Russell Martin was behind the plate for 1069.1 innings in 2016, which was his highest total since he was 26 with the Dodgers in 2009. Josh Thole and Dioner Navarro were counted on for just 390 innings combined.
Martin’ knees now have almost 12,000 innings of crouching on them over his major league career (almost at 13,000 including his minor league totals). Add to that the battering the rest of his body takes in his demanding role. If Martin going to be able to stay off the disabled list and produce enough value over the remainder of his contract, he must play less.