Minnesota Twins infielder Austin Martin will be looking to make his mark in the MLB this season. Since being selected by the Toronto Blue Jays with the fifth overall pick in the 2020 draft, the promising young hitter has generated a lot of buzz. Martin was one of the top hitters in the his draft class and will be called on to play a bigger role as the Twins aim to defend their American League Central title in 2024.
Martin moved to the Twins as part of a trade that saw Jose Berrios go the other way. Since the move to Minnesota, he has gradually worked his way up the pecking order. After playing 59 games at the Triple-A level in 2023, the 24-year-old has had a strong start to spring training and looks ready to make the jump to the big leagues.
In an exclusive interview with Senior Editor of Overtime Heroics Reggie Roberts, Martin opened up on players who he looked up growing up. Asked who his favorite player was, Martin went with a New York Yankees legend.
“I was a Yankees fan growing up and Derek Jeter was my favorite player,” said Martin.
Jeter remains an icon to baseball fans around the globe for his work ethic, consistency, solid defense and ability to come up big in clutch moments. The 14-time All-Star spent his entire 20-year career with the Yankees and went on to win five World Series with the club. He was named the Rookie of the Year in 1996 and the World Series MVP after guiding the team to the 2000 championship over the New York Mets.
Over a storied MLB career, Jeter went on to play in 2747 regular season games and finished with an incredible .310 lifetime batting average. He went on to amass 260 home runs, 1311 RBIs and 97 stolen bases between 1995-2014.
Martin, raised in DeLand, Florida, would have been a young man when the Yankees shortstop was reaching the final stage of his career. Jeter had already played three seasons in the majors when Martin was born and would have retired when he was 15 years old.
Austin Martin made a name for himself as a third baseman with Vanderbilt University and was a member of the team that won the 2019 College World Series. He is also capable of playing as both a shortstop and second baseman. The Twins have plenty of competition within the infield with Carlos Correa and Royce Lewis. Martin’s versatility will be a major asset as he looks to break into the starting lineup.
