The Twins Should Focus On What Austin Martin Is, Not On What He Isn’t

I would like to see the club focus on Martin and not Michael Taylor or Adam Duvall. 

Read somewhere yesterday, believe it was the Strib, that Martin will begin spring training mostly playing in the infield.  Went on to say he would get some time in the outfield.

With Lee knocking on the door and no veteran backup for Buxton, would think that playing emphasis should be reversed with him playing mostly in the outfield.  Will see once games begin where he is on the field.

I would be happy to see Martin leading off with Julien batting second. Put runners on base for the big hitters to get career high RBI numbers.

Several advantages Martin brings to the team vis-a-vis Larnach when thinking about a late inning substitution role are:

a) he bats rightie so he can spell Kepler, Wallner, Julien or Kiriloff (the last three being our weakest “splits” hitters against lefties by far);

b) he doesn’t strike out, has a high on-base, and can get the ball in play (even on an off-speed pitch, lol) - so he has greater value as a pinch hitter;

c) he has speed so he can pinch run too (or is just more valuable on the base paths) and probably has more range in the OF; and

d) he can play multiple positions, including CF, LF, 2B, 3B, and SS. 

Larnach’s only advantages are a bit more power and prior MLB experience.

7 minutes ago, roger said:

Read somewhere yesterday, believe it was the Strib, that Martin will begin spring training mostly playing in the infield.  Went on to say he would get some time in the outfield.

With Lee knocking on the door and no veteran backup for Buxton, would think that playing emphasis should be reversed with him playing mostly in the outfield.  Will see once games begin where he is on the field.

I saw that and wondered what the Twins were thinking as well. Infield repetitions are important early in camp because the players practice their timing, footwork, and cohesion on double plays, cutoffs, and the sort. It is important to have a player work on those skills for a solid week (muscle memory) before games begin. Outfield jumps/reads, communication, and throws (hit the cutoff) are more basic and a player like Martin can fill in with the needed outfield reps after getting down his infield timing. 

I'm a big believer in Martin as a strong and useful utility player. He plays well in numerous positions. I thought he looked really good at second base and in the outfield, but also played well enough to use at any other position. I guess the question about his arm will remain.

The post that likes the idea of Martin batting leadoff with Julien behind him would be sweet. Martin can run, Julien will take pitches, and both take good at bats which is pretty important for any lineup and a real annoyance for pitchers.

11 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

 

I'm a big believer in Martin as a strong and useful utility player. He plays well in numerous positions. I thought he looked really good at second base and in the outfield, but also played well enough to use at any other position. I guess the question about his arm will remain.

Are you in Fort Meyers watching ST?

Martin's setback has been from trying to make him into something that he isn't, a power-hitting SS. His turnaround came from allowing him to find himself which is extremely valuable. People put a lot of importance on HRs & don't care about anything else. But a lot should be said about being an OB machine that takes that single or BB or HBP & makes it into a double or triple by taking that extra base or stolen base isn't that better than striking out so often?

Martin is athletic and can play 2B or OF but the importance right now is OF so let's focus on that. Why I'm so high on Martin is that he's a winner. He knows how to win in big spots like the '19 College World Series. He has a fire in his belly & he has confidence in himself. So just like I predicted Lewis & Julien would have a big impact on the '23 Twins, I predict that Martin will make a big impact on the '24 Twins when given the opportunity. Just by being himself.

It'll be exciting to see Martin, Buxton & Castro tearing up the base path this season.

He needs to get comfortable covering ground in centerfield, and also get exposure to playing that position at Target Field. Spring Training will determine if he is the Twins's fourth outfielder. I, sadly, don't see him being a regular in the infield. His place of play will be in the outfield if he wishes to be a regular. Can Buxton stay in center of be foced to a corner. Kepler will be gone in '25. Wallner is still a work that needs progress. So a job is there, even if it means being an all-around utility guy for 2024.

At worse, play him everyday in St. Paul if you grab a Michael Taylor for another one-year contract.

49 minutes ago, roger said:

Read somewhere yesterday, believe it was the Strib, that Martin will begin spring training mostly playing in the infield.  Went on to say he would get some time in the outfield.

With Lee knocking on the door and no veteran backup for Buxton, would think that playing emphasis should be reversed with him playing mostly in the outfield.  Will see once games begin where he is on the field.

Castro is the #2 guy in CF so my guess is they want him to get the backup reps. 

53 minutes ago, Fred said:

I would be happy to see Martin leading off with Julien batting second. Put runners on base for the big hitters to get career high RBI numbers.

Even batting him 9th sets the team up for some big 3rd/4th innings. 

At this point, I would like to see Martin be the 26th guy ahead of Lee and Larnach. The kid is gonna be rock solid and on base all the time! Very excited for Martin in ‘24. 

Is Nick Madrigal a comp?

Couldn't agree more.  For an organization that saw enough value in Julien to trade Polanco, they should be able to see enough value in Martins approach as well.  

23 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

Yeah, I think that's the more likely setup if/when he establishes himself in the bigs. The game is changing and teams are leaning more and more into just getting their best overall hitters at the top of the lineup (Acuna being the most obvious example, with Shohei rumored to be taking over for Betts in the leadoff spot in LA being another). Against righties I'm betting it's Martin 9, Julien 1, then into the Lewis, Correa, Buxton types. A 9 hole hitter with a .380+ OBP and some steals would be really nice in front of the boom those other 4 guys can bring.

2nd and 3rd time around the batting order, we will have an extra guy on base to score more runs. Martin will be a huge offensive asset. 

It seems like our utility guys play everyday because someone always is on a rest day. 

1 hour ago, HerbieFan said:

Couldn't agree more.  For an organization that saw enough value in Julien to trade Polanco, they should be able to see enough value in Martins approach as well.  

To trade Julien.

2 hours ago, jorgenswest said:

Is Nick Madrigal a comp?

Martin walks more, but Madrigal struck out way less in the minors.  His K% were 3-5% in the minors and was 8% last year.  Martin was 17% in AAA.

Neither player has shown a good quality of contact, which limits their average as well as their power.  Madrigal hits .280 for his career even though he strikes out as rarely as Arraez who hits .326

2 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

Another year of control for either if they don’t come to MLB for a few weeks……I think that still matters??

IMO, you don't need to worry about another year of control for a 25 year (in one month) old with a minor league slash line of 256/388/361.

I get that for a 23 year old Lee,

The title of the article is lets focus on what he is and what he is a older decent to good prospect that has a good OBP in the MINORS that comes mostly from walks and not a high BA  like say Arraez (who was much, much younger) and that doesn't play usually play well in the majors . At this point he looks like a 2nd utility type player behind castro and the type of prospect that am OK with being the last man on the roster. I really, really hope he proves me wrong and over the winter figured out to use his bat control for more hitting.

To put some perspective on it of the guys in St. Paul that had over 150 at bats his OPS was 12th (if you up the at bats to 250 it was 8th and barely ahead of Celestino, Contreras) and OBP was 6th (behind Celestino) and barely ahead of the likes of Tony Wolters, Larnach, and Keirsey.

EDIT: I will add a lot of these same arguments were being made last year.

3 hours ago, jorgenswest said:

Is Nick Madrigal a comp?

Madrigal is about 2 years older and going into his 5th major league season (Of course that is on the White who probably have more room on the roster, compared to the Twins) but at the age of 22 played in A+, AA, AAA with a slash of .311/.377/.414 and was in the majors at 23 and slashed .340/.376/.369  so I wouldn't say it is fair to either of these guys to say it is a great comparison.

I wonder about Madrigal because the hit profile looks similar. Madrigal is two years older and further into his career so maybe there is a picture of what the Twins have in Martin.

I appreciate the thoughts.

3 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

With maybe a little more speed and WAY more walks. But the concern with him has always been that he doesn't impact the ball much better than a Madrigal type. That's really his make or break skill. How hard is he going to hit the ball to give him the chance to really use his eye.

1 hour ago, SaberNerd said:

Martin walks more, but Madrigal struck out way less in the minors.  His K% were 3-5% in the minors and was 8% last year.  Martin was 17% in AAA.

Neither player has shown a good quality of contact, which limits their average as well as their power.  Madrigal hits .280 for his career even though he strikes out as rarely as Arraez who hits .326

1 hour ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

Madrigal is about 2 years older and going into his 5th major league season (Of course that is on the White who probably have more room on the roster, compared to the Twins) but at the age of 22 played in A+, AA, AAA with a slash of .311/.377/.414 and was in the majors at 23 and slashed .340/.376/.369  so I wouldn't say it is fair to either of these guys to say it is a great comparison.

It seems like to have value beyond the bench Martin is going to have to provide more offense than Madrigal has with the Cubs. It really hinges on whether the walk rate can stay high or if major league pitchers will pound the strike zone and let him put it in play. Another hitting comp at least based on their strikeout and walk rates as well as their ISO in AAA last year is Celestino. Martin and Celestino are the same age.

It will be an interesting camp and early season. I really want to see where Martin is at, and at the same time Larnach. I haven't given up on Trevor just yet.