Pittsburgh Pirates: Talking Alternate Training Site Life With Mason Martin

With the season almost coming to an end and instructional league coming soon I deemed it necessary to talk with one of those instructs invites, Pittsburgh Pirates prospect Mason Martin

After watching a masterful performance from Steven Brault and the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday night, I had the pleasure to discuss how life has been at the alternate training site in Altoona. The guy to fill me in on all of that information was Pirate slugging first baseman prospect Mason Martin.

Martin has been a buzz word as of late for his standout performances in Altoona. What got me wanting to talk to him again was reading several articles on his rise through the Pittsburgh Pirates system, one of which came from a good friend of mine. Right before the interview, he told me how he had got the invite to instructionals, and we will talk about that later on. For now, let’s get into this interview, shall we?

My first question to him dealt with his emotions. To be more specific, I wanted to know how he felt when he got the call to be apart of the taxi squad this year.

“It was definitely exciting for me. These are the kind of opportunities you hope for, and I kind of knew in the back of my mind that I was only a few steps away. It definitely pushes you to work harder and stay focused on the goal.”

In the previous texts we shared, Martin mentioned to me that he was learning a lot down in Altoona. I wanted to know what he learned over there and what he told he needed to work on the most.

“I think the main thing I learned is how to stick to my approach, and that’s something me and Nunns (Pittsburgh Pirates minor league coach Jonathan Nunnally) worked on a lot. Sometimes in these kinds of situations, it’s just in games it’s not always a situation or a certain rhyme or reason to what the pitcher is throwing because they might be working on certain pitches or mechanics.”

Martin continued, “but the main things I would say is sticking to my approach and sticking to my zone and expect the pitch to come in there and work from there.” He mentioned to me that his “happy zone” is in the middle quadrants and kind of give those pitches on the black to the pitcher but dominate his zone. The big buzz word with the Pittsburgh Pirates system is “dominate your zone,” and it seems to be sticking with Martin.

In Altoona, there were many really good minds trying to mold these guys into great ballplayers and men. Martin mentioned off the top of his head some of the guys that were over there as far as a coaching staff.

“There is a large staff over here. We had Espo, Miggy, Nunns, and Hanny as the pitching coach. (Brian Esposito, Miguel Perez, Jonathan Nunnally, and Joel Hanrahan.) In the cages, it was Nunns and me a lot. He taught me a lot about top hand and how to approach fastballs that are higher in the zone. Everybody seems to be moving towards spin rate, spin efficiency, Velo at the top of the zone, so he taught me a lot about getting on top of that pitch and how to barrel it consistently.”

Blake Cederlind was the most recent call up from the taxi squad, and he looked good in his debut. I wanted to know from Martin what it was like facing Cederlind and what the rest of the pitching staff like to face.

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“Cederlind specifically is just NUTS on the mound. With the amount of velocity and movement that he has on his power sinker gives anyone a tough AB. I got to face him a couple of times, and yeah, he’s nasty. A lot of these pitchers have been lights out so far. You think about a guy like Max Kranick, his velo has jumped 4MPH. He’s throwing breaking stuff, cutters, change ups, and he can command it all throughout the zone. A lot of these guys are going to good big leaguers soon, in my opinion.”

For just a moment, we jumped to next year and what that my hold for Martin. I wanted to know what his goals were and where does he see himself next year.

“For me, I just want to move as quickly as possible like everybody else. My main focus, though, is to continue to get better, and that’s why I’m excited to go down to instructs and learn even more and get more ABs. I don’t know where exactly I’m going to start next year, but I’m just excited for any opportunity and to get to play baseball in front of fans again!”

Martin continued on the possibility of playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates sooner rather than later.

“I’m doing everything I can to make that a possibility. If that opportunity comes, I need to do everything I can to be ready for that. I think it all starts here in Altoona. We’ve got a lot of good work in, and I’ve gotten a lot of ABs. It’s definitely not a lost season for me. I think I’ve made big strides, and I’m going to take those strides into instructs and try and learn and get even better for when that opportunity does come.”

Earlier, we discussed the pitching staff and their “nastiness,” but I wanted to get into the guys who handle the sticks. More specifically, I wanted to know other than himself who Martin saw over there that impressed him and the coaching staff as a whole.

“(Oneil) Cruz is always fun to watch. I love playing with Cruz, and just watching his BP every day is crazy. He hit some balls in a game that never stopped going. I really like Gonzo’s swing (Nick Gonzales.) He’s going to be really good. He just showed up and started raking right off the bat. To do that against this pitching staff is impressive to me. (Rodolfo) Castro was on a really good tear. He hit four or five homers in a week, hitting from both sides of the plate. I think we’re going to have a really good team.”

Previously Martin mentioned his invite to instructs. I wanted to know if he knew of anyone else who got the invite or if it was just of himself.

“I know everyone that was here I’m not too sure on the ones in Florida right now. From what I understand, it’s me, Jared Oliva, Rodolfo Castro, Nick Gonzales, and Liover Peguero. Those are what I know from the position players side I’m not entirely sure on the pitching side of things.”

I’ll admit this question was a shot in the dark because I honestly didn’t know if Martin could do it or not. I wanted to know if winter ball was an option for him this year and if he had heard anything.

“I haven’t heard anything about opportunities to play winter ball, but I love playing baseball, so I’d never turn it down. I do know that there are going to be a lot of winter ball teams that will be loaded with full rosters. If that opportunity is out there, I’ll definitely take it.”

In the last interview we had conducted, I asked Martin, like the rest of the players, what his favorite food is and what he could recommend for me. So I had to do it this time as well, only with a twist. I had to know what he was eating in Altoona and a place he could recommend for me there. Chick-Fil-A is a definite must, but something non-mainstream is a place called Mamma Randazzo’s, and he loves their noodles and Gnocchi.

Just like before, I had an extremely good experience with Martin, and I couldn’t ask for a more cooperative interview. I genuinely hope we see him in the beautiful black Pittsburgh script jersey sooner rather than later!