5 current (and former) Blue Jays prospects that have fallen from grace

When it comes to prospects within a sports organization, they can be a hit or miss. Some may surprise and make the giant leap to the main stage unexpectedly, whereas others may have shown great potential, but have trouble fulfilling it to become a successful impact player. Here, we take a look at five Toronto Blue Jays prospects that have fallen from grace from their initial hype.

Austin Martin

Back in 2020, the Jays were thought to have the steal of the draft when they selected Austin Martin fifth overall in the first round of the 2020 MLB Draft. Classified as the best pure hitter in the draft, many sources had Martin projected going higher in the draft, potentially even second overall behind first overall pick Spencer Torkelson. Very quickly, Martin became the second highest ranked prospect in the Jays system from his credentials.

However, with the Jays in desperate need of a front-end starter to solidify their rotation for the pennant run in 2021, Martin, who was only having an average year with the Jays’ Double-A affiliate New Hampshire Fisher Cats, was dealt along with Simeon Woods-Richardson for Minnesota Twins ace José Berríos. In one and a half seasons with the Twins’ minor league affiliates, Martin hasn’t been able to replicate his dominance and consistent production shown from his college years, hitting just close to .250 with only five homers and 54 RBI over 129 games, and have now even fallen out of the Twins’ top ten prospects rankings.

He was hoping to get off to a better start for 2023, but he has been shut down since March with an UCL sprain, which is usually a precursor to Tommy John surgery. There has been no recent update yet on his current situation, but either way, it appears to be a long road ahead for Martin to recovery and to regain his hitting prowess that he once had.