Russell Martin may not be hitting for power, but the veteran backstop may be enjoying his best season yet, says CBN’s Nick Ashbourne. Consider this: Martin leads all catchers with a .408 OBP, and is second in runners caught stealing and WAR.

Russell Martin isn’t what you’d call a flashy player nowadays, but very quietly he has made himself into an elite catcher.

When he was younger, the 31-year-old Montreal native really made a name for himself by hitting for above-average power and swiping more bases than any backstop in the business. In 2007 he fell one home run short of becoming the second catcher in MLB history to hit 20 home runs and steal 20 bases in the same season.

Fast forward seven years and Martin has only has six home runs and three stolen bases in 79 games. But the wild thing is that 2014 could wind up being his best season yet.

What sets the Pirates catcher apart is his incredibly balanced skill set. He may not have the pure hitting ability of Jonathan Lucroy or the defensive presence of Yadier Molina, but there is virtually nothing the three-time All-Star doesn’t do well.

The table below shows where Martin ranks among catchers with at least 300 plate appearances in a number of major categories.

Statistic	Russell Martin in 2014	Rank among MLB catchers
Batting Average	.285	5th
On-Base Percentage	.408	1st
Slugging Percentage	.397	14th
Runners Caught Stealing	29	2nd
Wins Above Replacement (Baseball Reference)	3.7	2nd
Wins Above Replacement (FanGraphs)	3.5	3rd

While the Canadian catcher isn’t getting a lot of extra-base hits, he’s doing everything else right. That’s why his Wins Above Replacement (WAR) numbers are so high, because they are taking both his offensive and defensive contributions into account. It’s also worth noting that not only is the Pirates backstop first among big league catchers in on-base percentage, he’s first by a mile. Martin’s .408 OBP absolutely dwarfs the second highest mark by a catcher, which is .376 by Derek Norris of the Oakland A’s.

It is apparent that Martin is getting it done with his eye at the plate, and the arm he wields from behind it, but those aren’t the only tricks he has up his sleeve. In recent years a lot of work has been done to study how catchers affect the way strikes and balls are called by framing the ball. With PITCHf/x cameras, we now know exactly where pitches cross the plate, and can determine which catchers get the most strikes called on pitches that were actually out of the zone.

While the work on this topic is just getting started, and definitely needs to be taken with a grain of salt, Martin is a player who seems to consistently get calls for his pitchers. The data goes back to 2007, which was Martin’s second year as an everyday catcher.

Year	Extra Strikes Called with Martin behind the plate	Rank among MLB catchers
2007	189	1st
2008	232	3rd
2009	170	3rd
2010	73	10th
2011	216	3rd
2012	181	2nd
2013	128	6th
2014	84	9th

Source: StatCorner Catcher Report

Martin has consistently shown the ability to be his pitchers’ best friend by getting them extra calls everywhere he’s played. This season his number is also deflated by the time he’s missed with a hamstring issue, meaning he’s been an elite framer every year except 2010.

The traditional idea of a star position player involves towering moonshots, dazzling speed on the bases, or hitting .300 with impunity. Russell Martin doesn’t do any of that. But what he does do is the little things. He works the count and gets on base, he controls the running game, and he receives the ball well behind the plate.

The contribution he makes to his team’s success may be more of a subtle nature, but that doesn’t make it any less valuable. For a Pittsburgh Pirates team in the thick of the playoff race, it’s more than enough.

Martin quietly having strong year for Bucs