'Vanderbilt Was Kind of Everything to Me,' Austin Martin Reflects on Vanderbilt Career

Before Austin Martin was one of college baseball’s brightest stars in his final season at Vanderbilt, he was an understated high schooler with aspirations of being exactly where he is nowadays. 

Martin is now a member of the Minnesota Twins’ 26-man roster and is consistently working to prove that he belongs around the belongs in the major leagues long term. He’s willing to take a second to think back to what his world was like and give credit where it’s due in regards to why he’s in the position that he’s in now. 

“Vanderbilt was kind of everything to me,” Martin told Vandy on SI. “It kind of changed the trajectory of my career and of my life. Just the lessons that I learned at the school and the way coach Corbin runs the program has helped me and I’ve used so many of the tools that I learned there in my professional career, as well.” 

Martin’s professional career hasn’t gone as smoothly as one may assume it would for a former No. 5 overall pick and national champion, but he often clings to the plea Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin’s made to him and his teammates to stay level headed as individuals. 

If the former Vanderbilt star hadn’t taken that to heart, things may have gone differently as a result of his five stints on the injured list in five years, seven rehab assignments and the time he spent in the minor leagues this summer as a 26-year old. 

Perhaps a younger version of Martin wouldn’t have gotten up off the mat, but he has. He believes that he’s done it the way that Corbin would advise him to, as well. 

“I think just maturity, learning how to handle my business the right way and the most professional way possible was the biggest thing,” Martin says in regard to what he learned at Vanderbilt. “When I came in as a freshman I had a lot of room to grow and there’s a lot of things I needed to get better, not even on the baseball field, outside the baseball team. I think that my time there allowed me to figure that out.” 

It’s almost a given at the level that Martin is at in this stage of his career, but since he was walking around Hawkins Field and Vanderbilt’s campus he’s been this way. Martin has seemingly always known how to navigate the media. He seemingly always stops to sign autographs. He’s a professional. 

He’s also staying in the present as the Major League season winds down and his team doesn’t look to be in position to make the postseason. Martin doesn’t know what his future looks like as a professional baseball player after his stretch run in the big leagues, but he’s just focused on stacking as many positive days as he can. 

“It’s just a matter of being where your feet are,” Martin said, “And just kind of being present and in the moment, that’s the most important thing. In the professional atmosphere there’s so much unknown and things are out of your control, so just being able to control what you can control, that’s the most important thing.” 

Perhaps it all hasn’t worked out exactly how Martin would’ve envisioned as he left Vanderbilt’s campus and embarked on his professional journey, but he’s worked to avoid getting down on himself as a result of his circumstances. 

He’d also be lying if he said he wasn’t gunning for the same level of production that he had at Vanderbilt years ago. 

“I’m just gonna keep pushing and moving forward.”