Austin Martin is Finishing a Redeeming September

[stringer bell]

1 hour ago, Danchat said:

A hot finish is nice, but I don't think Martin is that good of a prospect now that we've got a larger sample size on him. He's supposedly a bat-first prospect who will mostly slap singles and draw walks, and defensively can't handle SS despite being given every chance to stick there... so he'll probably play in the outfield and have the speed for it, but his inexperience there could make it a slower transition.

Maybe I'm just getting jaded, but I can't say I have any confidence here. We talked last year about how hot Celestino finished the year in the minors despite a very poor first 4 months, and now he's sporting a .620 OPS in the majors.

Martin's star has dimmed for sure this season, but he could come back with a good performance in the AFL and a good start in 2023. There was a reason why he was considered a top prospect and good performance could bring back the luster. 

As far as being an outfielder, Martin played almost as much outfield as he did infield in 2021 (IIRC) and he has played some in the OF this year as well. He's not a stranger to the outfield as Gordon was last year.

[Loosey]

19 hours ago, stringer bell said:

I don’t assume Arraez will be the principal first baseman next year. Miranda and Kirilloff would be preferred options to Arraez at first and I maintain Arraez is quite satisfactory at second. 

Yeah, I was short-sighted on my comment.  Arraez hitting along with satisfactory defense at 2nd base is likely All-Star level for years to come.

[saviking]

I find Martin similar to Nick Gordon's path to the big leagues

He isn't hitting for power, his defense at shortstop will keep him from playing SS on a regular bases in the bigs. He has speed and position flexibility being not only capable of playing multiple infield positions but an asset in the outfield as well. 

I think he has a ceiling similar to Gordon BUT .. I'm beginning to think Gordon has an even higher ceiling that he has shown so far. That said, if we plan on keeping Gordon around long term I see Martin eventually as trade bait ..

[Finlander]

I'd wonder if the production spike in September coincided at all with facing less talented pitching near end of season. Was he seeing the less talented holdovers who were not promoted out of AA, and newly promoted pitching from lower levels?

Beyond that question, I do see the tendency of many posts referring to lack of power. They must yearn for the La Bomba days. Not so many years ago remenber the team was winning due to the Piranhas. It is a bit surprising that Baldelli doesn't take more advantage of moving runners into scoring position with speed and fundamental strategies, as he himself was a power/speed combo as a player. I would have no problem with comping Martin with Whit Merrifield as an admittedly very hard-to-achieve ceiling. Fits, right down to defensive positions (2B/CF), build (around 6' or 6'1" and around 190 lbs), speed, and hitting eye. Whit has shown more power, but other than one spike year at 19 dingers he sits around 10 or 12 annually. Maybe Martin is around half that. So what. He can still knock runs in with doubles. Not everybody has to be a power/RBI guy on the team. Gotta get on base to score runs. Martin, like Arraez and probably Lewis, will do that. If we don't value on-base skills and speed, then we should trade those assets to teams that do.

I'll be looking forward to seeing what he does this fall in Arizona. 

[FlyingFinn]

14 minutes ago, Finlander said:

Beyond that question, I do see the tendency of many posts referring to lack of power. They must yearn for the La Bomba days.

Many people on TD want all Twins hitters to never strike out, never hit into double plays, hit home runs, hit for a high average, and always do it consistently, never having a mediocre stretch. Amazingly, Arraez may win the batting title and several people have posted that he's injury prone, pitchers have figured him out, doesn't play good defense, etc. and the Twins should get rid of him.