Is It Time to Start Worrying About Austin Martin?

Not worried at all it’s the first month of the season he has put the ball in play taken walks and found his way on base and then stolen bases. 
Not every hitter need to hit 30 hr and strike out 200 times. 
I like the positional versatility look at how valueable Arraez has been filling in. 
 

i do think the SS experiment needs to end and move him back around the OF and 2B 3B.  
If the power doesn’t come 4 of the 5 tools with great bat to ball skills is still extremely valuable. 

6 minutes ago, High heat said:

Not worried at all it’s the first month of the season he has put the ball in play taken walks and found his way on base and then stolen bases. 
Not every hitter need to hit 30 hr and strike out 200 times. 
I like the positional versatility look at how valueable Arraez has been filling in. 
 

i do think the SS experiment needs to end and move him back around the OF and 2B 3B.  
If the power doesn’t come 4 of the 5 tools with great bat to ball skills is still extremely valuable. 

Agree 100%. Ideally he not only gets to St. Paul by mid summer, but gets a taste of the bigs this year and a fair shot at making the team next year.

Assuming Correa sticks around, I’m still dreaming of an outfield of Buck, Lewis and Martin - a great mix of speed, defense, power and OBA. Plus, solid flexibility if Buck is out for any reason.

If Correa does leave, Martin will be even more important as a corner OF (most likely LF).

IMHO, he remains a better prospect than Larnach, Centerino, Wallner or Gordon - and nothing against any of them. 

No worries. The issue always with college players (both pitchers and hitters) is the metal bats. Gotta get used to them, how the ball comes off them, etc. Plus, once you start going up-up-up in the minors, the competition rises, too. You may be hot stuf in your high school or collegiate league, but suddenly you are playing against, for the msot part, people of equal quality.

Which is why you have minor leagues, folks.

I’m slightly worried but I don’t subscribe to the premise he needs to hit with power. Remember Moneyball was based on acquiring a team full of high OBA guys. The runs will flow. He could make an especially good leadoff hitter, getting on base at a .400 clip and setting up guys like Correa and Buxton.

Either he makes it or doesn’t there is no worry.  He’ll make it back though.  Probably as an Arreaz type of super utility player.

Not overly worried, one thing I have noticed, Martin is not very big. May not have alot of power potential, he needs to be who he is- high BA, high OBP guy and not worry so much about power. Don't like pointing the bat towards infield when hitting, needs to simplify swing. 

I guess to me the question is what do you mean by worry?  Do you worry he will not be an MLB player?  Do you worry he will not be an all-star?  Do you worry he will not be an MVP? Do you worry he will not be a hall of famer? 

I guess if you expected him to be an MVP candidate year in and year out with gold glove defense at SS then be worried, because it is unlikely he will do that.  If you expect he will be a faster Luis Arraez then do not be worried at all.  If you have super high expectations for Marten then be worried he will not meet them, but if you think he will get on base at a high percentage, steal a good amount of bases, and can play defense somewhere, then I would not be worried at all.  No he will not hit double digit HR but he very well may be able to lead off, steal 40 plus bases, and play adequate defense somewhere, including some time at CF if needed.  If you wanted him to step in and hit 20 plus HR drive in 100 plus RBI every year well look somewhere else. 

I am not worried about Martin being an above average MLB player at all.  I am not worried he will flop and never make the majors.  Maybe he will develop more power but we do not need 20 plus HR from every guy in our line up. Getting on base at the percent he does, with his speed will still play at the MLB level.

I think they are and or will be working with Martin to get to his power more often especially early in counts or when he has a count advantage.  I am curious if the reason he got off to the slow start was the cold weather or trying to incorporate something new in his swing.  Could be either thing but I agree with the Twins that now is the time to work with him to establish more power. He doesn't need to be added to the 40 man until 2023.

I don't see the Twins adding him and bringing him up this year when they already have Gordon and Arraez in his spots. Granted they are lefties but they also have someone at AAA who can play short and center who has great speed, a good OBP, good power already and bats righty and his name Royce Lewis.  Martin looks buried to me right now.  In fact I think they would would move Steer up before him as he has good plate discipline and power as well.  Might not run quite as well but the power makes up for that.  Steer had Martin's exact issue.  He was more of on base guy not known for power.  He changed his swing and now he has power.  They will work with Martin and see if he can get there too.

I agree he is still valuable without a power stroke but as an Arraez type bat that can also run but IMO the Twins have time and will use it to try and maximize all of his skills before calling him up.

The Twins need to move away from the bomba squad mentality and take good hitting players and let them be good hitting players instead of trying to make every one of them Sano type strikeout/homerun machines. Maybe thse young players would make it to the majors a lot faster if the Twins wouldn't try to make them into something they aren't. Larnach is a great example. Last year he was trying to pull everything to right-field and into the seats. Who's idea was that? This year he is spraying the ball all over and hitting .300 and helping the team win. Let Martin be a hitter, not a homer, 

2 hours ago, High heat said:

Not worried at all it’s the first month of the season he has put the ball in play taken walks and found his way on base and then stolen bases. 
Not every hitter need to hit 30 hr and strike out 200 times. 
I like the positional versatility look at how valueable Arraez has been filling in. 
 

i do think the SS experiment needs to end and move him back around the OF and 2B 3B.  
If the power doesn’t come 4 of the 5 tools with great bat to ball skills is still extremely valuable. 

If he's just an unknown in the system, you'd be right to not worry.  But he's a top draft pick who was ranked around 20 on the initial prospect lists.  He's making contact, but his exit velocities have been the lowest of any player on any top 100 list.  Frankly, unless that gets figured out, you don't have anything.  He's not going to be walked in the majors if throwing it down the middle doesn't hurt you.  There's no value there as it stands now.  Super glad you're not worried.

23 at AA is not horrible, but it's also not indicative of a future division 1 player when he's not pounding the ball there.  The Twins need to figure out what's wrong with him, or he's a non-factor in the Berrios trade.  Bringing up his position questions is like questioning troop placements in Hiroshima.

My online baseball group (none of them but me Twins fans) simply think he's no good, and some have held that thought from his college days.  I try to argue something has to be wrong, but it's not a winning argument.

Lewis has always been #1 in my book but that's not to say that I'm down on Martin. Not at all but I'd focus him more in the OF and not waste his time at SS or even 3B and 2B because he's naturally good at those 2 positions and more needed in the OF. Martin will be invaluable at utility on the verge of super utility (my definition of super utility is being able to play CF & SS adequately). Arraez is an ok utility player not super, not great not even very good but he can get on base.

I go along with the census that we don't have to worry about Martin's bat. He might not be a 20-30 HR hitter but what is for sure is he'll get on base and steal them. To some extent he will develop some power to go with his hitting. I wouldn't think about trading him unless we can get a fantastic offer.

For those that thought he should be the Twins starting day left fielder I would think there should be a bit of concern for how he has done 2 levels below the majors. For those that said he isn't on the 40 man, so start him in AA, and maybe he makes it to the majors in September shouldn't be that concerned.

I was closer to the second group, so I am not very concerned, yet.

No, because I have not understood the hype.  I am a prove it first fan and he has not earned the ratings and the press he has gotten.  I sincerely hope he succeeds, but like Wander Javier, Cavaco, and other I am not impressed until I see results. 

No. What 57 games in and you're worried?

Of course I'm worried. I'm very worried he can't hit. His .400 obp is driven by walks. MLB pitchers don't walk guys, let alone guys who can't hit for power. He's 23. Not young for a top prospect. Looks like a glove first utility guy at this point.

Not a great haul for Machina unless the power comes.

Maybe he's a Denard Span or Jacque Jones type of hitter? Hit 12-18 homers per year, hit .286, play solid defense in the outfield and provide a spark at the top of the lineup? Both of those guys were huge parts of successful Twins teams, valuable players and very successful major leaguers.

19 hours ago, Nashvilletwin said:

Agree 100%. Ideally he not only gets to St. Paul by mid summer, but gets a taste of the bigs this year and a fair shot at making the team next year.

Assuming Correa sticks around, I’m still dreaming of an outfield of Buck, Lewis and Martin - a great mix of speed, defense, power and OBA. Plus, solid flexibility if Buck is out for any reason.

If Correa does leave, Martin will be even more important as a corner OF (most likely LF).

IMHO, he remains a better prospect than Larnach, Centerino, Wallner or Gordon - and nothing against any of them. 

Larnach has the potential to be a real good hitter…more than the above players.

Worried? No.  It could just be that maybe he's not as good as all the hype.  Most prospects don't make it.  I'm a results person as well.  Let's wait and see.  After all, the Twins never make mistakes in evaluating prospects.  

2 hours ago, peterb18 said:

Larnach has the potential to be a real good hitter…more than the above players.

Don’t get me wrong. I love Larnach. I hope he’s a Twin for a long time. I just think Martin is the better overall prospect on the margin. 

More like concerned. Yes.

22 hours ago, rv78 said:

The Twins need to move away from the bomba squad mentality and take good hitting players and let them be good hitting players instead of trying to make every one of them Sano type strikeout/homerun machines. Maybe thse young players would make it to the majors a lot faster if the Twins wouldn't try to make them into something they aren't. Larnach is a great example. Last year he was trying to pull everything to right-field and into the seats. Who's idea was that? This year he is spraying the ball all over and hitting .300 and helping the team win. Let Martin be a hitter, not a homer, 

The Twins once fielded a squad with five Hall of Famers on it.  The fielders were Killebrew, Oliva, and Carew, who were three very different types of hitters.  Carew scored 50% more runs than he batted in, It's because he was constantly on base when people like Killebrew and Oliva drove him in.  Takes all types to put together a good team.

42 minutes ago, Richmond Dude said:

The Twins once fielded a squad with five Hall of Famers on it.  The fielders were Killebrew, Oliva, and Carew, who were three very different types of hitters.  Carew scored 50% more runs than he batted in, It's because he was constantly on base when people like Killebrew and Oliva drove him in.  Takes all types to put together a good team.

Couldn't agree more. I would love to see 5 or 6 high obp hitters sprinkled with 3 or 4 power bats who WILL put the ball in play vs a 30 to 40 homer guy that strikes out 200 times

Being newly introduced to Betteridge a week or so ago, "No."

For those who were saying he was ready to be in the Opening Day lineup for the Twins (and yes, I saw several people here saying that), that was never going to happen and he needs more time in the minors to work on his game. It's only his second full season in the minors. Find him a home in the outfield and let him focus on raising that batting average, and see if a power spurt comes along. 

14 hours ago, Jham said:

Of course I'm worried. I'm very worried he can't hit. His .400 obp is driven by walks. MLB pitchers don't walk guys, let alone guys who can't hit for power. He's 23. Not young for a top prospect. Looks like a glove first utility guy at this point.

Not a great haul for Machina unless the power comes.

Your comment assumes that when he gets to MLB teams will just throw it right down the middle knowing it is unlikely he will hit HR.  First, we do not know, unless you have been watching him, I just assume you have not, what kind of pitches he has seen and how he does on them.  Maybe because he is one of better hitters at top of lineup he is getting pitched around with not much to really swing at.  I liken him to Luis Arraez, I assume you must not think much of him as he does not hit for power either and teams do not walk him much, but he still has a career 375 OBP.  

Second, Martin was not the only one in the Berrios trade and the other guy has yet to give up a run in 21 innings pitched in AA this year.