Blue Jays may have found another Brett Bateman in long-awaited Rudy Martin Jr. call-up

There are September call-ups, and then there are the kind of September call-ups that remind everyone why players keep showing up long after they have been given every reason to walk away.

Rudy Martin Jr. falls firmly into the second category.

According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, the Toronto Blue Jays are calling up Martin, a 30-year-old outfielder who is expected to make his major league debut after 12 years in professional baseball. Martin was originally selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 25th round of the 2014 MLB Draft, a round that no longer even exists.

Since then, his career has taken him through the Royals system, the Washington Nationals organization, independent baseball, the Mexican League, the Dominican Republic and, finally, to the doorstep of the big leagues with Toronto.

It is a terrific baseball story on its own. But for the Blue Jays, it may also say something about how their thinking is changing.

For much of the year, the criticism of Toronto’s lineup has been that it lacks significant slug. The Blue Jays weren't the most powerful team last year, but with just under three weeks to play, they've only hit 140 home runs (28th in MLB) and carry a .383 slugging percentage (27th in MLB).

Martin is not the player that's going to change those numbers. He's hit 11 home runs across 91 games in Double-A and Triple-A this season. But he's bringing a different offensive profile, one that seems to be working with another recent addition, Brett Bateman.

Similar to Bateman, Martin is a speed-first outfielder with on-base skills, strong swing decisions and makes quality contact. He could be looped into that idea of being a pure pinch-running specialist with 45 stolen bases, but he's also posted a .274 average, a .394 on-base percentage and an .815 OPS in 2026.

Another Brett Bateman may be exactly what the Blue Jays are looking for to spark their offense

That is what makes the Martin call-up very intriguing and more than just a "feel good story". The Blue Jays need to see whether they should keep leaning into the contact heavy, speed on the base paths approach, and make sure they have more guys that aren't station-to-station base runners.

Martin can run, he gets on base and he does not chase much. Those three ingredients gives the Blue Jays a potential late-game weapon on the bases and a different look off the bench. And as we've seen with Bateman, he can help create offense in different ways.

Of course, the human side of this story should not be forgotten. Martin has played more than 600 minor league games since being drafted. He spent years in Kansas City’s system, resurfaced with Washington and then had to keep his career alive outside of MLB's pipeline.

This is an easy story for Blue Jays fans to get behind and if he can give Toronto even a glimpse of that Bateman-type offensive profile he could become a fan favourite in no time.

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