Ahead of Saturday's interleague game against the Philadelphia Phillies, the Toronto Blue Jays have tabbed Russell Martin to make his first career start at shortstop.
The 35-year-old catcher has made one previous appearance at short over his 13-year career and it happened this season when he filled in for one inning of a blowout loss against the New York Mets in mid-May.
The Blue Jays rank 29th in MLB among production at shortstop by FanGraphs' WAR, costing the team half of one win. By FanGraphs' wRC+, Blue Jays shortstops are hitting 43 percent worse than the league average - only better than the Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers.
With Troy Tulowitzki still shelved on the 60-day disabled list, the Blue Jays have called upon five players aside from Martin to make starts at shortstop this season. Aledmys Diaz is currently on the 10-day DL, while Lourdes Gurriel, Richard Urena, and Gift Ngoepe are all currently in the minors.
Toronto's everyday starting shortstop, Giovanny Urshela, will open Saturday's contest at Citizens Bank Park on the bench.
Through 34 games this season, Martin owns a .157/.287/.322 slash line with five home runs.