The Toronto Blue Jays selected Vanderbilt shortstop Austin Martin with the fifth-overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft on Wednesday night.
A big-time bat to Toronto! @austin_martin99 goes No. .#BlueJays | #VandyBoys pic.twitter.com/0llyMBprsj
— Vanderbilt Baseball (@VandyBoys) June 10, 2020
Martin, a 21-year-old from Jacksonville, Fla., posted a .376/.479/.521 slash line in 118 career games at Vanderbilt. He is the third shortstop Toronto has selected with its top pick in the past four years, but Martin is known to play in the outfield and elsewhere on the infield, too.
“I’m ready for whatever they want to throw at me,” Martin told Harold Reynolds on MLB Network. “I’m excited. I’m really excited.”
The moment @Austin_Martin99 found out he was becoming a Blue Jay.
: @BlueJays pic.twitter.com/v0ETobncb6
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) June 11, 2020
Martin also revealed that he grew up playing baseball in Florida with current Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette, who’s a native of Orlando and attended high school in in St. Petersburg.
In 2017, Martin was drafted in the 37th round out of Trinity Christian High School by the Cleveland Indians. But he opted not to sign, instead heading to Vanderbilt.
Before the 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Martin posted a 1.167 OPS in 16 games with the Commodores, which included 11 RBIs, 10 walks and only two strikeouts. He was ranked as the third-best draft prospect by Baseball America, and the top draft prospect by Perfect Game.
Many mock drafts tabbed Martin to go as high as second — behind Detroit Tigers’ selection Spencer Torkelson — and MLB.com’s Jim Callis described Martin as the “best player in the draft.”
Drafting at No. 5 marked the highest position the Blue Jays had made a selection since 1997, when they took high school outfielder Vernon Wells fifth overall.
