Pittsburgh Pirates Prospect 2021 Season Recap: Mason Martin

Next up in our Pittsburgh Pirates prospect 2021 season recap is power hitting first baseman Mason Martin

While the Pittsburgh Pirates farm system is among the best in baseball one area where the farm system could still use some improvement is power. One big-time power hitter the Pirates have down on the farm, however, is first baseman Mason Martin.

The left-handed hitting Martin has arguably the most power potential of any prospect the Pittsburgh Pirates have in their farm system. The only other prospect who may be in Martin’s league when it comes to power potential in shortstop Oneil Cruz.

The 22-year-old Martin spent most of the 2021 season with the Double-A Altoona Curve. However, he did earn a September call up to Triple-A Indianapolis. This call up puts Martin on the doorstep of the Majors.

FanGraphs ranks Martin as the 26th best prospect in the Pirate farm system. They give his raw power a future value of 70, while his game power has a FV of 35. His overall FV of 40+ indicates that FanGraphs views Martin as a plus platoon player at the Major League level.

With the Curve last season Martin hit for a .242/.318/.481 slash line to go with a 113 wRC+ in 471 plate appearances across 112 games. In these 112 games Martin had an 8.1% walk rate, however, he struck out at an alarming 34.2% rate.

Strikeouts have always been an issue for Martin. In his professional career he owns a 31.8% strikeout out rate in his 1662 career PAs. The swing-and-miss has always been an issue for Martin. This and his hit tool continue to be the biggest red flags for Martin as a prospect.

In his 8 games with Triple-A Indy in September, Martin accumulated 27 PAs. In these 27 PAs he hit for a .240/.296/.600 slash line to go with a 31 wRC+. While he struck out 10 times, he also hit 3 home runs for the Indians.

Martin will start the 2022 season with Indianapolis. Odds are, the power hitting lefty will make his MLB debut at some point during the 2022 season. If the National League does indeed adopt the DH in 2022 as is expected this cane help create a spot for Martin. Either way, he should get an opportunity to start hitting bombs over the Clemente Wall at some point in 2022.