Updates on every Marlins 2025 MLB Draft pick, one year later

[Ely Sussman]

A complete evaluation of the MLB Draft requires extreme patience. Take the 2026 Miami Marlins, for example. Their best pitcher this season (Max Meyer) and best defensive player (Joe Mack) were selected way back in 2020 and 2021, respectively. It took all those years for Meyer to make the leap from replacement-level player to probable All-Star and for Mack just to debut in the majors.

It'd be foolish to pass any judgement on the Marlins' 2025 class now, but with the 2026 draft on the horizon, this is the appropriate time for a quick progress report. Here are notes on each of the organization's 21 selections as they approach one full year as professional baseball players.

 

INF Aiva Arquette (Round 1)

Current level: Double-A

FOF Top 30 rank: fourth

One of these years, the Marlins will land a college hitter in the draft who moves rapidly through their farm system. It has been a long drought, and unfortunately, Arquette won't be that guy despite receiving the largest signing bonus in franchise history.

The tall infielder mashed at Oregon State with a 153 wRC+ in 2025 (100 represents league average). In pro ball, he's merely at a 98 wRC+ through 68 games at the High-A and Double-A levels. The batted ball quality is good and his MiLB strikeout rate is a manageable 21.9%. However, his walk rate has nosedived year-to-year from 14.5% to 6.5%.

The Marlins are using Arquette at shortstop the vast majority of the time and he looks comfortable there despite his unconventional physical build. He has also made five appearances at second base and three at third base.

Arquette's 2026 season debut was delayed by injury and now he's potentially facing another long absence (last played on June 26). Don't expect a call-up to Miami until 2027.

 

OF Cam Cannarella (Competitive Balance Round A)

Current level: Double-A

FOF Top 30 rank: fifth

Negotiations between Cannarella and the Marlins got awkward following the draft. It took until the final day of signing eligibility for the deal to be finalized, as his camp was dissatisfied with how far he fell (43rd overall pick).

Less than 11 months removed from making his organizational debut, Cannarella has almost entirely closed the gap between himself and Arquette. He's been dominant at the plate—the outfielder's 142 wRC+ since 2025 leads all Marlins minor leaguers with a minimum of 200 plate appearances. Double-A competition has not slowed him down one bit. Although the 185-pounder has limited raw power, he's showing just enough pop to hit balls over the fence to left field.

Cannarella is likely to reach the big leagues before any other member of his draft class. The spicier question is how long until he challenges Jakob Marsee for the starting center field job.

 

OF Brandon Compton (Round 2)

Current level: Double-A

FOF Top 30 rank: 19th

Compton is a stereotypical "three true outcomes" hitter. This season in particular, 63.3% of his plate appearances have resulted in home runs, walks or strikeouts. He's gone yard nine times in the last month alone.

Unlike the previous two players discussed, Compton has no chance of occupying a premium defensive position, so he needs to be a consistent run producer. It'd be a fun wrinkle of his MiLB base-stealing translated to the highest level (25 SB in 87 G), but don't count on that.

As first reported by Fish On First's own Alex Carver, Compton has just received a promotion to Double-A.

 

Rest of the class

OF Max Williams (Round 3)—The former Florida State center fielder slashed .269/.359/.284 with Jupiter in 19 contests following the draft. Unfortunately, he hasn't stepped on the field in 2026 due to injury.

INF Drew Faurot (Round 4)—Another Seminole, Faurot was outstanding at the plate in his first summer with the Hammerheads (144 wRC+ in 2025). Alas, fitting with the overarching theme of this draft class, health issues are preventing him from building upon that. Faurot played three High-A games before suffering an injury, resurfaced for seven games in late May/early June, then disappeared again.

Second career triple for Drew Faurot.#Marlins | @GoHammerheads pic.twitter.com/nmAal6SNX5

— Fish On First Prospects (@FOFProspects) August 20, 2025

1B Chris Arroyo (Round 5)—At least we have specifics on Arroyo, who underwent season-ending surgery in April for a torn left meniscus. The Puerto Rican first baseman grew up in South Florida. Arroyo played in his native island's winter league last offseason and intends to do so again.

LHP Joey Volini (Round 6)—The large lefty is annihilating same-handed batters and his overall stats as a Marlins minor leaguer have been brilliant (2.62 ERA and 2.29 FIP in 34.1 IP). Really the only thing to nitpick is he's been too easy to run against. Volini should be the first pitcher from this class to get promoted to Pensacola.

RHP Jake Clemente (Round 7)—The Marlins have given Clemente an extended audition as a starter in Jupiter. He has developed a five-pitch mix and the bottomline run prevention is decent, but it's hard to be optimistic when he's been walking nearly 20% of batters faced.

INF Emilio Barreras (Round 8)—In barely half as many games as a minor leaguer, Barreras has matched his college home run total with four bombs. He's also drawn nearly as many walks (41) as strikeouts (44). Combined with the versatility to handle second base, third base and shortstop, he nabbed the No. 28 spot on the updated FOF Top 30.

LHP Kaiden Wilson (Round 9)—Wilson was the highest-paid pitcher in Miami's 2025 draft class with a $697.5k signing bonus. His MiLB career thus far consists of a single relief appearance (0.2 IP, 0 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 1 K).

UTIL Jake McCutcheon (Round 10)—The left-handed-htting McCutcheon is streaky at the plate. This season, for example, he followed up a .317 OPS in May with a .975 OPS in June. Unable to capitalize on his brief opportunity with the Sky Carp, he's currently back down with the Hammerheads. McCutcheon is being used mainly as a right fielder.

Two homer day for Jake McCutcheon today. Second one was hit at 109 mph. He drove in all six @GoHammerheads runs.

It’s been a solid start to 2026 for the 10th round pick. He’s slashing .231/.404/.436.#Marlins pic.twitter.com/PwGgBZlGWx

— Fish On First Prospects (@FOFProspects) April 20, 2026

RHP Jadon Williamson (Round 11)—Williamson has gotten rocked during the transition from Lewis-Clark State College to pro ball with a 21.77 ERA in 10 games out of the Jupiter bullpen.

C Wilson Weber (Round 12)—Arquette's Oregon State teammate signed as a 23-year-old and was sent straight to High-A. He hasn't produced on either side of the ball, producing an overall slash line of .191/.298/.236, throwing out only 13 of 108 would-be base-stealers and struggling to block pitches in the dirt.

RHP Chase Renner (Round 13)—Renner possesses a nasty curveball with late, two-plane break. Most of his 19 MiLB outings have gone smoothly, but there is a massive gap between his career 4.44 ERA and 7.10 FIP.

RHP Carson Laws (Round 14)—Laws has had the heaviest workload of any pitcher in this draft class (61.2 IP). As of this writing, he is coming off a spectacular game at High-A (6.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K) and received the Midwest League Pitcher of the Week award. Overall, though, he has been far too homer-prone in the minors.

UTIL Josh Hogue (Round 15)—Hogue is slashing .250/.345/.339 through 39 Low-A games for a 94 wRC+. Defensively, he's splitting time between first base and the corner outfield spots. In an organization that prides itself on aggressive baserunning, it's bizarre that Hogue hasn't even attempted a steal in the minors yet.

LHP RJ Shunck (Round 16)—Shunck has been limited to nine appearances (two starts) since the draft, posting a 3.21 ERA in those 14 innings. Of note, he has held opponents to a .111 batting average. He's been sidelined since April 14 due to injury.

RHP Xavier Cardenas (Round 17)—Similar story here. We've seen only 10 ⅔ innings from Cardenas, who showed promising stuff in Jupiter, only to land on the IL after two High-A outings.

LHP Hayden Cuthbertson (Round 18)—The Canadian lefty was selected out of Miami University (OH) despite poor results during his draft year. It's been more of the same in the minors with a 8.38 ERA in 19 ⅓ innings pitched.

RHP Peyton Fosher (Round 19)—Fosher has dabbled in several different roles with Beloit, excluding high-leverage relief. He has decent MiLB production thus far with a 4.40 ERA and 27.3 K%.

RHP Cannon Pickell (Round 20)—Terrific name. Lousy control. Pickell has issued 44 walks and 14 wild pitches through his first 31 professional innings.

View full article