Austin Martin’s season didn’t start how he would have liked it to have, but he’s certainly not letting that affect how he’s finishing it.
The utilityman was one of the final cuts in camp, sent down to Triple-A when the Twins initially opted to carry DaShawn Keirsey Jr. on the Opening Day roster over him. He likely would have been up in the early weeks of the season anyways if not for a hamstring strain suffered at Triple-A just days into the season.
The day he returned from the injured list, he aggravated that same hamstring again.
Martin didn’t return until June 26. He didn’t reach the majors again until Aug. 1, after the Twins had traded away about 40 percent of their roster, opening up an opportunity for him that he was determined to capitalize on.
“It’s something that I feel like I needed to do was just kind of prove to everybody here what I’m capable of doing,” Martin said.
His manager has certainly taken notice.
Twice on Monday, Rocco Baldelli mentioned Martin unprompted, heaping praise onto the 26-year-old, who entered play on Tuesday hitting .290 with a .389 on-base percentage and a 116 OPS+, a number that is 16 percent above the league-average hitter.
As the Twins shift to a more aggressive approach on the bases, Baldelli has praised Martin and pointed to him as someone whom he thought would really take advantage of the style of play the Twins are implementing. Case in point, Martin aggressively came home on a shallow sacrifice fly in the eighth inning on Monday, beating out the throw.
“Austin Martin’s continued to do real good things for us,” Baldelli said. “The competitiveness of his at-bats, it’s pretty great right now. He’s not chasing anything out of the zone. He’s barreling stuff up in the zone. He’s running the bases good.”
Martin reached base three times on Monday and scored each time, collecting a pair of hits and a walk. In his first eight games this month, the utilityman has drawn five walks to go with his eight hits. He has done that while providing some defensive versatility, playing in center, left and at second base since being recalled.
“He’s maybe reaching that point where it’s kind of coming together for him at the major league level. But it’s not like make believe because he has proven it,” Baldelli said. “He has proven that he can do it at the minor league level at a very high level. … Then that shows you that what you’re seeing here might not be something that goes away. It might stay.”
Lewis reps Vikings
Royce Lewis wore a purple band around one arm and a yellow arm sleeve on the other, along with a yellow belt on Tuesday night. His accessories matched his custom-made Vikings cleats that he broke out on Monday night in honor of their season opener.
He plans to wear them on Vikings game days throughout the rest of the season and then perhaps frame the shoes once the season concludes.
“I’m adopting a football team,” the third baseman proclaimed. “I’ve always done fantasy football, so this is my first year being a Vikings fan, per se. Maybe last year, too. But I really like (Jordan) Addison and (Justin) Jefferson and what they’ve got going on over there.”
Briefly
Reliever Brooks Kriske cleared waivers and accepted his assignment to Triple-A. Kriske was designated for assignment over the weekend. … Taj Bradley will get the start for the series finale in Anaheim, Calif., on Wednesday afternoon. Bradley gave up four runs in five innings his last time out. … Byron Buxton was in the starting lineup Tuesday after missing Monday’s game following a hit by pitch in Sunday’s series finale in Kansas City.
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