Given the team’s recent struggles at the plate, the Twins are looking for production anywhere they can get. That means rookie utility man Austin Martin better be ready for some more playing time.
While the Twins struggled to solve Dodgers pitching ace Tyler Glasnow in a 6-3 loss to Los Angeles on Tuesday night at Target Field, Martin proved to be the only player who had any sort of success. He recorded the first hit of his major league career when a line drive landed in the outfield for a hustle double. He followed that up by pulling a rocket down the line for another double in his next at-bat.
Asked about Glasnow’s dominance after he recorded 14 strikeouts, only needing 88 pitches to do so, catcher Ryan Jeffers summed it up perfectly in the Twins clubhouse.
“He was better than all of us today,” Jeffers said. “Except Austin.”
Not bad considering Martin made his major-league debut just a couple of weeks ago. What was working so well?
“It was pretty simple,” Martin said. “Just see the ball, hit the ball.”
That’s always been his style. He prefers to simplify things in the batter’s box as much as he can. That has served him well over the years.
“He has a different type of approach than most of our hitters here,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “We don’t have as many guys that have his sort of more contact-related approach. He sees the ball usually really deep before making any sort of decisions. He’s not generally trying to hit the ball as hard.”
That’s exactly what the Twins are the looking for at the moment.
“Anyone that goes out there and battles out good at bats, and hits balls hard, and plays the game the right way,” Baldelli said. “Anyone that wants to do that right now is probably going to earn some at-bats and get an opportunity to go out there and play.”
That bodes well for Martin as he tries to find his place on the team.
“Just trying to take advantage of every opportunity I get,” he said. “Just enjoy my time here and compete to the best of my ability.”
As for the first hit of his major-league career, Martin tried to downplay it, saying he knew it was only a matter of time.
“It was cool to get it out of the way,” he said. “I’m glad that my dad was able to be here and see it live.”
He paused.
“It was a bittersweet,” Martin said. “I’d rather go 0 for 4 with four strikeouts and us win the game.”
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