Marlins Prospect Spotlight: Conine, Martorella, Belgrave, Shade

[Ely Sussman]

Big Fish Small Pod for 5/27/24

Ely Sussman shares recent stats and observations about prospects from each full-season level of the Miami Marlins farm system: Triple-A Jacksonville OF Griffin Conine, Double-A Pensacola 1B Nathan Martorella, High-A Beloit RHP Nigel Belgrave and Low-A Jupiter OF Colby Shade.

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Griffin Conine has spent nearly four years in the Marlins org after coming over from the Blue Jays in the 2020 Jonathan Villar trade. He's streaky at the plate and this is one of his fiery stretches, with a 1.015 OPS over his last three series. That raises his slash line this season to .237/.349/.466, almost perfectly aligned with his minor league career averages. Conine's 29.8% strikeout rate in 2024 is on pace to be his lowest since short-season ball in 2018, and it marks a significant improvement from his 38.5 K% at Triple-A last season.

Nathan Martorella (FOF #9 prospect) was acquired from the San Diego Padres in the Luis Arraez trade. Surprisingly, he's being utilized more often in left field (11 starts) than first base (seven starts). Martorella is in the midst of a deep slump, recording hits in only three of his last 40 at-bats. His groundball rate (25.5%) is lower than anybody else's in the Marlins org who's gotten comparable playing time this season and he's frequently pulling the ball, yet it has not led to any homers.

A 2023 Marlins draft pick, Nigel Belgrave is seemingly on the fast track to joining Miami's big league bullpen. Split evenly between Low-A and High-A, he has posted a sparkling 1.11 ERA and 0.74 WHIP this season. Belgrave's slider is quickly emerging as a plus-plus pitch, proving to be especially dominant against righties. He could rise to Double-A by season's end.

Another recent draftee, Colby Shade is serving as Jupiter's everyday center fielder. He has gone 16-for-17 on stolen base attempts on a Hammerheads team that leads all Low-A affiliate with 106 steals. Although he's homered only twice in 150 plate appearances, that's tied for the team lead!

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