Okay - this guy has definitely reached my radar this year.
He was an 8th round pick out of Orange Lutheran HS in CA in 2013. He signed for $159,700. He spent 2013 in the GCL and hit .251/.357/.698 as a 17 year old.
He did this interview with CrawfishBoxes after the season. It is a good read. This year in Greeneville, he is 18 and is 2+ years younger than league average. Yet he is one of the best players on the team IMO.
At the plate. He is hitting .311/.406/.487. In July, he is hitting .365/.472/.554 out of the lead off spot. He has a hit in 24 of the 30 games he has played in. In those six games where he didn't get a hit, he reached base via walk in three of those. He has 11 multi hit games. He leads the league in triples (6), tied for 3rd in doubles (9), third in total bases (58) and tied for second in walks at 19. He has 19 K's in 139 plate appearances. Three of those came in the first game of the season. He has only had one game since with more than one K.
His heat map at MLBFarm.com shows he is hitting more balls to CF this year. In the field, he is impressive. He get's very good jumps. My favorite Martin story this year was a high fly ball was hit to deep center. Martin turned and ran to where he thought it was coming down, slowed and turned, saw he wasn't deep enough. Turned and sprinted to the spot, turned and WAITED for the ball to come down. He makes things look easy in CF. I haven't seen his arm enough to make an assessment.
The bases is the lone place I have seen him struggle. He is 6 for 11 in stolen bases. I have seen him get picked off a few times too. He is very fast but is still learning to be a baserunner. One example of his poor judgement on the bases. A sinking liner was hit to LF. He was on 3rd. If the guy makes the play, he can tag and with his speed get home easily. If the LFer misses, he can walk home. He left when the player dove for the ball. The guy made the play and doubled Martin off 3rd.
I expect he will get a taste of TriCities before this season is out. Martin won't turn 19 until September 5th. He will be in Quad Cities next year as a teen. If he keeps progressing at his current rate, he could be in Lancaster before the end of the 2015 season. Definitely a player to keep your eye on.
