This story was excerpted from Matthew Leach's Twins Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
MINNEAPOLIS -- It’s becoming clear to a lot more people that Austin Martin is a pretty good baseball player. Byron Buxton was way ahead of the curve.
“I knew he could hit,” Buxton said with a smile on Saturday.
Martin’s strong performance at the plate this year, following an impressive run to the finish in 2025, earned him the role of the Twins’ primary right fielder for the time being. It puts Martin in an interesting position.
He’s 27, and playing in his third Major League season. He’s been playing professional baseball since 2021. He’s seen a few things by this point. But he’s also new to being a regular, and he still has less than a full season’s worth of big league at-bats. Martin is a young veteran, growing into a new role and opportunity.
And Buxton is there to help.
If you walk into the Twins’ clubhouse after a game these days, there’s a decent chance you’ll see Martin talking to Buxton. Their lockers are near each other, and Buxton is enjoying the opportunity to mentor quite a few younger teammates.
“I just hope it’s the comfortability,” Buxton said. “The vibes in the clubhouse, the way that I think we all treat each other in there, it gives you that comfortability to walk up to whoever it is and say whatever, to be honest. It ain’t even got to be something good, bad, ugly -- we’ve got such a good relationship in that clubhouse to where these tough games, tough situations sometimes, losses we have, [it's] a little bit easier to turn the page knowing we’re all on that same page.”
But it seems Martin is one of the ones who partakes of Buxton’s wisdom most often.
“I think that our relationship has gotten a lot closer, so I feel a lot more comfortable just going and talking to him about anything,” Martin said. “It doesn’t have to be baseball related. So definitely, I would say for sure. I just want to take advantage of being able to be this close to somebody of his caliber. He’s where everybody in this locker room wants to be. So just picking his brain as much as possible and just talking to him is only going to benefit me.”
For Buxton, it’s a chance to pay back some of the guidance he received from veteran players early in his career.
“Yeah, 100 percent,” he said. “I had a few guys there for me, so just to be able to pass the baton to another person throughout this clubhouse that is going to be here for a long time is fun. When I was in that spot, I was looking, like, 'Man, I can’t wait to get there.' And I’m here now, and I’m like, 'I wish I was back there.'
"Don’t take it for granted. Enjoy every day that you’re here, because it’s a blessing to be able to put this uniform on every day. Be thankful, for sure.”