Marlins MiLB Recap: Head makes debut, Berry’s struggles continue

Throughout the course of the Minor League Baseball season, Fish On First staffers will release detailed recaps each week taking you through the previous week's developments at all levels of the Miami Marlins organization.

Low-A Jupiter

It was a tough week for the Hammerheads, who were only able to take one game out of the six they played against the Dunedin Blue Jays.

The biggest story of the week for Jupiter was the debut of Fish on First #5 prospect Dillon Head, the centerpiece of the prospect package Miami received for Luis Arráez. Head did not make his organizational debut until last Tuesday due to injury, but it was worth the wait, as the 19-year-old went 3-for-4 with a triple and two stolen bases.

Head finished his first week in the Marlins system slashing .333/.333/.500, but has not played since last Thursday.

While it was a slow week at the plate for the Hammerheads as a whole, another bat that saw a great couple of days was Angelo DiSpigna, who slashed an elite .400/.500/.800, in addition to belting his first career home run. An undrafted free agent out of Georgia Tech, his OPS is up to .864 on the season.

On the mound, Noble Meyer (FOF #2) continued his recent stretch of dominance as he went five innings, allowing just one hit while striking out eight on Saturday. Meyer has not allowed an earned run in three consecutive starts. Although Meyer’s command is not all the way there just yet—he had four walks and a hit by pitch—his stuff is so overpowering that he can still take games over.

High-A Beloit

Beloit, like Jupiter, only won a singular game from their six-game set against the Milwaukee Brewers-affiliated Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.

Unlike Jupiter, though, the Sky Carp had a dominant hitting performance throughout the entire week, courtesy of Josh Zamora. Zamora, who is repeating High-A after spending time with both Beloit and Pensacola a season ago, slashed a powerful .478/.520/.913 with three home runs. The 25-year-old's performance this past week continues an interesting trend where he is hitting .348 on the road, a drastic difference compared to his .220 average at home.

When it comes to arms, Cade Gibson delivered the best outing from the past week, chucking seven scoreless innings while striking out three Timber Rattlers. Gibson has quietly had a very solid year thus far, sporting a 3.09 ERA. The Louisiana native has been even better as of late, allowing just four earned runs in his past three starts.

Finally for Beloit, Emmett Olson (FOF #27), who has arguably been the most impressive arm in the entire system so far in 2024, did more Emmett Olson things, allowing just one earned run in 4 ⅔ innings of work. Olson’s season ERA is a staggering 0.56, with opponents hitting just .158 against the young southpaw.

Double-A Pensacola

The Blue Wahoos upped the status quo when it came to winning amongst Marlins affiliates this week, but not by much, going 2-4 against the Montgomery Biscuits. Two of their losses were by one run, while the other two were much more lopsided, with the Wahoos going down 9-1 and 18-1, respectively.

We’ll start with the pitching this time around, and for good reason.

Both Valente Bellozo and Paul Campbell dazzled in their starts this past week, with the former pitching seven two-hit innings, punching out eight while allowing just one run, and the latter going six innings, allowing no runs. The otherwise lackluster Pensacola offense picked up both Bellozo and Campbell, as they recorded wins for their efforts.

Speaking of offense, two notable names from this past week include another Arráez acquisition in Jakob Marsee (FOF #7) and 2022 sixth overall pick Jacob Berry (FOF #21).

We’ll start positive with Marsee, who is finding his footing after being sent over from San Diego. The outfielder hit a team best .286, which included two doubles and two RBI’s, bringing his OPS with Pensacola up to .811.

Unfortunately for Jacob Berry, he continued to struggle last series, hitting a team low .045, recording just one hit over 22 at-bats. Berry, who is repeating Double-A, started his season with a home run and recorded a walk-off a few weeks into the season that had the potential to get him on the right track against Southern League pitching, but he's been unable to take real strides forward in his development. Berry is slashing .141/.197/.211 and has not shown much improvement since turning pro. Couple that with his below-average defense and you get a ticking clock for a prospect who was believed to be, at the time of the 2022 draft, the “safest pick” for the Marlins.

Triple-A Jacksonville

The Jumbo Shrimp mirrored the Blue Wahoos with a 2-4 record this past week, as they welcomed the visiting Nashville Sounds to 121 Financial Ballpark.

Javier Sanoja (FOF #26) was the standout bat for the Shrimp this past series, who has caught fire as of late. Sanoja slashed an extremely impressive 455./536./636 with two doubles and a triple, as well as recording five walks, just to cement how well he was seeing Nashville pitchers. The 21-year-old has had a stellar month of May, hitting .339 while OPS’ing .847. He has the third-most hits in the Marlins farm system with 40.

This brings us to the rehabbing Tim Anderson, who did something that he has not done at a professional level in almost a year, and that is hit a home run. Anderson has not gone deep in MLB since he was still a member of the Chicago White Sox on July 29, 2023, and even then, it was his first and only long ball of 2023. After playing two games in Jacksonville over the weekend, the former All-Star was activated off the IL on Tuesday.

Roddery Muñoz was the headliner for Jacksonville on the mound last week, throwing six innings while allowing just one run on Sunday. Muñoz, who looked great in his first two outings at the MLB level, is on the short list to be called up again if the big league team needs another arm.

Up Next

• Low-A Jupiter heads west to face the Tampa Tarpons
• High-A Beloit visits the Great Lakes Loons
• AA-Pensacola welcomes the Tennessee Smokies to town
• AAA-Jacksonville travels north to take on the Gwinnett Stripers

Interested in learning more about the Miami Marlins' top prospects? Check out our comprehensive top prospects list that includes up-to-date stats, articles and videos about every prospect, scouting reports, and more!