Fish On First Prospects Report: Aiva Arquette leads wave of Double-A additions

For the 2026 season, Fish On First will provide weekly reports on the Miami Marlins farm system, covering all levels. Here's the final May edition of our Fish On First Prospects Report, which includes several important injury updates near the bottom of the page.

This report covers the games played from May 19-25.

Triple-A Jacksonville

This week, the Miami Marlins acquired outfielder Rece Hinds from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for reliever Zach McCambley. In 24 games this season in Triple-A, Hinds is slashing .303/.422/.618/1.040 with seven home runs, 20 RBI and a 164 wRC+. In his Jacksonville debut, Hinds went 1-for-4 with a walk. His lone hit of the game came in the bottom of the ninth inning with an exit velocity of 109.5 mph.

McCambley, who was a member of Miami's all-pitcher 2020 draft class, was left unprotected in the Rule 5 draft. He was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies, but after not making the team, he was sent back to the Marlins and assigned to Triple-A. In 13 appearances (two starts), McCambley posted a 2.36 ERA, 4.34 FIP, 10.80 K/9 and 5.74 BB/9. He has yet to debut for his new organization.

The trade does come as a surprise given that there wasn't a clear need for an outfielder, unless the Marlins plan to make some moves with the 26-man roster. As for McCambley, it didn't seem like he was going to get an opportunity to make the Majors with Miami, so he is shipped off to a place where he may have a better chance.

Jacob Berry continues to rake in Jacksonville, now slashing .309/.426/.434/.860 with two home runs, 17 RBI and a career-high 137 wRC+. Berry's walk rate was at 14.2% the last time we posted this article. It has only gone up since, now at 16.6% and striking out 13.0% of the time, both career-best marks for him.

Since being optioned to Jacksonville, Agustín Ramírez is slashing .240/.339/.420/.759 with two home runs, seven RBI and a 103 wRC+. Defensively, he has made three errors, allowed nine stolen bases compared to three caught stealings. He is playing almost everyday, serving as the designated hitter when he isn't behind the plate.

In limited action so far, 2021 second-round pick Cody Morissette is off to a strong start in Triple-A. He is slashing .286/.359/.429/.788 with one home run, eight RBI and a 113 wRC+. His lone home run of the season came on Saturday, a walk-off grand slam. Then on Sunday, he was the walk-off hero again with an RBI single.

A fun note from this past week was that reliever Jack Ralston threw an immaculate inning. It came in Tuesday's game against the Norfolk Tide. He struck out Heston Kjerstad, Johnathan Rodríguez and Christian Encarnacion-Strand all swinging. It was the first immaculate inning of the season for the Jumbo Shrimp.

On the season, Ralston now has a 1.03 ERA, 2.61 FIP, 12.99 K/9 and a 4.44 BB/9 in 26 1/3 innings pitched.

Double-A Pensacola

Pitching led the way for the Wahoos en route to a series victory over Columbus. Pensacola starting pitchers gave up just 11 runs over the course of the week. The offense rewarded them nicely, scoring 31 runs, pacing the way to a plus-10 run differential. Pensacola is now one game over .500 at 23-22, and they have just received some considerable reinforcements.

Aiva Arquette, Eliazar Dishmey, Juan Matheus, Connor Caskenette and Holt Jones were officially promoted from High-A Beloit on Tuesday. More on Dishmey and Caskenette in the Beloit section of this report.

We are running out of adjectives to describe what Karson Milbrandt is doing. Every week, the righty goes out and ups the bar again in terms of his dominance against Double-A hitters. This week, it showed up in the form of him collecting a career high 12 strikeouts over six shutout innings. He allowed just three hits and two walks. Milbrandt is now riding a streak of five straight quality starts, including 23 straight scoreless innings. He’s eight scoreless frames away from tying the Blue Wahoos’ all time franchise record for consecutive scoreless innings set in 2013 by Lee Hyde. Deservedly so, the accolades keep coming for Milbrandt: he was once again named Southern League Pitcher of the Week by the league and Baseball America has labeled him the hottest pitcher in all of Minor League Baseball.

Because of the veracity at which he is dominating and overwhelming Double-A hitters, questions have arisen about Milbrandt being promoted to Triple-A Jacksonville and when that will happen with the big league team struggling for starting pitching. However, remaining in Double-A is probably the safest play for Milbrandt’s continued development. Before this year, Milbrandt had only pitched two games at the Double-A level. Also, he’s not yet thrown more than 90 innings in a single season. As innings pile ip on his arm, staying where he’s comfortable will aid Milbrandt’s confidence. The alternative is going to a very bitter friendly environment in the International League where he would play against competition four-plus years his elder on average. With depthy arms for the big league team still to draw from already on the 40-man roster, the safest play for Milbrandt, who is now a top 100 prospect, would be to keep him in Double-A for most of 2026.

Fenwick Trimble, the Marlins’ fourth-rounder from 2024, had a slow start to the year. He progressively picked things up, and lately, Trimble has taken the next step and strung together multiple hits in many games that he's played. That was prevalent in this series against the Clingstones as Trimble went 7-for-23. He recorded two hits in each of the final three games of the series, including his seventh home run. Trimble has put a .680 OPS April behind him by slashing .288/.337/.513 in May.

Trimble has tapped more into his contact-oriented approach by way of swinging at more quality pitches. He owns 31.1% whiff (36th percentile), but his swings-and-misses have consistently become less frequent as he gets fully acclimated to Double-A pitching. Trimble has also looked the part at all three outfield spots. Reps and time: that is all Trimble will need as he attempts to approach the ceiling of a speedy, gap-hitting, contact-oriented starting outfielder. He is locked into a starting outfield spot with the Wahoos for the rest of the season.

High-A Beloit

It was another successful week for the Carp who hit the road again and came out with a 4-2 series victory against Quad Cities. The Beloit bats awoke for one of their better all-around offensive showings of the season so far as they scored 52 total runs and held a whopping +29 run differential. When the Sky Carp resume play on Tuesday, though, their lineup will look much different without Arquette, Matheus and Caskenette.

With Otto Lopez and Liam Hicks on potential All-Star trajectories and with top prospect Owen Caissie beginning to riddle it out at the plate, it’s been quite the year for Canadians at the big league level. Connor Caskenette is making that trend matriculate to the minors because he is absolutely raking. He continued to demolish High-A pitching this past week by going 6-for-19 with a double and two homers, bringing his season total to seven. Caskenette’s 166 wRC+ not only leads the Marlins system, it’s second-highest in the Midwest League among qualified hitters.

At High-A, Caskenette showed a fantastic approach, walking at a 13% clip while keeping strikeouts to a manageable 22%. He selects swings well, rarely chasing out of the strike zone and making contact at pitches within it at an 85% rate. Caskenette’s solid raw strength and great barrel control stemming from quick hands allows him to go to all fields, though he has slightly favored the pull side. Limited defensively, Caskenette has done exactly what he needs to do so far in his development to reach his ceiling of an every day starter at the next level: hit consistently and hit well. We are about to find out if that can sustain against upper minors competition. 

Long term, it may behoove the Marlins to teach Caskenette a position other than catcher, possibly first base or left field. The glove has severely lagged behind the offensive production, namely in the area of controlling the running game where Caskenette has caught just 18% of base-stealers this season. While still very low, that is an improvement so far over the 10% marker he posted in 2025. Additionally, as catcher-only, Caskenette would be blocked by the defensively gifted Joe Mack. Overall, a bat-first and potentially bat-only prospect, there’s a low floor here, but the ceiling is enticing.

Eliazar Dishmey continues to turn in solid outings. On the heels of a quality start in which he allowed just one run on a homer, the righty tossed 5 ⅔ innings worth of shutout ball on just three hits and one walk. Narrowly missing a second straight QS, Dishmey struck out nine, his most in a start since setting a career high with 10 last August. His ERA shrunk to a minuscule 2.14, sixth-lowest in the Midwest League (min. 20 IP).

Dishmey continues to shine by way of a fastball that is one of the better heaters in the Marlins’ organization. Throwing the pitch with both four seam rise and two seam sink, Dishmey is showing enhanced command as well as an enhanced ability and confidence to throw the pitch up in the zone for whiffs. He can also bury it with lower velocity, attributing to a 44% ground ball rate this season. Along with his primary breaker, a slow, looping 12-6 curve which shows great velo separation from the heat, his slider has been his separating point this season. Better feel and control over the frisbee-style third pitch with late tilt and run to his spot has been the primary reason for his stark increase in K rate (35%) and decrease in contact rate (68%). He can also still mix in a show-me changeup.

There’s still some reliever risk to Dishmey due to historical command concerns, limited size, and throwing with effort, but he’s already raised his floor so far this season. Still just 21, there’s plenty of time for him to continue to develop and fully iron out his craft at the upper minors. He’s well ahead of schedule.

Colby Shade had another standout week offensively for Beloit and is proving how impressive he can be when he’s consistently getting on base. Slotting into four games in the series, the 24-year-old went 9-for-17 with a triple and stole three bags, bringing him up to 10 on the season. Not only did Shade show off his plus speed, he’s also continuing to tap into more power. On Thursday, Shade hit his seventh home run which already brings him to within one of tying his career high from two seasons ago. His exports earned him our Prospect of the Week honors.

Shade, a ninth-rounder from 2023, has stayed consistent through the entire month of May, slashing .362/.413/.741 with nine extra base hits, including six home runs. After being limited by injury last season and after getting challenged to Double-A out of necessity, he’s showing what he can do as he gets consistent reps at the same level. A good mix of plus-plus speed, solid patince and whiff avoidance, and now budding power with the tools to hold down any outfield spot, he is beginning to raise his floor despite being slightly behind schedule in his development. As the Marlins continue to carve out the reputation as being aggressive with how and when they challenge their prospects, we should see Shade, who has a 144 wRC+, at the upper levels in short order before he becomes Rule 5-eligible this winter.

Low-A Jupiter

Abrahan Ramírez was one of the three players acquired in the Jazz Chisholm Jr. trade from the New York Yankees. He is slashing .274/.394/.462/.856 with five home runs, 26 RBI and 11 stolen bases. Emilio Barreras continues to be the Hammerheads' best hitter this season, now slashing .333/.477/.455/.931 with two home runs, 21 RBI and a 165 wRC+. He was selected in the eighth round of the 2025 MLB Draft. Ramírez and Barreras are leading candidates to be promoted to High-A whenever another infield spot opens up.

Andres Valor continues to rebound from his early-season slump, now hitting .213/.342/.329/.671 with three home runs, 12 RBI, 22 stolen bases and a 94 wRC+. Although he is walking more (14.4%), the strikeouts remain an issue (29.4%), which is what is holding him back from truly making strides.

Carter Johnson seems to have found a nice rhythm offensively. Even during a week where he totaled only two hits, he drew five walks. Overall, Johnson is hitting .219/.361/.370/.731 with five home runs and 20 RBI, marking a dramatic improvement from last season.

Despite being shutout on Saturday, Wailin Castillo went 5 ⅔ innings, allowing one run on four hits, one walk and struck out six. Through eight starts this season, Castillo has a 2.55 ERA, 4.83 ERA, 7.39 K/9 and 4.08 BB/9.

Julio Mendez continues to put up strong starts in Jupiter, most recently tossing 5 ⅔ innings, allowing two runs on three hits, no walk and struck out nine, two shy of his season-high. Mendez now has a 4.26 ERA, 4.04 FIP, 13.36 K/9 and 3.69 BB/9 in seven starts.

FCL Marlins

Another week down in the FCL means seeing things you do not see every day. The FCL Marlins threw a combined no-hitter while walking seven and allowing three runs. The offense was quiet for most of the week, but headlining this week is a player who got off to a slow start and has now hit safely in 10 straight games.

FOF #12 prospect Luis Cova started the season 2-for-16 (.125). Since then, he has gone 14-for-36 (.388) and has put together a 10-game hitting streak. In his last two games, he has three RBIs, and while the power has not arrived yet, it is very reassuring to see the Luis Cova we saw last year.

Just like a majority of the FCL roster that came from the DSL this year to make their stateside debut, Victor Rodriguez made his stateside debut this year as well. In six innings, he has posted a 3.00 ERA with seven strikeouts compared to just two walks. Walks have been the main issue for Rodriguez over the last two years in the DSL, so this is a very good sign.

Another guy who falls into that category is Jonathan Rosario. Coming over from the DSL this year, he has looked dominant when he is in the zone. Through nine innings, he has 13 strikeouts. However, he has also walked 11. The stuff is definitely there, as opponents are hitting just .133 against him this year, but command will dictate how well the stuff plays.

Jonas Uzcategui is a repeat from last week, and rightfully so. This week, he went 2 ⅔ innings without allowing a hit while striking out four and walking two. His updated stats this season: a 1.80 ERA in 10 innings with 18 strikeouts compared to just four walks.

Injuries/Rehab

The following prospects were all activated from the injured list on Tuesday: Ryan Ignoffo (Pensacola), Drew Faurot (Beloit), Chase Jaworsky (Beloit), Wilson Weber (Beloit) and Jacob Jenkins-Cowart (Beloit).

FOF #1 prospect Thomas White is expected to be sidelined for at least one more week. President of baseball operations Peter Bendix told SiriusXM Radio that White's issue is shoulder-related.

This week's schedule

• Triple-A Jacksonville at Charlotte
• Double-A Pensacola at Birmingham
• High-A Beloit vs. Lake County
• Low-A Jupiter at Fort Myers
• FCL Marlins vs. FCL Nationals, FCL Cardinals, FCL Mets and FCL Astros

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!