Marlins Minor League Report: PJ Morlando injured again; Jacksonville's bullpen is stacked

[Kevin Barral]

Farm system updates from the week of April 28, including outstanding pitching performances and rough news for a pair of former Marlins first-round draft picks.

Fish On First is publishing weekly Miami Marlins minor league summaries throughout the 2025 season, covering the progress of FOF Top 30 prospects and lesser-known players in the organization who are worth monitoring. Each full-season MiLB affiliate has its own section below.

Player stats are up to date entering May 6.

 

Triple-A Jacksonville

Although we usually highlight players who are trending in a positive direction, it must be mentioned that Jacob Berry has continued his trend of extreme early-season struggles. Berry was among the worst qualified hitters in the Midwest League (High-A) through this point of the 2023 season. Same story the next year when he was in the Southern League (Double-A). Here in 2025, he's slashing .129/.227/.235/.462 with two home runs and 10 RBI. His wRC+ of 33 is fourth-lowest in the International League.

Nearly three full years into his professional career, Berry has yet to find a home defensively. The former first-rounder is getting a surprising amount of reps at second base. He's been charged with four errors in only 78 innings at third base.

Through 10 games with the Jumbo Shrimp, Joe Mack is slashing .270/.372/.486/.859 with two home runs, three RBI and a 137 wRC+. Overall for the season, he has a 180 wRC+. On the season, he's caught eight runners stealing, with seven of those coming in AA.

The Jacksonville pitching staff has really turned it around from one year to the next. They have a team ERA of 3.65, which is an improvement from last year's 4.43 mark.

The biggest standout when it comes to the bullpen has been Seth Martinez, who remains with the organization despite twice being designated for assignment by the Marlins earlier this year. Martinez has a 0.00 ERA, 1.06 FIP, 15.43 K/9 and 1.93 BB/9 through nine appearances this season. He is getting done with below-average velocity—Martinez's fastball averaged 90.9 mph, topping out at 92.2 mph in his most recent appearance.

Another potential call-up candidate to keep tabs on is Christian Roa. He has a 1.35 ERA, 2.85 FIP, 11.48 K/9 and 2.70 BB/9 through 13 ⅓ innings pitched (12 appearances). Roa's stuff is more in line with what we typically see from major league relievers, having topped out at 97.2 mph and averaged 96.5 mph on his fastball last weekend.

 

Double-A Pensacola

Kemp Alderman remains on pace for a career year with a 130 wRC+, striking out 19.2% of the time. He is slashing .264/.337/.462 with four home runs and 15 RBI. He is third on the team in OPS, behind only the promoted Joe Mack and injured Cody Morissette.

The Blue Wahoos pitching staff has a combined ERA of 2.67, the lowest amongst all Marlins minor league affiliates. Three pitchers (Josh White, M.D. Johnson and Josh Ekness) have yet to allow a run. Just this past week, the staff surpassed 100 walks, which is the least amongst the affiliates as well.

Swingman Adam Laskey continues to torch the AA level, posting a 0.84 ERA, 1.74 FIP, 9.70 K/9 and 1.27 BB/9 through 21 ⅓ innings pitched. Soon, Laskey should find himself in AAA.

Dale Stanavich, who spent spring training with the big league team, has a 0.84 ERA, 3.80 FIP, 9.28 K/9 and 5.91 BB/9 through 10 ⅔ innings pitched. Stanavich is consistently getting thrown into high-leverage situations and succeeding. His five saves lead the Marlins organization.

 

High-A Beloit

Infielder Yiddi Cappe continues to impress offensively, slashing .309/.385/.441/.826 with two home runs, 10 RBI, 11 stolen bases and a 137 wRC+. Signed by the Marlins out of Cuba for $3.5M, Cappe has been stuck at the High-A level for 200 games over the last three seasons. The team's original hope that he would be a long-term shortstop is gone, but good to see him make legitimate progress at the plate.

Featured in our own Ely Sussman's minor league spotlight Small Pod, 2024 draft pick Fenwick Trimble is off to a great start, slashing .247/.402/.403/.805 with one home run, 12 RBI, 14 stolen bases and a 137 wRC+. Trimble is also walking (19.6%) more than striking out (18.6%). Trimble could become the first member of his draft class to earn a promotion to AA.

Connor Caskenette, mentioned in last week's recap, is worth mentioning again given how good he's been, slashing .310/.500/.379/.879 with five RBI and a 170 wRC+. It is an impressive start considering Caskenette fell to the third day of the 2024 draft and signed for a modest $100k bonus.

 

Low-A Jupiter

Andrew Salas continues to be the biggest story of the season. He's slashing .350/.500/.400/.900 with five RBI, nine stolen bases and a 173 wRC+. His on-base streak is more than a month long at this point. Salas is in the Hammerheads lineup on a regular basis, rotating between second base, shortstop and center field.

Two years older than Salas, Carter Johnson is having more trouble with the transition to Low-A. He's slashing .181/.256/.238/.495 with 12 RBI and a 51 wRC+, a step down from where he was last summer. He has struck out 40 times in 26 games. Going down to the Florida Complex League to face competition more suited for him could be the key to getting back into a rhythm.

PJ Morlando suffered an apparent leg injury this past week. On Monday, he was placed on the 7-day IL. He was 6-for-26 with one home run and three RBI. Morlando has had only nine games of MiLB experience since being drafted due to various injuries.

Eury Pérez will make his third rehab start for the Hammerheads on Tuesday. He is expected to build up his pitch count to 30-35 pitches.

 

Other Notes

- FCL play started on Monday. Starter Nate Payne went 3 ⅔ innings, allowing one run on one hit, walked two and struck out five. Breyias Dean and Cody Schrier both drove in a pair of runs. The Marlins lost 8-7 to the FCL Astros.

- Out of the Marlins academy in the Dominican Republic, lefty Kifraidy Encarnación hit 101 mph in a recent bullpen session. Encarnacion made two starts last season, but went down with an injury, requiring him to undergo Tommy John surgery. He is still rehabbing from that. 

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[FishFan62]

Should probably mention that Morlando has a .429 OBP and an .852 OPS. Dude was raking in the series before he got hurt.