Christopher Austin Martin...X: @austin\_martin99...Instagram: @austin\_martin99...Played high school baseball at Trinity Christian Academy in Jacksonville, Fla...Was a teammate of and roommate with Twins infielder Royce Lewis on the Team USA 15U squad that finished second at the 2014 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) World Cup in Mexico...Attended Vanderbilt University from 2018-2020...Worked out in the 2021-22 offseason at a facility near St. Thomas University in Florida; among the folks he worked out with were Juan Soto and Brandon Nimmo...Likes to fish, hang out with his friends, play video games and go to the beach in his spare time...Describes himself as a "go with the flow" kind of guy, when it comes to plans...Learned to play the ukulele during 2020 pandemic...Favorite cartoon growing up was SpongeBob SquarePants or Dora the Explorer...Go-to breakfast would be eggs, sausage and a biscuit...His role models are his parents...Secret talent is that he is ambidextrous...His favorite type of workout is any that doesn't include endurance running...His top bucket-list item would be to try skydiving...He claims that Jason Momoa would play him in a movie and that he would be a good Aquaman...His most passionate charitable cause would be anything that includes giving to underprivileged kids: "Just being around that my whole life and seeing that, it's sad to see how some people start life with a bit of a disadvantage. Just trying to do as much and help as much as I can there would be great."...Participated in 2023, '24 and '25 TwinsFest at Target Field...Debuted wearing No. 82 in 2024 but switched to 16 over 2024-25 offseason...Went on 2025 Twins Winter Caravan in January along with Zebby Matthews, Justin Morneau and Cory Provus; traveled to Rochester (Minn.), La Crosse (Wis.), Welch (Minn.), St. Cloud (Minn.) and Fargo (N.D.).
2024
Was in Twins Spring Training for third straight season and optioned to Triple-A St. Paul on March 12...Spent majority of season as one of Minnesota's utility players...Had four stints with Twins, going back and forth to St. Paul for most of season...Did not appear for Saints to start season and was recalled by Minnesota on March 30...Replaced Royce Lewis after he was injured on Opening Day...Made Major League debut on March 30 at Kansas City, entering game as pinch runner and finishing game in leftfield...Recorded first career Major League hit on April 9 vs. Los Angeles-NL, doubling off Tyler Glasnow...Recorded first career RBI during Game 1 of doubleheader on April 13 at Detroit...Hit safely in season-long seven straight games for Twins from April 13 (G1)-21...Hit first career home run on April 21 vs. Detroit, a solo shot in the ninth inning off Alex Faedo...Stole first career base on April 26 at Los Angeles-AL...Earned Major League Baseball's Electric Play of the Week after robbing Shea Langeliers of what would have been a game-tying homer on June 16 vs. Oakland...Placed on 10-day injured list with right oblique strain on July 7; reinstated on July 20...Hit first career triple on Aug. 3 vs. Chicago-AL...Recorded second career two-double game on Aug. 21 at San Diego...Also recorded career-high three RBI...Optioned to Triple-A St. Paul on Sept. 11 (Byron Buxton reinstated from IL)...Combined to hit .268 (84-for-313) with 20 doubles, one triple, two home runs, 26 RBI, 60 runs scored, 48 walks, a .373 on-base percentage and a .731 OPS in 117 games between St. Paul and Minnesota...With Minnesota, played 39 games (32 starts) in center field, 38 games (24 starts) in right field and 14 games (10 starts) at second base...Stayed in St. Paul after conclusion of Saints’ season and continued workouts to be ready for Major League club in final week of Twins’ season...Recalled by Minnesota on Sept. 25 (Matt Wallner - IL).
2023
Was in Twins Spring Training as non-roster invite for second straight season but did not play due to a sprained UCL in right elbow...Reassigned to Minor League camp on March 7 and began season on Triple-A St. Paul's 7-day injured list with a right elbow sprain...Played eight games on rehab assignment with FCL Twins and Low-A Fort Myers and reinstated on July 3...Reached base in season-long 23-straight games from July 30-Aug. 30, slashing .359/.485/.577 in that span...Named Twins Minor League Player of the Week on Aug. 20, hitting .353 (6-for-17) with three home runs, nine RBI, an .882 slugging percentage and a 1.304 OPS for the Saints...Stole season-high two bases three times on season: Aug. 2 at Columbus, Aug. 26 at Omaha and Sept. 16 at Iowa...Was successful in season-high seven consecutive stolen base attempts from Aug. 23-Sept. 16...Drew three walks in consecutive games on Sept. 14 and 15 at Iowa...Finished Aug. with 17 walks in 100 plate appearances (.460 OBP)...Named Twins Minor League Player of the Month for August, hitting .329 (26-for-79) with five doubles, four home runs, 15 RBI, 18 runs scored, 11 stolen bases (13 chances), a .460 on-base percentage, a .544 slugging percentage and a 1.004 OPS in 23 games for the Saints...In final 49 games from July 19-end of season, hit .289 (48-for-166) with eight doubles, six home runs, 27 RBI, 30 runs scored and an .861 OPS...Played 35 games (33 starts) at second base for Saints, 12 games (all starts) in left field and 11 games (10 starts) in center field...Hit .268 (49-for-183) with an .819 OPS vs. right-handed pitching and .229 (11-for-48) with a .627 OPS vs. left-handed pitching...Ranked third on Saints in stolen bases (16)...Named by Baseball America as having the best strike-zone discipline in the Twins system...Added to Twins' 40-man roster on Nov. 14.
2022
Selected by Toronto in the first round (fifth overall) in the 2020 First-Year Player Draft; signed by Blue Jays scout Nate Murrie...originally selected by Cleveland in the 37th round in 2017 but did not sign. Was in Twins Spring Training as...non-roster invite for the first time in career...reassigned to Minor League camp March 26 and began season with Double-A Wichita....Stole career-high four bases in four chances April 15 at Northwest Arkansas. ...Reached safely five times in six plate appearances April 16 at Northwest Arkansas, going 3-for-4 with two walks....Reached safely in season-long 13-straight games for Wind Surge from May 8-24 (.419 on-base percentage)....Reached safely nine times in 10 plate appearances over two games from June 28-29 at Springfield, including a season-high tying five times on June 29 (three hits, two walks). ...Placed on 7-day Injured List on July 5 with a left elbow sprain...played in two games on rehab assignment with FCL Twins and reinstated on Aug. 17....Stole three bases in three chances Aug. 23 at Frisco....Drew multiple walks in a game 11 times on season, including a season-high of three done three times: April 15 at Northwest Arkansas, June 28 at Springfield and Sept. 27 vs. Frisco....Hit .245 (61-for-249) with a .325 slugging percentage vs. right-handed pitching, compared to .232 (22-for-95) with a .295 slugging percentage vs. left-handed pitching....Played 70 games (67 starts) at shortstop for the Wind Surge, seven games (all starts) at second base, seven games (all starts) in centerfield, and one start in both left and rightfield....Ranked second on Wind Surge in stolen bases (34), third in walks (47) and games (90), and fourth in hits (81) and runs scored (59)....Ranked fifth in Texas League in stolen bases (34)...caught stealing just five times on season for an 87.2 success rate....Played for Glendale in the Arizona Fall League, hitting .374 (31-for-83) with six doubles, one home run, 11 RBI and a .936 OPS...named AFL Hitter of the Week from Oct. 10-15, slashing .611/.619/.889 with a 1.508 OPS, 15 total bases and two steals...played 12 games at shortstop and five games in centerfield while at the AFL....Ranked as 12th-best prospect in Twins system by MLB.com, entering 2023.
2021
Listed by Baseball America as Toronto’s second-best prospect and MLB’s 19th-overall prospect heading into the 2021 season...ranked 22nd overall by MLB Pipeline... Was an invite to Toronto's spring training...reassigned to minor league camp and began season at Double-A New Hampshire... Recorded season-high five hits (six at-bats) on June 19 vs. Hartford while playing for New Hampshire, including two doubles and four RBI... Placed on 7-day Injured List with a concussion on June 25; reinstated on July 2... Played for the American League Team in the SiriusXM Futures Game on July 11 at Coors Field...entered the game late and went 1-for-1 with a single, a walk and one RBI... Acquired by Minnesota via trade along with right-handed pitcher Simeon Woods Richardson, in exchange for right-handed pitcher José Berríos at the trade deadline on July 30... Reached base in 17 straight games between New Hampshire and Wichita from July 16-Aug. 11, posting a .557 on-base percentage in that span (20 hits, 16 walks)... Combined to hit .270 (89-for-330) with 18 doubles, two triples, five home runs, 34 RBI, 67 runs scored, 60 walks, 14 stolen bases, a .414 on-base percentage and a .796 OPS between New Hampshire and Wichita...hit ..275 (22-for-80) against left-handed pitching and .269 (67-for-249) against right-handed pitching... Played 46 games (all starts) in centerfield and 43 games (42 starts) at shortstop between both clubs... Reached base safely in 80 of 93 games played between both clubs...posted a .414 on-base percentage on the season, which would have led all of Double-A had he posted enough plate appearances to qualify... Ranked tied for ninth among all Double-A players in walks (60)... Ranked by Baseball America as top prospect, best strike-zone discipline and best defensive outfielder in Twins organization following season... Ranked 52nd-best prospect in baseball by MLB.com, entering 2022 and second in Twins system.
2020
Batted .377 (20-for-53) with six doubles, three home runs and 11 RBI over 16 games in the shortened college season...Posted a .507 on-base percentage as he drew 10 walks and was hit by a pitch five times while striking out just twice...Ranked as the 2nd-overall prospect by both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America heading into the 2020 First-Year Player Draft...Taken by the Blue Jays with the 5th-overall selection and signed on July 8...Joined the club for Summer Camp at Rogers Centre in July...Spent the regular season at the club’s alternate training site.
