Fish On First Prospects Report: Motivated by demotion, Andrew Salas thriving in rookie ball

For the 2026 season, Fish On First will provide weekly reports on the Miami Marlins farm system, covering all levels. Here's the second June edition of our Fish On First Prospects Report, which includes a full week of Dominican Summer League observations.

This report covers the games played from June 2-8.

Triple-A Jacksonville

You couldn't have asked for a better start to Gage Miller's Triple-A stint. Through his first seven games, Miller is hitting .409/.536/.636/1.172 with one home run, eight RBI and a 215 wRC+. Between Double-A and Triple-A, Miller is slashing .301/.403/.478/.881 with five home runs, 30 RBI and a 140 wRC+.

Miller, a third-round pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, got off to a slow start to his professional career, but has really turned it around this season. Never say never, but if he keeps hitting the way he is and the Marlins cannot solve their short-term issue at third base, maybe he can be a late-season call-up.

The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp held a bobblehead night for Jacob Berry. So far in 49 games, he is slashing .278/.400/.385/.785 with two home runs, 21 RBI, 16 stolen bases and a 119 wRC+. Defensively, it has been an adventure, but has primarily split time between third base and right field.

The Marlins promoted right-handed pitcher and Fish On First No. 10 prospect Karson Milbrandt to Triple-A Jacksonville. His first start with the Jumbo Shrimp came on Saturday, where he tossed six shutout innings, allowing two hits and walking three. His lone strikeout of the night came in the top of the third inning when he got Brock Wilken with a called strike three.

Milbrandt's fastball topped out at 96.5 mph and averaged 95.2 mph. He also threw his slider, sweeper and curveball. Where he did struggle was landing first-pitch strikes, only having a 55% success rate. Opposing hitters averaged an exit velocity of 83.0 mph.

On the injury front, we now have clearly timelines for the returns of three FOF Top 30 talents

Kemp Alderman (left elbow sprain) should be back by the end of June. Maximo Acosta (right thumb UCL sprain) underwent surgery on May 19. He's due to return shortly after the All-Star break. Finally, FOF #1  prospect Thomas White suffered a left shoulder capsular sprain on May 17. The team announced a recovery timeline of 12-16 weeks, but the expectation internally is that he will likely miss the remainder of the regular season. If that is the case, White will finish his 2026 season posting a 4.34 ERA, 4.70 FIP, 12.05 K/9 and 4.34 BB/9 in five AAA starts.

Double-A Pensacola

Following a good ending to May, the Wahoos got off a sluggish start in June dropping four of six to Chattanooga and squandering an opportunity take over their division lead. The team’s bats were particularly asleep: Pensacola scored just 13 runs in the entire series.

In many cases, the initial promotion and significant leap from the lower minors to the upper minors is a rude wake-up call for prospects. That was no such thing this past week for Eliazar Dishmey. The 21-year-old righty came out of the gates firing on all cylinders in his new Blue Wahoos threads, completely shutting down the Lookouts for five innings, disallowing a hit. Ultimately, he worked a quality start, going six innings and allowing one run on just one hit while walking one and striking out nine. Dishmey topped out at 94 and dipped to 74 mph. He recorded strikeouts with three different pitches. The Southern League acknowledged his excellence by honoring him as their Pitcher of the Week.

In his second Double-A start, Eliazar Dishmey worked five no-hit innings with nine strikeouts and one walk.

Final line: 6 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K, 78/53 P/S#Marlins pic.twitter.com/q53Ctflfa4

— Fish On First Prospects (@FOFProspects) June 5, 2026

As he continues to develop his sweeper, Dishmey is becoming a very tough matchup, capable of both whiffs and weak contact while keeping pitch counts economical. As long as he is continuing to show this kind of swing-and-miss stuff as his upper minors tenure ages, his prospect stock will continue to rise. While he won’t overpower with velocity or size, he comes by deception due to his mix of speeds and ability to change eye levels. With persistent control and command, he will be a name to watch for a potential call to the big leagues as early as next season. He’s continuously becoming a name to watch closely.

In this house, we stan deceptive lefties. Jack Sellinger is a 2023 14th-round draftee who has performed well at each stop he’s made in his three-year career thus far with the Wahoos this season including recently being no exception. This past week, Sellinger appeared in two games and tossed a total of four innings of one-run ball on just two hits while striking out five. In 17 ⅔ innings, Sellinger is holding down a 3.06 ERA via a 1.13 WHIP and 24/6 K/BB

A 6’1”, 230-pound southpaw, Sellinger comes by deception due to an extremely unique wind and release. From a stretch delivery, Sellinger executes an extremely quick leg kick, an and a half-circle motion before short-arming the ball to the plate with a high-effort follow-through. He executes on three pitches, most notably a mid-80s slider, a low-90s fastball and a mix-in changeup. The slide piece is the bread-and-butter pitch for Sellinger, flashing good downward tilt and movement to both sides of the plate.

A tricky change-of-pace arm, Sellinger has proven he’s capable of performing whenever called upon—as a bulk reliever or in high leverage. As long as he keeps limiting contact and throwing up zeros, he will be a valuable commodity especially to an organization short on near-MLB-ready lefties and this year, an organization which has burned through many of its longer tenured relief options. At 26, Sellinger could make an MLB impact sooner rather than later.

High-A Beloit

With many of the most productive prospects who became established at High-A having been promoted to Pensacola the week prior, a new-look staff in Beloit struggled this week on the road against Peoria. For the first time this season, the Sky Carp were swept, losing all six games to the Chiefs. They are now 1-9 in their last 10 games. Allowing 50 runs over the course of six games, Beloit’s team ERA rose to 5.77. The team has now walked 314 batters, second-most in the Midwest League. Offensively, their .725 OPS is tied for second lowest on the circuit.

One player who performed well in this series, namely in Beloit’s best effort of the week, was 21-year-old switch hitting catcher and first baseman Carlos Sanchez. He paced Beloit’s 13-run effort with three home runs, just the second three-homer game in the Marlins’ system this season.

Promoted to Beloit on May 16, Sanchez’s power potential has stood out. In 108 ABs, he has nine home runs. His .509 slugging percentage is among the best in the Marlins’ system and does the heavy lifting within his .837 OPS. Sanchez showed a vast improvement in plate discipline amodst his leap to fill-season ball last year as he held down a 27/50 K/BB, part of a .260/.358/.356 season with Jupiter. This year, his luck on balls in play has been an unfortuitous .216, explaining the dip in batting average which currently sits at .231 across both levels. Defensively, Sanchez needs to improve his lateral movement in order to make up for limited size and limit passed balls. He allowed 10 last season and three so far this season. His arm has improved over time and is good enough to stick behind the plate. Sanchez holds a 24% CS rate so far this season. First base—a position of need organizationally for the Marlins—is a good fall-back option for Sanchez especially if the power stroke persists.

Sanchez is unheralded, but he is also still just 21. If he continues to show improvement as the stuff he’s facing gets better and in particular continues to grow into more consistent power, he could start to build up a to a decent floor and solid prospect pedigree. Reps will need to continue to be available for Sanchez; he is in a good spot for that right now, locked into Beloit’s every-day lineup.

There’s no getting around it: Dillon Head has had a disappointing season. After a season-ending injury last year, Head has already spent almost a month on the IL this season. He has been back with the Sky Carp since May 6th, making this the longest span of consistent reps he has seen as a member of the Marlins organization. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been great. Overall on the year, the 21-year-old is slashing just .163/.273/.231. His 41 wRC+ is the lowest in the Miami organization amongst minor leaguers with at least 100 plate appearances.

It hasn’t been all bad for Head. What he has consistently shown is a penchant for walks, up to 13.2% on the season. Additionally, this past week, Head flashed his quick bat when he hit his second homer and doubled. The outfielder definitely has the raw tools to reach his advertised ceiling of a quick-twitch contact oriented speedy outfielder. If that is going to happen, Head will need to fill gaps when it comes to his passivity at the plate.

Illustrated by his extremely low zone-swing percentage but equally low whiff rate, Head is simply not swinging at enough strikes. On the occasion that he does, Head makes contact but it is usually not great contact as proven by a minimal air percentage and very high 59.4% ground ball rate.

While his ability to work counts and earn his way on base is a positive, Head needs to be a bit more aggressive and needs to vastly improve his ability to get off his a-swing much more consistently. Because of missed all of his missed time, Head is well behind schedule but there’s still plenty of time on his side and the skill set is far too good to give up on anytime soon. Because of the raw tools and athleticism, he still maintains a high floor. He will be a good test of the Marlins’ ability to get the most out of their prospects, but there’s no need to worry just yet.

Low-A Jupiter

Miami's top selection in the 2024 draft, PJ Morlando is on the verge of losing his top-30 prospect status. He is in the midst of a 1-for-27 slump and slashing .171/.319/.271 overall. There are frankly no bright spots other than his high frequency of walks. Left field continues to be his primary defensive assignment,

Carter Johnson is up to seven long balls this season. That is intriguing production for a 20-year-old in the Florida State League, which notoriously suppresses power. For context, no Hammerheads player topped nine homers during the 2025 campaign.

Manuel Genao's growth as a strike-thrower is worth highlighting. The Dominican right-hander has issued only five walks over his last 38 innings pitched (all to lefties), with no earned runs allowed in his most recent start on Sunday. Genao leans mostly on a mid-90s sinker and high-80s slider.

FCL Marlins

After a slow start at Low-A, Andrew Salas was reassigned back to the FCL last week and has responded exactly how the Marlins hoped.

In 15 at-bats, he is hitting .400 with three home runs, including a two-homer performance on Monday. For comparison, he hit just two home runs in 159 at-bats with Jupiter. Even more encouraging, he has struck out only twice during that stretch.

Here are both of Salas’ homers from yesterday’s game, one from each side of the plate.

Great looks at and reminders of the potential Salas has.#Marlins https://t.co/ciSBQvD2C5 pic.twitter.com/8nQnuscn18

— Fish On First Prospects (@FOFProspects) June 9, 2026

The opportunity to play every day in the FCL appears to be helping his confidence. If he continues performing like this, a return to Jupiter could come sooner rather than later.

Edgardo De Leon has become a weekly fixture in these recaps, and for good reason. So far in June, he is hitting .538 (7-for-13) with two home runs. He has also drawn four walks compared to just two strikeouts. On the bases, he has stolen six bags, including a three-steal game.

For the season, De Leon is slashing .351 with five doubles and four home runs. Of his 20 hits, nine have gone for extra bases. He has more walks than strikeouts, is 7-for-8 in stolen base attempts, and owns a .649 slugging percentage, the third-highest mark in the FCL.

His time in the FCL fittingly has come to an end. He earned a promotion to Jupiter on Tuesday.

Through the first week of June, Breyias Dean is hitting .364 (4-for-11) with a pair of home runs. On the season, he owns a .362 batting average with nine extra-base hits, including four doubles, one triple, and four home runs. His .672 slugging percentage ranks second in the FCL.

Perhaps most impressively, he has already surpassed his walk total from all of last season. While his .425 BABIP suggests some regression is likely coming, his improved plate discipline gives reason to believe much of the breakout is legitimate. The numbers may come down slightly, but Dean appears to have made real adjustments at the plate.

DSL Marlins & DSL Miami

Santiago Solarte, Fish On First's No. 18 prospect, wasted little time making an impact, recording two multi-hit games during his first week of professional baseball. The Marlins were thrilled to sign him for $1 million.

While the power has yet to show up, Solarte has already stolen five bases. His ability to get on base has been impressive, drawing two walks and getting hit by four pitches. Through his first week, he is hitting .263 with a .440 OBP and .316 SLG. He has struck out nine times in 19 at-bats, but as he continues to acclimate to professional baseball, those numbers should improve.

Listed at 6-foot-1 and just 142 pounds, Justin Batista has not let his frame hold him back. Through seven innings, he owns a 1.29 ERA with 11 strikeouts, a 0.71 WHIP, and only two hits allowed.

On Monday afternoon, Batista threw four hitless innings while striking out seven and walking two, giving the bullpen plenty of room to finish off the organization's first no-hitter of the season.

While the DSL is often considered pitcher-friendly because of inconsistent command and limited offensive environments, Daniel Pire has been one of the league's better hitters early on. Through 20 at-bats, he is hitting .350 with a double and a triple while striking out just once and drawing two walks.

One area to monitor is his 2.0 GO/AO ratio, which suggests he is putting the ball on the ground more often than ideal. Like many young hitters, the numbers will likely level out as the sample size grows, but the early plate discipline has been encouraging.

This week's schedule

• Triple-A Jacksonville vs. Gwinnett
• Double-A Pensacola at Columbus
• High-A Beloit vs. Quad Cities
• Low-A Jupiter at Daytona
• FCL Marlins, DSL Marlins and DSL Miami vs. various opponents

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!