Karson Milbrandt interview: 'Controlling the controllables,' Arizona Fall League experience and more

[Ely Sussman]

Swimming Upstream—Episode #68

The World Series may be over, but the 2025 baseball season is still ongoing for some notable Miami Marlins prospects out west. Ely Sussman and Kevin Barral are joined by right-hander Karson Milbrandt, who's participating in the Arizona Fall League. Drafted by the Marlins in 2022, Milbrandt reflects on his professional journey thus far, how he adjusted to new levels of competition this year, pitch-calling from the dugout and where he has room for continued growth.

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The start of Milbrandt's age-21 campaign was delayed due to the inflammation in his throwing arm. High-A Beloit activated him from the injured list on April 17 and it wasn't until June 13 that he completed five innings in an outing. He really found his groove during the final month of the regular season, holding opponents scoreless in three of his last five starts and earning a promotion to Double-A Pensacola.

Milbrandt's 3.00 ERA overall was easily a career-best, as was his 29.0% strikeout rate. The addition of a gyro slider to his arsenal made him especially effective against right-handed batters. We've bumped him up to 13th on the Fish On First Top 30.

Milbrandt tells Swimming Upstream that his next scheduled AFL appearance is on Thursday, pitching in relief for the Solar Sox. After that, he'll take the mound in Sunday's Fall Stars Game.

For updates on more than a dozen Marlins players who are competing in fall/winter ball leagues, bookmark this tracker.

Follow Karson (@KarsonMilbrandt), Ely (@RealEly), Kevin (@kevin_barral) and Fish On First (@FishOnFirst) on Twitter. Join the Marlins Discord server! Complete Miami Marlins coverage here at FishOnFirst.com.

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