Former Texas A&M right-hand pitcher Corbin Martin made his major league debut for the Houston Astros Sunday, picking up his first win in the major’s.
Martin allowed three hits, two runs and a walk while striking out nine batters in 5.1 innings against the Texas Rangers. The Astros went on to win 15-5 to take the series sweep.
“Before the game I was getting a little nervous and my heart was pounding,” Martin said in his postgame interview. “Then I get on the mound and I see so many people in the crowd and I’m like, ‘here we go’. After I got that first pitch out of the way it all just settled in.”
The Houston native was signed to the 25-man roster for the Astros to replace right-handed pitcher Collin McHugh in the pitching rotation.
Martin was a highly-touted prospect from Cypress Ranch High School, where he earned All-State and District MVP honors in his junior and senior seasons. Following graduation the righty attended A&M, where he played for three seasons.
“I think when I realized when I got in the mound before the game in the bullpen, started to realize that this is a game that I’ve played since I was young and not to make too much of it, just focus on the task at hand,” Martin said.
The Astros drafted Martin in the second round of the 2017 MLB draft, where he spent two seasons in the minors. After an impressive season with Class A Buies Creek and Double-A Corpus Christi in 2018, he was promoted to Triple-A Round Rock in 2019.
According to ESPN’s Keith Law, Corbin was 48th on his top-100 prospects of the 2019 season.