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Martin providing power

04/23/18 By Gary M. Baranec Curve pitcher J.T Brubaker keeping a no hitter going in fifth inning action Monday against Erie at PNG Field.

Curve manager Michael Ryan called outfielder Jason Martin “an extra-base hit machine,” and the story behind how the diminutive 5-foot-10, 185-pounder became that is a telling example of two things:

1. Why launch angle is more than just a fad in baseball, and

2. A big reason why the Astros won the World Series last year

Martin went 2-for-4 with a double as part of a big offensive performance by the Curve in Monday night’s 7-0 win over Erie before 2,362 fans at Peoples Natural Gas Field. J.T. Brubaker (1-1) allowed only three hits in seven shutout innings, and Altoona won easily.

Martin was one of the players acquired from the Astros in the Gerrit Cole trade in January. To look at his size, you’d probably think of him as a slap hitter. But that couldn’t be more wrong.

Martin drills the ball with good power. He’s tied for the Eastern League lead with three triples and leads the Curve in extra-base hits (seven) and total bases (27) despite missing the first four games with a foot injury. He’s also third in the league in slugging percentage (.614), ninth in batting average (.341) and has an OPS of 1.034.

Two years ago, Martin belted 23 homers in high-A ball with the Astros. Last season, he hit 18 between high-A and Double-A, to go along with 35 doubles and five triples. That’s a whopping 58 extra-base hits, plus he had an .819 OPS.

Ryan was asked what he likes about Martin as a hitter, and his answer was simple: “Everything.”

“He’s balanced, he’s on each pitch, whether it’s a fastball or something offspeed,” Ryan added. “Gives us a weapon in the 3 hole with some speed, is an extra-base hit machine. He can hit, he can handle the bat and barrel control. He’s thrown together some really good at-bats and staying within his approach.”

Martin’s approach is one he learned from the Astros following the 2015 season. An eighth-round draft pick out of high school in 2013, he hit a grand total of nine home runs in his first 281 minor league games over three seasons.

Then the Astros started working with him on launch angle — which in layman’s terms is hitting the ball in the air more and with authority.

“That was something that the Astros were really trying to preach, and I bought into it,” Martin said.

His body started to get a little bigger, too, so the Astros figured they’d tweak his approach to take advantage of the newfangled analytic of launch angle.

“When I signed, I was pretty small, just kind of a base hit hitter, get on first, steal second, steal third,” Martin said. “The Astros, as I got bigger and more strength, kind of enforced the launch angle, just trying to hit the ball in the air and driving it in the air, and that’s what I’ve been trying to do.”

The results have been staggering. That guy who hit nine homers his first 281 games smacked 23 in 2016 alone. That was at Lancaster in the California League, which is notorious for producing big power numbers. But Martin followed it up a year ago with 18 — including 11 in 79 games at Double-A Corpus Christi — plus he had all the extra-base hits, so there was nothing fluky about his power numbers.

His performance with the Curve so far is further proof of that.

Martin was asked if he sees himself as a big power threat, as the past two years would indicate.

“Yes,” he answered. “That’s something that I really have been working on the past couple years is pulling the ball the right way. As I’m growing into my body and getting more strength in my swing, I’m able to plunk the ball out of the park.”

The fact that the Astros were so committed to launch angle three years ago that they were working on it with a smaller player such as Martin is a good example of why that organization has enjoyed so much success in recent years. The Astros were a year or two ahead of the curve compared to most organizations on that and other analytics, and it paid off with them winning the World Series in 2017.

Now, it’s one thing for a big power hitter to buy into the launch angle stuff so he can hit more homers. But Houston asked Martin, a smaller player, to do it, and while that could have been risky to his development, it instead has worked very well for him.

Martin said he had no hesitation buying in when the Astros approached him about the new hitting approach.

“I was all in,” he said. “I feel like if you have somebody that has experience in coaching and has good information behind it, I think everything is worth a try. It’s something I did buy into and something I did find success doing.”

Martin also agreed that a lot of the Astros’ success can be traced to their development procedures and acceptance of analytics early on.

“I really believe that has a lot to do with their success,” he said. “It’s proven that the launch angle and everything that they’re preaching over there is successful, and I feel like there’s more teams and more coaches buying into that as well, and it’s something that’s kind of changing the game.”

SUBHD: Game recap

Key player: Curve RHP J.T. Brubaker tossed seven shutout innings, allowing only three hits.

Key play: The Curve broke things open with three runs in the fifth inning, highlighted by a two-run single from CF Jason Martin.

Key stat: Martin leads the Curve in extra-base hits (7) and total bases (27) despite playing in only 12 games.

SUBHD: How they scored

Bottom 2nd: Craig walked, scored on Jackson single (1-0).

Bottom 3rd: Tucker doubled, scored on Craig groundout (2-0).

Bottom 5th: Tucker walked, Alemais singled, both scored on Martin single (4-0); Craig single scored Martin (5-0).

Bottom 7th: Martin doubled, scored on Craig single (6-0).

Bottom 8th: George singled, scored on Williams single (7-0).

Covering the bases

LEADING OFF: RHP J.T. Brubaker was superb for the Curve on Monday, tossing seven shutout innings and giving up only three hits with six strikeouts and no walks. “He was just a groundball machine,” manager Michael Ryan said. Brubaker had 13 groundouts to only two fly ball outs, which is a remarkable percentage. “He was able to get ahead,” Ryan said. “I think that his changeup was the best I’ve seen. It looked like at times that they were split-fingered fastballs, that’s how much bite they had. And his slider was there, just like it has been his last couple starts.”

SAFE AT FIRST: RHP Jesus Liranzo hit 100 mph a couple of times during his eighth-inning relief appearance. He struck out the side while also allowing one hit and one walk. Liranzo was acquired by the Pirates on waivers April 5 from the Dodgers. He pitched for Bowie last season and was 3-4 with a 4.98 ERA. Ryan said Liranzo was throwing five pitches, which ultimately hindered his overall effectiveness, so the Pirates have had him give up a couple of his less effective breaking pitches and focus on three pitches, which in turn helps his fastball velocity.

STEALING SECOND: Ryan on Liranzo: “He’s a different guy from what we saw last year in Bowie. He was just letting it grip and rip, I think. But the slider, he’s starting to get over. … We eliminated the couple pitches that he had, and it’s just much more effective and he’s down in the zone. He lost the fastball a little bit as far as command but was able to get the breaking ball over. I don’t think that’s something he could have done last year.”

ROUNDING THIRD: 1B Will Craig had a big night, going 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a run. Craig leads the team with 12 RBIs, double what anyone else has (SS Cole Tucker and 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes both have six).

HEADING HOME: 2B Stephen Alemais and RF Bralin Jackson joined Craig and CF Jason Martin with two hits for the Curve.

– Cory Giger

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