The Indians have announced that they’ve designated utilityman Michael Martinez for assignment. The move clears space on the team’s active roster for lefty Shawn Morimando and on their 40-man roster for righty Joe Colon. The team selected Colon’s contract and optioned him to Triple-A Columbus. Morimando’s exact role with the team has yet to be announced, although it’s reasonable to assume his promotion has something to do with the Indians having played a 19-inning game against the Blue Jays yesterday and needing a fresh arm for today.
The veteran Martinez has batted .283/.306/.383 in 63 plate appearances for the Indians this season, playing second, third and all three outfield positions. That’s a considerably better offensive showing than he’d previously shown in his six-year big-league career, in which he’s batted just .199/.244/.272.
Part of it was clearing roster space, but it didn’t help him that he couldn’t lay down sacrifice bunts on two separate occasions during this win streak. Sweat the small stuff.
Bingo. I asked myself during Friday’s game how long Martinez would stay in the majors after exhibiting horrible bunting skills. I guess today’s news answered my question.
And just what is the percentage of today’s players that can actually get bunts down consistently? I would guess, 20%, maybe?