Kyle Martin
Re-Visiting The 2016 Top Prospects on LI List
It’s been five years since I really started following high school baseball here on Long Island. Back during the 2016, I tried to really immerse myself in the game and I was covering games 5 days per week – while bartending at Lombardi’s on the Bay on the weekend – so I did miss out on some action at times. But through conversations with high school and travel ball coaches, I attempted to compile a list of the Top 10 prospects on Long Island. This was not meant to be a prediction of who would have the longest and most successful career, but in that snapshot in time I wanted to gage who had the highest ceiling as a prospect. Like anything else in media, it got some attention from people that enjoyed it while others scoffed at it. I can laugh now, because I really had ...
Recapping the 2019 MLB Draft
The 2019 MLB Draft is now complete. Although it took until the 15th round, a number of players with Long Island connections were drafted. Let’s go down the list: 15th round (Baltimore Orioles) – Kyle Martin, RHP, Oceanside 16th round (Milwaukee Brewers) – Michael Wilson, RF, Stony Brook 17th round (Arizona Diamondbacks) – Nick Grande, SS, Stony Brook 18th round (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) – Ryan Smith, LHP, Princeton (Garden City) 25th round (Washington Nationals) – Parker Quinn, 1B, Hofstra 27th round (Chicago White Sox) – Tyler Osik (, 3B, Central Florida (Shoreham-Wading River) 28th round (Colorado Rockies) – Keven Pimentel, RHP, Tampa (Huntington Station) 30th round (Atlanta Braves) – Mitch Calandra, C, Eckerd College (Floral P...
MLB Draft 2019: Who’s Going to Get Picked from Long Island?
Day 1 of the 2019 MLB Draft came and went with no local players getting selected, although Elon RHP George Kirby was selected in the the first round (20th overall) by the Seattle Mariners and he is a Rye, NY native. As is the case every season, dozens of players have a shot to get drafted but that list dwindles as the season progresses and ultimately only a select few Long Island players will hear their name called. Here’s my best guess at the local players that will have their dreams fulfilled and will play professional baseball. High School: Jaison Andujar, OF, Bay Shore Andujar quickly put himself on the radar after moving back to Bay Shore from the Dominican Republic. He is a pro-caliber bat with a tremendous arm in center field. I was surprised he only had three home runs consid...
AMP’s Summer Collegiate Performance Program is Starting June 4th!
(Disclaimer: The following is sponsored content) AMP will be offering a FREE Athletic Performance and Skill Assessment June 7th and 8th! (See Below) AMP is the premier sports performance training facility on Long Island that has everything you need under one roof. AMP’s staff, including Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialists, Certified Athletic Trainers, Massage Therapists and Nutrition Coaches will employ a systematic approach to improving all aspects of your performance. AMP’s system includes strength training, speed & power development, movement optimization, injury prevention, recovery, sports nutrition and mindset strategies. AMP’s Athletic Performance Director and Founder, TJ Lopez has 10 years of experience working with professional baseball players, most notably...
Fordham Tops Army, 3-2, On Unusually Warm February Day
Kyle Martin closes the door with the four-out save. Fordham 3, Army 2 pic.twitter.com/bJMZ3tH1Pv — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) February 21, 2018 It felt more like the middle of June than February 21, but the players, coaches and spectators were not going to complain. The Fordham Rams topped Army, 3-2, on a 70-degree day. Make no mistake, this was extremely unusual as the Rams have never even played a home game this early in the season. The roll-of-the-dice worked out, and the Rams treated their home fans to an entertaining game. Freshman Nick Labella hit his first career home run in the third inning to give the Rams an early lead. It was no cheap home run, either, as it went into the stands well beyond the fence in left-center field. They extended their lead to 2-0 in the fou...
The Reliever’s Walk Up Song: Why Is It So Important?
(Photo Credit: Vincent Dusovic) by Julian Guevara Over the past decade the “nail down” reliever has become one of the most important positions in baseball. This is due in part to the plethora of incredible relief pitching and closers that emerged from the late 1990s-2010. Every ballplayer in the United States knows that the last thing you want to hear at Yankee Stadium in the top of the ninth is Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”. Of course, Mariano Rivera’s cutter is what the hitters really feared; however the song plays a huge role in getting the fans involved. My favorite example is the 2012 Oakland Athletics and their closer, Grant Balfour. Balfour, a genius in my opinion, did everything he could to get all 60,000 fans at the Oakland Coliseum involved. His chosen song is also a Metallica hit,...
Freshmen That Could Have an Immediate Impact
There was once a time when freshmen had no choice but to watch from the sidelines. It didn’t matter how talented they were, how quickly they retained information or how much leadership ability they possessed. In 1968–finally–the NCAA ruled that freshmen were now eligible to play. The NCAA still has bizarre rules and finds ways to hold people back from prospering, but at least they got this one right. Coaches these days do not care about anything aside from a player’s ability to help a team win ballgames. There’s no reason to discriminate on anything aside from talent. This year, there are a number of talented freshmen that will play crucial roles among the local teams. Here is a list of the top ones… Sean Hogan, Molloy He was named All-League at Holy Tri...
