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How surprise Austin Martin selection impacts Blue Jays from here – Sportsnet.ca

Published

4 years ago

June 11, 2020

TORONTO — As they prepared for the 2020 draft, Toronto Blue Jays decision makers knew they’d be adding an elite amateur player to their organization. A 95-loss season in 2019 assured them of that.

What they did not know was just how much talent they’d have to choose from. First, the Orioles took Heston Kjerstad earlier than expected, at No. 2. Then the Marlins reached a little for Max Meyer. And by the time the Blue Jays selected, a consensus top-two talent in the draft was still available.

Suddenly, first-year scouting director Shane Farrell had a chance to acquire a player he thought would be off the board. Surprised but ‘ecstatic,’ he made the pick: Vanderbilt’s Austin Martin.

Best player available is one thing. Some consider Martin the best player of all. A few days ago, Keith Law of The Athletic ranked Martin atop his list of eligible players. Shortly after the pick was announced on MLB Network, former general manager Dan O’Dowd said the Blue Jays got the best player in the draft. Elsewhere, Baseball America and MLB Pipeline both ranked Martin second among all draft prospects, behind only Spencer Torkelson, who went first overall to the Tigers.

Regardless of where you place Martin, the industry consensus is clear: he was supposed to be gone when Toronto picked. Instead, he joins a Blue Jays organization that already boasts its share of young talent. The question becomes, where will he play and how soon can he reach the majors?

First, though, let’s focus on Martin’s best attribute: his bat. A right-handed hitter, he batted .338 as a freshman at Vanderbilt while stealing 22 bases. But it was his sophomore year that made him an elite prospect. Martin led the SEC with a .392 average and .486 on-base percentage in 2019, while walking more often than he struck out.

He has shown some power, with 10 home runs last year, but to this point the majority of his offensive value has come from his strike zone judgment and ability to make consistently hard contact. In recognition of those skills, MLB Pipeline gave Martin’s hitting ability a 65 on the 20-80 scouting scale.

“This is a guy who knows the strike zone really well,” Farrell said. “Extremely high contact rate. Somebody who we think has the ability to grow into more power down the road. Just really good bat to ball skills and ability to manage the strike zone.”

And maybe the power will come for Martin, who hit .368/.474/.532 with 14 home runs and 39 doubles in 140 career games at Vanderbilt. O’Dowd compared him to Mookie Betts on Wednesday, while Kiley McDaniel of ESPN has mentioned Justin Turner and Ben Zobrist as relevant points of reference.

All three of those big-leaguers offer the versatility to play multiple positions and that’s another reason the Blue Jays were drawn to Martin. He started games at six different positions during his freshman year at Vanderbilt, split his sophomore year between second and third and was announced on draft day as a shortstop.

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“The fact that he’s shown the defensive ability to play multiple spots up the middle is exciting and valuable,” Farrell said. “In terms of future position, we don’t want to chart a player’s development without his participation, so we’re looking forward to getting to know Austin even more and discussing those things.”

At this point, it’s too early to worry about where Martin eventually plays in the majors. He can work with the Blue Jays’ player development team to build his skills around the diamond and keep the team’s options open. If he comes close to fulfilling his potential at the plate, there will be no issue finding a spot for him somewhere, especially when the Blue Jays’ roster already includes versatile players such as Cavan Biggio.

In the weeks ahead, the Blue Jays will look to formalize an agreement with Martin, who’s represented by agent Scott Boras. But once they do, there’s no clear path for what’s next. While players would typically join a short-season affiliate after signing, a traditional minor-league season won’t take place in 2020 due to the pandemic. That will require creativity from teams, and Farrell declined to discuss specifics on that topic.

When Martin’s pro career does begin, he has a chance to rise quickly through the minors and join a young Blue Jays core. At 21 years old, he’s the same age as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and just a year younger than Bo Bichette. While there are no guarantees in the draft, there’s a chance the Blue Jays added another core piece here.

Best-case scenario, he could reach the major-leagues by late 2021 or early 2022. Consider Andrew Benintendi, another former SEC standout who was selected seventh overall in 2015. He started the following year at high-A, progressed quickly to double-A and reached the majors late in 2016. By 2017, just two years after being drafted, he had a 20-20 season that generated 2.9 wins above replacement.

That kind of timeline is aggressive, especially considering there’s no minor-league baseball right now. But advanced college bats like Benintendi and Michael Conforto show that such a path exists. As Farrell said, “Austin’s performance will dictate that.”

Of course with top prospects, it’s not a matter of seeing how quickly they can reach the majors. Rather, it’s a question of maximizing their production once they arrive. And in Martin, the Blue Jays appear to have found someone capable of providing the kind of impact that’s very rarely available.

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Canada’s Marina Stakusic falls in Guadalajara Open quarterfinals

Published

4 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.

The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.

Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.

In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.

The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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Kirk’s walk-off single in 11th inning lifts Blue Jays past Cardinals 4-3

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4 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.

With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.

Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.

Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.

Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.

He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.

The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.

Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.

He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.

George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.

Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.

In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.

St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.

ON DECK

Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.

The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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Stampeders return to Maier at QB eyeing chance to get on track against Alouettes

Published

4 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.

It won’t be an easy assignment.

Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.

“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”

Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”

Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.

After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.

“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”

Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.

“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.

A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.

“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”

But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.

“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”

Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”

“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.

Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.

“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”

While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.

“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”

The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.

“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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