The Minnesota Twins have been unremarkable to start the season, as they were 21-26 entering Monday night's matchup with the Houston Astros. On the bright side, right fielder Austin Martin might be their most positive storyline right now.

The 5-foot-10, 195-pounder entered Monday's game ranked 11th in baseball with a .313 batting average and 38th with an .837 OPS over 41 games. He's now the Twins' full-time right fielder after they sent Matt Wallner down to Triple-A on Thursday, who's slashing just .167/.259/.292 over 34 games. 

Minnesota's only other player who was hitting at least .270 entering Monday (minimum 30 games played) was catcher Ryan Jeffers, who was slashing .294/.410/.538 with seven homers and 26 RBIs over 36 contests. Those two have been its only consistent hitters other than center fielder Byron Buxton (.899 OPS), left fielder Trevor Larnach (.792 OPS) and first baseman Kody Clemens (.787 OPS). 

Martin is making the Twins look smart for acquiring him and starting pitcher Simeon Woods Richardson from the Toronto Blue Jays for fellow starting pitcher Jose Berrios in 2021. Woods Richardson is 0-6 with a 7.71 ERA over nine starts this year, so Martin's good form is a much-needed silver lining. The organization needed unproven players to step up this year, given its lack of star talent aside from Buxton and starting pitcher Joe Ryan, and Martin answered the call. 

On Monday, Minnesota showed that its entire lineup has potential despite its lackluster output to start the year. Designated hitter Josh Bell hit a solo homer in the second inning, a two-run shot in the fourth, and an RBI single in the sixth before second baseman Luke Keaschall hit an RBI single in the sixth.

As of this writing, seven of the Twins' nine position players had hits and four of them scored. The productive showing was especially important for Clemens, Bell, Keaschall, shortstop Brooks Lee, third baseman Tristan Gray and center fielder James Outman, who were all hitting below .250 entering Monday. Additionally, Minnesota excelled without its best player in Buxton (hip).

The club has a chance to rise the ranks in the AL Central if it has more showings like Monday's, as it was five games behind the Cleveland Guardians for first place as of this writing. Up next is a rematch with the Astros on Tuesday starting at 7:40 p.m. ET. Right-handed pitcher Zebby Matthers will start against Houston right-hander Lance McCullers Jr.