Blue Jays: Top Prospect Selected to Futures Game

Wednesday morning the official twitter account for the Major League All-Star Game account tweeted out the rosters for the Futures Game, and the Toronto Blue Jays have one top prospect representing the organization.  That player is Austin Martin.

Austin Martin was selected as one of seven infielders to play in the exhibition contest. The 22-year old is currently playing in Double-A New Hampshire for the Fisher Cats and is ranked as the Blue Jays second best prospect by MLB Pipeline behind Nate Pearson.

Martin was originally projected to be a top two pick in the 2020 MLB Amateur Draft, however, many teams drafting at the top of the draft were scared off by the price tag on the signing bonus for the Vanderbilt stand out, so he dropped a few slots.  The Blue Jays snagged Martin and signed him to a bonus of just over $7 million to get him into the organization.

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Martin, who had played three years in the NCAA with Vanderbilt posted a career slash line of .368/.474/.532 over 140 game with 57 extra-base hits and 43 stolen bases.  He was known as a versatile player that can play almost any position on the field; if you include his summer college league in 2018 he played every position except right field and pitcher.

When Martin reported to the Blue Jays he was assigned to the Alternate Training Site for the duration of the 2020 MLB shortened COVID season.  During the 2021 season, Martin has split his time between centre field and shortstop as he has played 19 games at each position.

At the plate, Martin has had a successful first year of professional baseball and has had three games where he has collected at least three hits, including a five-hit game on June 19 against the Hartford Yard Goats.  In June, Martin has played 19 games, has gone hitless just four times and had gone 21 for 74 (.284) with 13 walks, five doubles, two home runs and 10 RBI before being sidelined and placed on the injured list.  This is his first taste of professional baseball.

As the Blue Jays move towards the trade deadline and have one of the best offensive teams in recent franchise history you can pretty well count on the Martin being off the table in any trade talks.  Martin may be closer than many expected to the big league club and might push for a call-up at some point in 2022.

When do you think Martin makes his Blue Jays debut?