Austin Martin is Developing in Ft. Myers, Looking Forward to Reuniting with Royce Lewis

[Seth Stohs]

In the Twins Daily prospect rankings, you will find Austin Martin and Royce Lewis filling the top two spots. In fact, they were separated by just one point in the vote. The 22-year-olds have a connection that goes back about eight years. 

Way back in 2014, these two future stars were teammates on Team USA’s 15U national team. Royce Lewis and fellow top prospect Hunter Greene were from southern California. Austin Martin grew up in Orange Park, Florida, a suburb south of Jacksonville. The US roster was comprised of players from across the country. They worked out and made the team at the USA Baseball facilities in Cary, North Carolina.  

They played two exhibition games in Cary and then a game at Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks, before heading down to Mazatlan, Mexico, for the World Cup. 

The team began with a 14-2 win against Panama. Then they beat New Zealand 16-1. In their third game, they beat South Africa 25-0.  

Then the games got a little closer. They beat Japan (7-2), then Germany (11-1), then Cuba (10-2).  

Then the games got even closer. They beat Venezuela (6-2), then Chinese Taipei (5-4), and Mexico (10-9).  

That put them into the championship game, a rematch against Cuba in the Gold Medal game. After starting the tournament with nine straight wins, including that 10-2 win against Cuba, the US team lost 6-3 in the Gold Medal game.  

Martin and Lewis, who were roommates in Mexico, played in eight of the team’s ten games. Lewis started six games while Martin started four games. Lewis recorded 26 at-bats and hit .462/.533/.808 (1.341) with five doubles, two triples, and six stolen bases. Martin had 15 at-bats. He hit .533/.500/.733 (1.233) with three doubles.  

They returned home with World Cup Silver Medals and many great memories. Lewis and Martin were roommates throughout the entire Team USA experience. They both enjoyed their time together. 

Martin said on Friday, “We kind of fell out of contact a little bit, just two different parts of the country, two different paths in terms of our journey through baseball.”  

Royce Lewis was in California, and he was the #1 overall pick in the 2017 draft out of high school. Martin was in Florida. He was the 37th round draft pick by Cleveland in 2017, in part because he was committed to going to Vanderbilt, one of college baseball’s best programs.  

And, he became one of the best players in college baseball. Over two-plus college seasons in Nashville, Martin hit .368/.474/.532 (1.007) with 39 doubles, 14 homers, and 43 stolen bases. He walked more than he struck out. He also was part of Vandy’s 2019 College World Series championship team.  

Martin said of the experience, “I think I just matured a lot in the 2 1/2 years that I was there. Looking back at it now, I don’t necessarily think that I wasn’t ready, but I know that those 2 1/2 years at Vanderbilt have made me a lot more prepared for what’s to come.” 

By the time the Covid-shortened draft came in 2020, Martin was considered one of the best players in the draft. Some thought he could or even should go first overall. Instead, he went to the Toronto Blue Jays with the fifth overall pick (and signed the second-highest bonus).  

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Martin began his pro career in 2021 in Double-A with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. As you know, on July 31, he was traded with Simeon Woods Richardson to the Twins in exchange for Jose Berrios.  

He joined a group of very talented players with the Wichita Wind Surge and felt welcomed right away.  

“I think that group of people kind of helped me transition easier. As soon as I walked into the clubhouse, there were my teammates trying to help me get adjusted, show me where my locker was, show me where this is, what time we had to do that. I don’t think necessarily how talented that team was had to do with it, but more that group of guys and that group of people, of staff, is what made the transition so smooth, in my opinion.”

Martin spent much of his time working out at Scott Boras’s facilities in Florida in the offseason. In addition, the Twins sent minor league hitting coordinator Bryce Berg to Florida to spend a couple of days working with Martin. Later, Triple-A hitting coach Ryan Smith spent some time with him as well. “It was really just an opportunity for us to connect and kind of just give an update on how things were going this offseason.” 

When the lockout ends, Royce Lewis will get back on the field, ready to play regular-season games for the first time since 2019. Martin and Lewis have reconnected since the trade, just not in person.

“I actually talked to him maybe three or four days ago. Reached out just to see how he was doing. We had a really good conversation. I look forward to him getting down here and being able to see each other because I haven’t seen him since I was like 15 years old. So it’ll be good to catch up with him for sure.”

Where will he play defensively? Minor League Director Alex Hassan previously said, “On the defensive end, we’re still evaluating him, to be honest. I feel really confident in his ability to play the outfield right now. He has real skill in the infield. He has the ability to make some plays. He played a lot of shortstop last year. If we had to say where his focus is going to be, especially early in camp, it’ll be on the infield and continue to refine him defensively. He’s going to get the bulk of his work at shortstop, but I do think there’s going to be an opportunity to move around the infield as well, but we’re going to start at shortstop and try to concentrate the majority of his work on the infield in the early going.”

And Martin is just fine with that. Asked how he feels about potentially moving around the diamond, Martin responded, “Honestly, I look at it as a blessing, to be honest, because it's something that I didn't know I could do until I was in college, and I was kind of, I would say, forced to do it. It's a part of my identity as a baseball player now, and it's a part of my game. And I don't really think it's a negative thing. Is it challenging? Yeah, for sure. It's definitely challenging, but at the same time, I look at it as not everybody's able to do that. Not everybody's capable of being able to do that. So the fact that I can, it's something that I want to keep in my toolbox and keep trying to work on getting better at both infield and outfield.”

Offensively, Martin is really good but still has things to learn. Hassan said, “ I think throughout his career, and certainly his college career, he was conscious of putting the ball in play, on making contact which is a good and unique skill in some ways, especially as the game is trending. I think there were things he would do mechanically to optimize for putting the ball in play. We don’t want to strip that away. We don’t want to take that away, but there are also instances where we think he can be more aggressive and look to drive the ball a bit more.”

So, how does he go about doing that, adding power? 

Martin said, “It’s not much of an adjustment. Honestly, it’s just putting the barrel to the baseball, and I’m capable of doing that. I just need to do it more frequently.”

Simple, right? Yes, there are mechanical things he is working on too with the Twins personnel too, but he wants to keep it simple. 

One thing that Martin has consistently done well in his baseball career, at every level, is get on base, and he very frequently is hit by pitches. Is that just how it will be, or does he think he can do anything about it? 

“I think I could definitely back up off the plate a little bit more, but being hit by baseballs is just been a part of my game since I could even tell you, to be honest. I’ve just always been a ball magnet.” Martin continued, maybe thinking forward, “Now that guys are throwing 98 to 100 mph, I kind of want to start moving out the way and lessening that a little bit, but it is what it is, honestly, a free base.”

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While both players have some question marks, Royce Lewis and Austin Martin have great versatility, strength, speed, athleticism, and baseball acumen. Twins fans should be excited and hope that the two talents that were teammates as 15-year-olds will be teammates for the long-term in the Minnesota Twins lineup.

I guess if you wanted, you could say that Martin and Lewis Belong Together. 

 

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[roger]

Thanks, Seth.  Great read, hopefully they both can get on the field real soon!

[Doctor Gast]

Thanks, Seth; I'm excited about both of them, they'll add much needed depth up the midddle. Martin & Lewis just naturally seems to go together hopefully this time around they can stay together.

[jmlease1]

It will be really interesting to see what the development staff does with his swing this season to try and put him back on a power production path. (that was some unfortunate alliteration)

I'm still very high on Martin. His eye at the plate is excellent, his ability to make contact in the zone is elite and he basically lives on base. Even as a singles/doubles guy he's got a lot of value, but i think he can develop into someone who can still hit for a high average, draw plenty of walks (and get tagged by pitches) while rolling up plenty of extra-base hits. I think they're right to focus him on the infield right now to see where he might fit best. he's already in a position where he can probably be a plus defender in the OF corners and at minimum be a solid CF, so no reason to spend time there for now. (while he'll have more value if he can stick in the INF...part of me would love to see what would happen with him in LF, Buxton in CF, and Kepler in RF. Good lord, those three would chase down a TON of balls!)

Wouldn't be surprised to see him get some time with the big club this season, and I think he's a full-time player (whether at some position or as something of a super-utility guy) in 2023.

[RJA]

Great article as usual.  I am just excited for the chance to see both these young men perform this year.  Both of them have very high ceilings, and if they were to reach them in the next year or two, we can all imagine how good our lineup would be with Buxton, Polanco, Kirilloff, lewis, Martin, Garver and Miranda.  Let's get this lockout over and start playing baseball.