The math may look simple, but it has sparked a mini-resurgence in Toronto Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin: subtract the beard, add eight hits.
Since shaving his mandatory winter-weather gear at the close of April, the now disturbingly moustachioed Martin has begun to halt one of the worst starts in all of baseball this year. He entered May with 31 strikeouts and a paltry nine hits across 67 largely forgettable plate appearances. Over his last 12 games and 48 plate appearances, however, Martin has pushed that hit total up to 17 and has only found himself spinning his heels in the dust on nine occasions (what a change!