Q: “What’s the best thing to come out of Texas A&M?” A: “Highway 6.” Aggie jokes aside (but only for a moment), Houston Astros fans may discover in about a decade that Corbin Martin is the best thing to come out of Texas A&M.

The right-handed pitcher grew up near Hempstead, a tiny burg at the junction of the aforementioned Hwy 6 and US-290, some 54 miles northwest of Minute Maid Park. Summertime finds sweet-toothed Houstonians speeding by Hempstead, as it’s the halfway point between the Bayou City and Blue Bell Ice Cream’s plant in Brenham.

Corbin Montgomery Martin likely got his fill of both Moo-llennium Crunch and ballpark popcorn while flashing his Astros Buddies Kids Club membership card at his heroes’ ballpark around the turn of the century.

As a 9-year-old, he was at Minute Maid Park when his hometown team faced the Chicago White Sox in Houston’s first World Series appearance in 2005. In 2017, he was also front and center four months after he was drafted by the Astros for the insanely memorable World Series Game 5, days before the team snatched their first Championship.

He’s even played several games at Minute Maid Park… twice with his high school team, and a couple of times in college.

Martin, 23, has rocketed through Houston’s system to the point, now, where he’s poised to check in at spring camp in February, and actually battle for a spot in the Astros’ starting rotation.

Maybe not for Opening Day, but a 2019 MLB debut seems all but a lock, especially with the losses of Charlie Morton and Dallas Keuchel to free agency, and Lance McCullers, Jr, to Tommy John surgery.

Gig ‘Em Mustangs… and Commodores

The 6’2″, 200-pounder is one of six Martin children, which include three sisters and twin brothers. He attended Cypress Ranch High School, logging a career 13-4 record and a 1.38 ERA in 112 innings (16 of 22 starts) for the navy and gold Mustangs. He struck out 123 while walking only 55.

Following his sophomore season for Texas A&M, in the summer of 2016, Martin pitched for the Falmouth Commodores of the Cape Cod League and took home All-Cape Cod League honors. In 14 games, all in relief, he logged an 0-1 record with six saves and a 1.14 ERA, recording 22 strikeouts and three walks in 15.2 innings. He helped the Commodores to a 29-15 record to claim the West Division title.

Feeling freer to “let loose” as a reliever on the Cape, Martin routinely hurled his fastball from 95 to 98 mph with running life. Houston brass will be happy to learn that, generally, as a starter, he wisely conserves his arm to the tune of 92-96.

“I Wasn’t Going to Give Up”

Even after Martin’s draft stock mushroomed after he dominated as a reliever for the Commodores, he was rocked early in his junior A&M season. With a wildly inflated 9.72 ERA, Martin moved into a middle relief role, where he pitched well enough to move into the starting rotation early in the Aggies’ SEC schedule.

Martin credits head coach Rob Childress for his continued confidence in him.

“I think it made me grow as a person,” Martin revealed to Texags.com, recalling his struggles. “The trust that Coach Childress had in me was big. He didn’t give up on me and made me realize that baseball is a game of ups and downs. Just the fact that I could have the worst of all games and Coach Childress was still my biggest fan and he kept putting me out there nonstop, I wasn’t going to give up.”

In the 23 games in his junior season with A&M (12 of which were starts), the 21-year-old posted a 7-3 record with a 3.35 ERA, and 94 strikeouts in 86 innings. For his Aggie career, Martin was 11-4 with a 3.72 ERA and 148 strikeouts in 130.2 innings of work. His resumé includes a 12-strikeout performance against Arkansas.

Q: “What’s the second best thing to come out of Texas A&M?” A: “An empty bus.”

Martin, the Astros’ second-round selection (56th overall) in 2017, became the highest draft pick for the Aggies since Tyler Naquin and Michael Wacha were selected by the Cleveland Indians and St. Louis Cardinals with the 15th and 19th picks, respectively, back in 2012.

Fun Fact: Speaking of the Cards, Martin’s 2017 draft slot was actually made possible by MLB’s punitive actions against St. Louis in the 2015 stolen data scandal. Houston’s 53rd pick, prep IF Joe Perez, was also a Cards’ gift. Martin signed for a below-slot bonus of $1 million.

“We heard more from the [Pittsburgh] Pirates and the [Milwaukee] Brewers leading up to it, and then all of a sudden I get a phone call from the Astros guy,” Martin shared, recalling Draft Day to Texags.com. I said, ‘No way, this can’t be happening.’ The coolest part was it being the Astros, my hometown team. I’ve been cheering for them since I was born it seems like. Growing up and watching them on TV, it was kind of surreal.”

Scouting grades: Fastball: 60 | Curveball: 55 | Slider: 60 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 50 | Overall: 50

John Sickels of MinorLeagueBall.com describes Martin’s stuff: “He has an overpowering breaking ball, a big power curve that’s a definite plus pitch. He also has a decent slider, and since moving into the starting role (shortly after the ’17 season began after a stint in the bullpen) he’s shown the ability to use a good change-up, too.

“When his command is on, Martin throws four quality pitches for strikes and has little trouble putting hitters away.”

“That was one thing that the Astros wanted to do – kind of fine tune my pitches,” Martin reflected on his arsenal to Texags. “I’ve had the capability to throw four pitches, but it’s just a matter of throwing them all at the same time.”

“The Perfect System”

Starting 2018 in Advanced-A ball, and pitching just 19 innings, Martin was rapidly catapulted to Houston’s Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks, with his solid performance for the Texas League entry setting up his upwardly mobile 2019.

His 103 innings (in 21 games, 18 as starter) with a 7-2 record, he fell just shy of qualifying for league rankings. Nonetheless, his 2.97 ERA and greater than 3:1 K/BB ratio (96-28) made the Houston brass sit up and take notice.

In her July 2018 interview with Houston’s #6-ranked prospect (per MLB Pipeline), What The Heck Bobby’s Jayne Hansen got this explanation of his pitch prowess from Martin in Corpus:

“On any given day, [my slider, curve or change-up] could look to be [my] best offering. It could be either one, whatever I feel comfortable with. There’s some days where you don’t have the same feeling for [a pitch that] you did before and you’ve just got to work with that and learn from it. I’ve just got to pitch off the fastball, and that’s something that the Astros have taught me and I’ve been able to command it really well.”

Martin seems to have a level-headed perspective on his pitch power and how speed is pointless without control: “As I develop, hopefully one day I’m throwing harder and still locating. That’s a goal of mine, but we’ll see. I feel like I’m doing the right things right now and they’re not ever going to tell me (to throw harder). That’s not what they’re about in this system. I think I’m in the very perfect system.”

Hansen, in her particularly probing interview, got Martin to uncover what Houston’s coaches have him working on currently: “I’m working on everything. I’m never content. I always want to be better. Ever since I’ve been in the system, they’ve done a really good job of pretty much making me into a better player all around. They’ve done a really good job of developing me.

“I’m really grateful for the things that they’ve taught me. I’m never going to be content with how I’m doing today because I always want to get better for tomorrow. I’ve been throwing well, but I could always throw better.”

The Boss Addresses Martin’s Status… Vaguely

Hot off the presses is this recent quote from Astros’ GM Jeff Luhnow, outlining the team’s plans for Martin in 2019: “I think a year from now we’ll know a lot more about Corbin Martin, we’ll know a lot more about [No. 2 prospect] Forrest Whitley, and we’ll have a better sense on [Josh] James and [Framber] Valdez, and it could be we don’t have an issue a year from now.

“If Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and Collin McHugh were free agents right now [as they will be a year from now], I’d be nervous about replacing them with those guys, but a year from now, I think we’re going to have a lot better information.”

You’ll find Martin beginning his 2019 on the roster of Houston’s Triple-A Round Rock Express, but not before getting stretched out starting some Spring Training games.

Corbin Martin is one who rolls with the punches, with an enviable mix of self-confidence and inner drive:

“You just focus on what’s going on right now, on getting better for this system and hopefully move up. That’s something that I’ve had my mind on, just getting better every day.”