SS Casey Martin, Arkansas
Full index of profiles here
DoB: 4/7/1999. B/T: R/R.
2020 Stats: 2 HR, .271/.386/.458, 6 SB, 22/10 K/BB in 15 games
Heston Kjerstad may be the top prospect on that very talented Arkansas program, but Casey Martin may ave even higher upside. He burst onto the scene by slashing .345/.418/.556 with 13 home runs as a freshman against top SEC competition, but the longer he's been around, the more these SEC pitchers have seemed to figure him out. He dropped to .287/.369/.556 with 15 home runs as a sophomore, and this year he was hitting .271/.386/.458 with a pair of home runs when the season shut down. His final two games of the season, and likely his Arkansas career, really told the story – against Grand Canyon, he went 0-5 with four strikeouts on March 10th, then went 3-5 with a home run and a pair of strikeouts on March 11th to close his career.
Despite standing 5'11", Martin is about as tooled up as they come. He generates a lot of raw power from a big left handed swing, and you can guarantee he won't get cheated when he's looking for a pitch to drive. He also adds in game-changing speed that he can deploy on both sides of the ball, and when combined with a strong arm, you have a defender who should be able to stick at shortstop. The reason we find Martin back here towards the end of the first round, though, is the hit tool. He struck out 64 times in 67 games as a freshman, then actually bumped that number up to 71 strikeouts in 61 games as a sophomore before striking out 22 times in 15 games as a junior. His all-out swing and the general rawness of his approach leads to lots of swings and misses, which hasn't really hampered his power production in college with 30 career home runs in 143 games, but which will be an issue at the next level. He was a bit more patient in 2020, forcing pitchers to come to him a bit more, but that didn't really help his hit tool and he still struggled when he got into deep counts.
Though he's a college hitter coming from a top SEC program, Martin has a very wide range of outcomes. A team that thinks they can iron out his hit tool and get him a bit more consistent overall could envision a potential 30-30 threat at a premium position, which is middle of the first round value or better even if his on-base percentages fall closer to .300 than to .400. However, that's a big roll of the dice, as the 5'11" Arkansan's power come from his big, uppercut swing, and you could risk some of his power if you have him tone it down too much. Still, there is enough wiry strength to project 15-20 home runs per season even with a more contact-oriented swing, and that should keep Martin in the first round picture. Overall, he's probably a stretch to crack the top 20, but he should fit somewhere towards the back of that first round or in the comp round.
US CNT batting practice and game footage
No comments:
Post a Comment