We go inside the games of five players taken on Day 2 of the 2020 MLB Draft who could one day make an impact on major league rosters.
Tag Archives: Vanderbilt baseball
Toronto Blue Jays 2020 1st Round pick, 5th overall: Austin Martin IF/OF-Vanderbilt
In the span of three seasons, Vanderbilt’s Austin Martin had a profound impact on NCAA baseball. As a sophomore, the former Trinity Christian Academy (Fla.) star batted .392 as the Commodores leadoff batter in 37 of the team’s contests. This came one year after the back-to-back All-SEC selection led the conference in stolen bases (22). The All-American third baseman started 52 games at the position in 2019, while also tallying 13 starts at shortstop.A probable Top 5 pick in the 2020 MLB Draft, Martin started at six different positions in 2018. Martin finished his career with a .368 batting average.
Cleveland Indians 2020 MLB Draft, 5th Round, 154th overall: Mason Hickman RHP-Vanderbilt
On the way to a 2019 College World Series title, perhaps no player had more of an impact on the Vanderbilt Commodores run than Hickman. In fact, the former Pope John Paul II (Tenn.) star produced a knack for striking out batters down the stretch in 2019 and led into the early portion of 2020. After striking out 10 Michigan Wolverines in the Commodores CWS game-clinching victory, he began 2020 with a perfect 2-0 slate (0.48 ERA) through three starts. In back-to-back weekend outings versus Illinois-Chicago and Hawaii, Hickman struck out a combined 23 batters.
