Hot-Slugging Texas Rangers Prospect Bucking for Promotion After Huge June

The trajectory of young hitters coming out of the high school ranks can be tricky, and those that play for the Texas Rangers organization are no exception.

Witness Maxton Martin. He’s not a Top 30 prospect in the organization. In 2023, the Rangers drafted him in the 11th round out of Southridge High School in Kennewick, Wash. Martin could have gone to college, played for three years and developed and re-entered the draft. In fact, this would be his junior-eligible season.

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Instead, he signed a bonus deal with the Rangers and started his pro career later in 2023. But, for the first couple of years he was stuck in neutral. He started at the Arizona Complex League in 2023 and played in 10 games. It was a taste.

In 2024 he went back to the ACL, but he wasn’t promoted from there to a full-season affiliate, a noted lack of progress. He slashed .230/.314/.356 in 37 games, with two home runs and 26 RBI.

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This spring, the Rangers nudged him out to their Class-A affiliate in Hickory, his first taste of full-season baseball. He’s made the jump, to the point where a promotion to High-A Hub City may be coming.

At least that’s what Baseball America believes. Recently, the respected prospect publication highlighted 10 hitters and their underlying data for June and Martin made the list.

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Martin has been playing well all season. He’s already been named the Carolina League player of the week twice, most recently on June 8. His numbers for his first 67 games have been outstanding. The 20-year-old outfielder is slashing .275/.340/.475 with eight home runs and 45 RBI. He also has 21 doubles and five triples.

Baseball America believes it knows why Martin has surged to a .300 batting average in June — he’s reduced strikeouts and increased walks.

For his first 64 games Martin had a strikeout rate of 21.8% and a walk rate of 8.2%. Those are solid numbers for a 20-year-old in the minor leagues.

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But in June he’s reduced the gap. Martin has an 11.5% walk rate and 17.7% strikeout rate. The piece’s author, Geoff Pontes, pointed out one other underlying number — Martin’s 47.3% pull rate for June. He wrote that it’s a sign that the budding star is “… tapping into pullside power.”

The Rangers have plenty of outfielders in the system and Martin is a few years away from being real help to Texas in the Majors. But there is clear progress in his game at the plate and that could mean a promotion soon. It’s that time of year. Budding pitching star Kohl Drake was just promoted to Triple-A.

Martin may make it to High-A soon enough.

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