Monday, May 18

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.” 

It was perhaps lost in the frustration over the obstruction call against Royce Lewis in the eighth inning, but Friday night was one of the Twins’ best defensive games of the year in the infield. Brooks Lee and Lewis both made strong plays, and Kody Clemens had a valuable night at first base.  

The good news is, it was the continuation of a trend. After a very tough start to the season, Minnesota’s infield defense has been markedly better over the past few weeks -- Saturday’s costly error and unearned run notwithstanding. The infield rated an ugly -7 outs above average for March and April, the fifth-worst mark in baseball.

For May it’s a different story. It’s still not spectacular, but that’s not the expectation -- solid is. And they’ve been solid. Entering Saturday’s game, Twins infielders sported a collective +1 OAA for May, 15th out of 30 teams. That’s noteworthy improvement. Lee in particular is looking much better recently after a difficult start to the season. 

“He’s played well,” said manager Derek Shelton. “I think you take away, probably, the first five or six games -- had an error or two on routine plays, which if you’re doing defensive metrics, it really dings you and it’s hard to come back from. But he’s played extremely well for us.

"The play he made last night in the hole, the play he made with the infield in that they called obstruction on, I mean, he has really done a nice job just overall playing defense.” 

It was 86 degrees and clear on Friday, which equals windows down and sunroof open. And on the first perfect weather day of the spring, there’s one album I always reach for: Material Issue’s "Freak City Soundtrack." So here are five of the best turn-it-up tracks from that brilliant record. Y’all be kind and look out for each other, OK? 

“Goin’ Through Your Purse” 

“Kim The Waitress” 

“A Very Good Thing” 

“Eko Beach” 

“She’s Goin' Through My Head”

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