Over 665 plate appearances at Vanderbilt University, Austin Martin put up an astronomical .482 on-base percentage. He was everywhere—on base all the time, and a pest once he got there. It got him drafted fifth overall in the 2020 MLB Draft, by the Toronto Blue Jays.
Martin continued that trend during his first taste of affiliated ball, generating a similarly impressive .424 OBP over 196 plate appearances with Double-A New Hampshire before being traded to the Minnesota Twins alongside Simeon Woods Richardson for José Berríos. He kept thriving after the deal, too, posting a .399 OBP over 168 plate appearances with Double-A Wichita. In his first full season in minor-league baseball, he had a .414 OBP over 418 plate appearances.
Then, the Twins’ hitting development staff attempted to overhaul Martin’s approach, adjusting his swing and encouraging him to be more aggressive at the plate. The then-24-year-old regressed, dipping to a (still impressive, mind you) .386 OBP over 252 plate appearances with Triple-A St. Paul in 2023. Martin did tap into more power, netting six home runs over that stretch. Still, trading off nearly 40 points of OBP wasn’t worth his minimal power increase—not because the player he’d briefly morphed into wasn’t more valuable than the previous one, but because it turned out not to be a step toward the player he would need to be to find success in the majors, where it matters. He moved back to his previous approach after 2023.
Jumping between Triple-A and the majors during his 2024 campaign, Martin’s OBP fell from a Vanderbilt-like .469 over 130 plate appearances with Triple-A St. Paul to a Scott Van Slyke-like .318 over 257 plate appearances with the parent club. Martin battled through injuries and another stint at Triple-A in 2025, before breaking out with the major-league club late last season. Down the stretch (albeit in a lost season), he hit .282/.374/.365 (good for a 113 wRC+) over 181 plate appearances. Posting an OBP higher than his slugging average, he was one of the most disciplined hitters in baseball after August 1 last season. He generated an elite zone contact rate, chase rate, and whiff rate, while swinging less often than almost any other player in baseball. Martin has continued that trend early this season, hitting .300/.500/.333 over 42 plate appearances.
Gaining traction in the lineup all the time, Martin boasts the sixth-highest OBP (.398) since Aug. 1, 2025, slotting in behind only Brice Turang, Juan Soto, Yandy Díaz, Shohei Ohtani, and Aaron Judge. At the same time, he’s hit only one home run and nine doubles, resulting in a .360 SLG. Despite getting on base at an elite rate, Martin has generated a modest .758 OPS over this span, explaining why he hasn’t been spoken of in the same vein as players like Turang and Díaz—let alone Soto, Ohtani, and Judge.
Martin is never going to hit for power, and that’s okay—encouraged even. His SLG will likely never be higher than his OBP; he belongs to a player archetype that has become nearly extinct in today’s game. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t possess value. In fact, he’s quickly blossomed into Minnesota’s most reliable contact hitter, often finding himself nestled between Byron Buxton and Luke Keaschall atop the lineup. Given his plus defense at both corner outfield spots and the ability to play center field, the former top prospect is maturing into the best version of himself. He doesn’t have great bat speed, but he can do everything else well enough to matter.
