Noble Meyer begins development in second pro start

In his first career start last week, Marlins’ first round draft pick Noble Meyer managed nerves well and learned of the factors within his game he needed to work on in order to reach his very high ceiling. During the week, Meyer and his coaches drafted that blueprint and on Saturday afternoon, they began to act on it.

Under a very bright and very hot sun with few clouds around the Cardinals’ side of the complex at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium, Meyer took the mound for the second time. After his first start, Meyer said one of the main things he needed to improve was establishing the count in his favor by getting two of his first three pitches over for strikes. He threw a first-pitch strike to each of his first two hitters with his fastball. Both of those at bats ended in strikeouts. After a walk, Meyer rolled a slow ground ball to shortstop to end his first frame.

“My fastball felt great today. I felt like I could throw it right by them,” Meyer said after his outing. “First pitch strikes was better, but I still think there’s more I can improve on.”

To begin his second inning of work, Meyer would wind up allowing a walk in a 3-2 count, but appeared to be battling a finite strike zone.

After coming back well against his next hitter by rolling a slow ground ball out, Meyer threw his only errant pitch of the day to allow the walk to reach third base. What followed was a very encouraging moment for the 18-year-old. Against Cardinals’ catcher Alejandro Loaiza—who wound up hitting a home run later in the game—Meyer went behind in the count early, battled back into it, then had the gumption to throw his curveball purposefully in the dirt. He garnered the swing-and-miss for his third strikeout.

As impressive as that moment was, Meyer quickly upstaged it as he came back out for his third inning of work. Facing infielder Javier Bolivar, Meyer went behind in the count 3-0. He came back with a fastball followed by a slider for two straight strikes. On the first payoff pitch, Meyer dotted the curveball up on the inside corner for a strikeout looking to end his day.

“Kind of was getting a little tired, kind of was getting under the ball,” Meyer said. “I zoned in and said I gotta get on top of the ball. I got strike one, strike two. I had a lot of trust in the curveball today so I figured why no go back to it and got him looking.”

All in all, the righty’s line read 2.1 IP, 0 H, 2 BB, 4 K. He threw 46 pitches and topped out at 96 mph with his fastball. Afterwards, Meyer summed up his second career start with two words: “Much better.”

Meyer attributed his progression to having a ground floor to build off of in his side work throughout the week for the first time before getting back on the mound in game action.

“It was nice to have a base to work off of after last week’s outing,” Meyer said. “Giving me things to work on and showing me how it’s going on game. So to have things to work on, like fastball command. It was really beneficial to go out and see batters again.”

Behind Meyer and the rest of the FCL Marlins pitchers, Delvis Alegre, Julio Mendez, and Walin Castillo who qualified for a four-inning save, the offense was on fire. Three Marlins hitters collected three hits as the club plated 11 runs including four in the 5th inning and six in the 9th. All but one member of the team was on base at least once.

“Major production today. Everyone swung the bat well,” Meyer said. “They were on fire. It was a fun day.”

Happy but not satisfied, Meyer will go back to work before his next start this coming week. Things to watch for will be further consistency of first-pitch strikes and more consistency with his slider. That said, Meyer took a step forward on Saturday afternoon especially with his fastball command. Because of his stuff, makeup, maturity and willingness and want to grow, we can expect many more positive steps forward to be taken from the Marlins’ consensus top prospect.

Other FCL notes:

• Walin Castillo continues to throw up zeroes. With limited velo but a funky delivery and a ton of deception, Castillo is holding down a 1.81 ERA in 28.2 FCL innings. That includes his last 12 innings in which he has allowed just one earned run. Command consistency is real for Castillo who has more than twice as many strikeouts than walks (25 K/12 BB). The 6’3”, 175 pound 18-year-old righty is a prospect who is quickly making his way towards full-season ball. He has a back-end rotational ceiling with multiple-inning reliever being a more likely outcome. He won’t turn 19 until January.

• A healthy Junior Sánchez is fun to watch. After being signed by the Marlins in 2019 for a lucrative $1.15 million, Sánchez sat out over three years due to the cancelled COVID season and ongoing injuries. He played his first pro game in 2022. This season, Sánchez has played in nearly every FCL contest. Overall, he’s hitting .265 with a .703 OPS. He’s been on base in 14 of his last 15 starts. During Meyer’s first start, Sánchez made a spectacular diving grab at second base that saved a run. In this game, Sánchez reached base three times and stole two bases, both of which occurred during the same inning. 5’10”, 177, the lefty hitter is built for a solid average and good on base rates. He’s walked 19 times and only struck out on 16 occasions. Once on, he has good instincts and great athleticism which follows him into the field at second base. Although behind schedule, he is starting to prove why he was so high prized by Miami.

• Jesús Hernández is starting to make a name for himself. A member of the 2021 international signing class, Hernández exhibited awesome on-base numbers and an advanced approach upon his pro debut in the DSL as a 17-year-old that season. After splitting time between the DSL and his first 18 stateside games last season, Hernández has played in nearly every FCL Marlins game so far this season. He’s slashing .286/.415/.401 and has walked more than he’s struck out (33/32 K/BB). Hernández currently has limited power, but shows advanced plate presence and discipline with sneaky above average bat speed capable of hitting gaps on short season fields. On the infield, Hernández exhibits fantastic athleticism and an above average arm. In this game, he laid out to make a grab down the line and made a play behind the bag before accurate throws to first base. The owner of the best wRC+ on the Marlins’ FCL squad and 14th best in the league (123), Hernández is an under-the-radar prospect to keep an eye on. He could make it up to full-season ball very shortly.

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