On Friday evening it was being reported that 36-year-old current former Dodgers catcher Russell Martin has been sidelined with lower back soreness, the result of what he calls overdoing it in the batting cage.

“If it was the season, I probably wouldn’t miss time,” Martin told reporters on Friday. “My lower back has been achy from working on stuff in the cage and taking a lot more swings. There were certain drills I was doing that isolated certain muscles and I just overdid it. I got excited, was seeing improvements and thought I was 22 again.”

Martin probably should have left that “thought I was 22 again” part out, considering that the one of the guys trying to take his job from him is 20-year-old top-ranked catching prospect Keibert Ruiz and the other top-ranked catching prospect Will Smith, who will be 24 on March 28.

Martin last appeared in a spring training game this past Tuesday and is expected to be out for several more days.

“It’s nothing alarming, I’m not worried about it,” Martin said. “But it’s a little frustrating because I felt I was striding in the right direction and getting excited. The hitting coaches really know what they’re doing. But sometimes something reminds you this is a marathon, not a sprint. I started sprinting out of the gates like an eager young pup. But I’ll be back out there in the next couple of days.”

Woof.

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