. The team needs to play very good defense. Now, Brown had a good offensive game, but we all knew he could hit. His defense is the one under the microscope, and he didn't do himself any favors yesterday.— EL Zorro
- I'm glad Rollins is back and hope he retires here but I really don't want to see him leading off at this point.— Sidewinder7
- galvis could start for this team and give you everything that rollins gives you. the signing of rollins, a declining and selfish player, to a ridiculously generous contract when nobody else wanted him, is the latest indication that amaro is doing his best to make sure that we wait another 28 years for our next world series win. and, of course rollins will lead off, would you expect anything less from manuel? manuel is afraid rollins will tell him off in front of the other players if he dares to hit rollins anywhere but leadoff. — zwarte piet
- my nominee for the single best post of this calendar year. ABSOLUTELY DEAD ON IN EVERY ASPECT! — advantasux
