We've Been Underselling Austin Martin's Upside—But So Has He

In 257 plate appearances during his rookie campaign of 2024, Austin Martin batted .253/.318/.352. He was a versatile stopgap for a team that encountered numerous injury issues, but he didn't exactly seize the chances he got. The stat line he posted could have been acceptable, had he been a solid defensive center fielder or left-side infield man, but in reality, he barely acquitted himself with the glove even in left field, and he was good (rather than great) at second base. Underpowered, he ended up with a glove-first player's offensive profile and a defensive role that demanded more of a bat-first talent.

I did have a bunch of fun with the statistical quirk of Martin coming around to score practically every time he reached base, back in early August, but by season's end, he was within a hair's breadth of average in terms of actual baserunning value. He wasn't a very good player, really—not in his first trip around the circuit. He managed just one home run, and 20 total extra-base hits. He pulled the ball some, and he hit some line drives, but he didn't truly elevate much, and he didn't the ball very hard.

Let's get happy for a minute, though, before drilling more into his biggest weakness. The good news is, Martin made better swing decisions than almost anyone in baseball in his rookie year. According to Statcast, his swing rate was nearly 70% in the strike zone and just 18.4% outside it. That's remarkably good plate discipline; it means he's neither giving pitchers free strikes nor helping them out when they can't find the plate. Looking at the specific places where he swung, you can see how he generated so many batted balls at line-drive launch angles, too. He knew what he was looking for, and was excellent at seizing upon it when it came.

Martin was also quite good at making contact within the strike zone. He wanted that ball up and over the middle or inner third of the plate, and he missed a bit more often if you hit your spots low and away, but he was no easy punchout.

Combine these traits, and Martin was quite good in terms of strikeout and walk rate, especially for a guy just getting his feet beneath him. He fanned in just 18.3% of his trips to the plate, in a league striking out almost 23% of the time, and he walked in 7.8% of those plate appearances—despite pitchers filling up the zone to the tune of a 52.9% share of all pitches, against a league average of 48.7%. If hitting were all about knowing when to swing and finding the ball with the bat when you do, Martin would have been an All-Star.

That's now what hitting is all about, these days.