2023 Marlins Season Review: Garrett Hampson

Relive all of the ups and downs of the 2023 Miami Marlins with our Fish On First Season Review, containing detailed articles about a wide variety of players. The FOF staff analyzes the individual impact that each of them had and what it means for their future with the organization.

This installment focuses on utility man Garrett Hampson.

2023 Timeline

• March 26—optioned to AAA Jacksonville after hitting .158 in spring training
• April 4—recalled from AAA
• June 26—optioned to AAA
• July 5—recalled from AAA
• August 2—optioned back to AAA
• August 23—recalled once again from AAA

Notable 2023 Statistics: .348 OBP, .726 OPS, 1.3 rWAR

"Garrett Hampson is going to take an at-bat for the Marlins in a postseason game here in 2023."

You would have been totally dismissive of that absurd statement had it been presented to you at the time of Hampson's signing, and for good reason. Hampson had just exhibited a four-year run of consistently poor offensive performance for the Colorado Rockies, posting a 68 OPS+ between 2019-2022. The occasional home run, stolen base and defensive versatility hadn't made enough of a case for the Rockies to tender him at season's end. They let him go.

As Kim Ng had done multiple times before with the likes of Steven Okert and Anthony Bender, she made a shrewd minor league signing by bringing Hampson in ahead of 2023. The Marlins likely do not play in the postseason without him in the picture.

Much of Hampson's improvement came from his production against fastballs. After hitting only .249 (172-for-690) on said offerings between 2019-22, Hampson skyrocketed to a .352 clip and slugged .520 against them as a Marlin.

Offspeed pitches were a major deficiency for him, though. In 31 plate appearances ending on these pitches, Hampson hit a microscopic .032. That led to his overall output actually being better against same-handed pitching than it was against lefties, and it challenged manager Skip Schumaker to find the appropriate situations to deploy him considering the lack of conventional platoon splits.

Hampson's plate approach was also solid. He drew walks in 9.1-percent of his plate appearances, nearly matching his career-best 9.3-percent mark from 2022.

Hampson started games at six different positions (2B, 3B, SS, LF, CF and RF). Grading out as an average defender (-1 DRS, -1 Rfield, and 0.0 dWAR), this kind of versatility proves immensely valuable for any club.

Hampson's baserunning—arguably his best tool whilst in Colorado—remained elite, rating in the 98th percentile in average sprint speed. Strangely, he only attempted five steals in 117 stolen base opportunities, per Baseball-Reference, succeeding all five times.

Looking Ahead

Was Hampson's 2023 campaign too good to be true? Well, his expected weighted on-base average was .295, virtually identical to his career wOBA (.294). He over-performed by 28 points in that respect, which will be hard to replicate. His 2024 projections will inevitably call for some regression. Worth noting too, unlike this past season, he'll be out of minor league options moving forward, so the Marlins won't be able to demote him to Jacksonville unless he clears waivers.

Hampson is arbitration-eligible, having yet to accrue enough service time to hit free agency. Unlike the Rockies a year ago, the Marlins ought to be eager to tender him a contract. Look for him to suit up with Miami next year, continuing to plug whichever positional needs present themselves.

Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images