Russell Martin Really Does Need Rest

That graph is courtesy of this outstanding Baseball Prospectus article on catcher fatigue.

How big of a difference does rest make for a catcher?

"The graph above suggests that catching for eight consecutive days depresses production on the order of approximately 10 points of OPS+ (with the losses split almost equally between patience and power), with the steepest decline occurring between days five and six. That's roughly equivalent to the difference between last year's models of Russell Martin and Dioner Navarro, or, alternatively, Navarro and Brian Schneider."

Yikes. If there was any doubt in my mind that Martin's overuse was the cause of his late swoons, there isn't anymore.