Overlooked Yankees UDFA's insane power surge should have him on cusp of MLB

You paying attention yet? Yankees outfield prospect Garrett Martin is making it pretty impossible not to, carrying his surprising momentum from Somerset to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. And while he should have been promoted one level below the bigs several weeks earlier, the delay might've helped him hit the ground running to the point where he can no longer be ignored.

Martin, undrafted out of Austin Peay after being selected by the Baltimore Orioles out of high school in 2018, joined the Yankees' system for a brief cameo in 2023. He played his first full season at High-A Hudson Valley the next year (.748 OPS), but hit a developmental wall at Double-A Somerset, batting just .222 with a .681 OPS last season. That's organizational fodder, not a ready-for-primetime player.

And yet ... when he returned to the level this spring, something amazing happened.

Martin bashed 21 home runs in 63 games, hitting .270 with a .911 OPS. Half of those games probably represented a large enough sample size to send him to Scranton, but ... the Yankees preferred to wait until this week, for whatever reason.

And in his first four games, he's struck gold, leaving the yard three times. That includes this sturdy swing on a pitch he barely even reached.

Yankees outfield depth chart can accommodate Garrett Martin splash

For a team that relies on Aaron Judge and the best defensive left fielder in baseball, the Yankees have had a whole lot more outfield woes than anticipated this season. Trent Grisham's recent injury (he should be back soon, we're told) shifted Jasson Domínguez/Spencer Jones from the developmental fringes to the center of attention, and Jose Caballero has wound up in left field far too often for our liking. Judge won't be back anytime soon, and the Yankees have too many other needs to focus on supplementing the outfield mix at the trade deadline.

If anything else befalls them, or if they decide their current alignment just isn't cutting it, it really seems like taking a flyer on Martin could be an underrated choice. They haven't "staked their future" on him — the consequences aren't dire the way people are claiming everySpencer Jones benching vs. lefties is. As much as we enjoy Max Schuemann, it feels like a better idea to deploy Martin (.250 with an .860 OPS this season against left-handers) instead when you feel the need to knee-jerk replace Jones.

And hey, maybe if you don't think Jones is fully cooked yet against left-handers ... he should go down again while the 25-year-old with a full head of steam comes up?

At the start of the season, considering Martin would've felt even further out of left field than using Caballero in ... left field. Now? The Yankees shouldn't just be examining the possibility. They should hit the button.

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