A season can make an All-Star case in more than one way. Coby Morales did it by showing up almost every day and steadily turning the Somerset Patriots’ record book into his own. Garrett Martin did it by compressing a season’s worth of damage into 63 games before the Yankees decided Double-A had seen enough. On Monday, Minor League Baseball made both cases official, naming Morales and Martin to the 2026 Eastern League All-Star Team.
For Somerset, the selections are a fitting postscript to a season in which the lineup kept producing names worth remembering. The Eastern League team includes one player at each everyday position, three outfielders, a designated hitter, a utility player, four starting pitchers and two relievers. Somerset placed two hitters on that short list: Morales at third base and Martin in the outfield.
Morales’ selection is the reward for a season built on both durability and production. In 130 games, he hit .282 with a .372 on-base percentage and a .479 slugging percentage, piling up 132 hits, 86 runs, 21 doubles, four triples, 21 home runs, 81 RBI and 21 stolen bases. The 130 games, 132 hits and 86 runs all established Somerset single-season Double-A franchise records. He also led the Patriots with 34 multi-hit games and became just the second batter in the club’s affiliated history to post a 20-homer, 20-steal season.
Those numbers did not merely stand out inside TD Bank Ballpark. Morales finished among the Eastern League leaders in nearly every meaningful offensive category, including second in RBI, third in hits, third in runs and third in total bases. He finished fifth in batting average, sixth in on-base percentage and seventh in OPS. It is the kind of season that rewards repetition: another game, another plate appearance, another hit, another run, until the accumulation itself becomes the story.
Martin’s All-Star case was almost the inverse. There was less time, but very little wasted motion. In 63 games for Somerset, he slashed .270/.344/.568 with 70 hits, 47 runs, 14 doubles, 21 home runs, 54 RBI and 17 stolen bases. He became the quickest hitter in Somerset’s affiliated history to reach 21 home runs, getting there in those 63 games, and his 21 homers through the Patriots’ first 67 team games were also a franchise high for that point in a season.
By June 20, Martin had earned a promotion to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. At the time, he led the Eastern League in both home runs and RBI. That is the odd compliment built into a great Double-A season: sometimes the clearest evidence that a player dominated the level is that he does not remain there long enough to finish it. Martin left Somerset before the summer was halfway over, but he had already done enough to remain one of the league’s defining outfielders when the end-of-season honors were handed out.
Together, Morales and Martin give Somerset two very different All-Star stories from the same lineup. Morales was the season-long constant, the player whose totals grew until they became franchise records. Martin was the burst of acceleration, the hitter who forced the next promotion before the calendar could catch up. One made his case across 130 games. The other made it in 63. Both ended up in the same place: among the Eastern League’s best.
That distinction also matters because the All-Star roster is crowded with players from organizations across the league, including Boston, Baltimore, Cleveland, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Washington, the Mets, Detroit and Colorado. Somerset did not simply have two productive players. It had two players selected from an entire Double-A circuit designed to funnel some of baseball’s best young talent toward the majors.
For fans who watched the 2026 Patriots up close, the honor puts an official stamp on what was already visible from the seats. Morales kept building. Martin arrived swinging and left quickly. Months later, both names are still on the same line of the season’s final ledger: Eastern League All-Star.
| COBY MORALES 130 G • 132 H • 86 R • 21 HR • 81 RBI • 21 SB Somerset records: games, hits and runs | GARRETT MARTIN 63 G • 70 H • 47 R • 21 HR • 54 RBI • 17 SB Promoted to Triple-A on June 20 |
2026 Eastern League All-Star Team
| Pos. | Player | Club / Affiliate |
|---|---|---|
| 1B | Brooks Brannon | Portland, BOS |
| 2B | Roc Riggio | Hartford, COL |
| SS | Franklin Arias | Portland, BOS |
| 3B | Coby Morales | Somerset, NYY |
| C | Ethan Anderson | Chesapeake, BAL |
| OF | Alfonsin Rosario | Akron, CLE |
| OF | Garrett Martin | Somerset, NYY |
| OF | Bo Davidson | Richmond, SF |
| DH | Bryan Rincon | Reading, PHI |
| UTIL | Cayden Wallace | Harrisburg, WSH |
| SP | Anthony Eyanson | Portland/Chesapeake, BOS/BAL |
| SP | Jack Mahoney | Hartford, COL |
| SP | Joseph Dzierwa | Chesapeake, BAL |
| SP | Jonathan Santucci | Binghamton, NYM |
| RP | Micah Ashman | Chesapeake, BAL |
| RP | Alex McFarlane | Reading, PHI |
| Manager | Tony Cappuccilli | Erie, DET |
SOURCE NOTES
• Somerset Patriots: Coby Morales and Garrett Martin Named Eastern League All-Stars
• MLB Pipeline: 2026 Double-A All-Stars and Award Winners
• Hartford Yard Goats: Roc Riggio and Jack Mahoney Named Eastern League All-Stars
All-Star selections and season statistics attributed to Somerset Patriots, MLB Pipeline, and Hartford Yard Goats materials cited in SOURCE NOTES. Cultural framing is RMN's.