How can Connor Norby become a more complete player in 2025?

The biggest name that the Miami Marlins acquired at the 2024 MLB trade deadline was Baltimore Orioles prospect Connor Norby. While the other players included in the deal (Kyle Stowers and Trevor Rogers) struggled on their new teams, Norby made a positive impact late in the season. It should be exciting to see what he does over the course of a full season, but there are a few areas where he has room to improve.

"He was great with us," said president of baseball operations Peter Bendix during an interview with MLB Network. "He's got power. He's got opposite-field power, which is really unusual to see. He's got the tools to be a good defender and he has that chip on his shoulder. He has that mentality that he's going to prove everybody wrong. He's going to be a Hall of Fame-level player in his own mind and he's really going to outwork everybody and just keep getting better."

After the Marlins called Norby up from Triple-A Jacksonville, he immediately went on a 10-game hit streak. Overall, he slashed .247/.315/.445/.760 with seven home runs, 17 RBI and a 108 wRC+ in 36 games played. He found a home in the number two spot of the Marlins lineup.

Despite being undersized at 5'10", Norby exceeded expectations in the power department by consistently connecting with the ball on the sweet spot. He posted a 14.8 Barrel%, according to Baseball Savant. That's about the same as All-Star sluggers like Teoscar Hernández, Yordan Alvarez and Fernando Tatís Jr.

Although Norby showed he has the potential to be a valuable spark plug, he still has work to do on his plate approach. He was extremely aggressive on the first pitch, swinging at 53.3% of them while with the Marlins, a rate that would've led the major leagues if he had enough playing time to qualify. That approach caused him to frequently fall behind in the count. He also had a two-week stretch without drawing any walks. Chasing pitches was part of it, but the bigger flaw was missing on pitches in the strike zone as well. His Z-Contact% was just 76.5%, very similar to the struggling Stowers (75.9%) and far below the MLB average of 85.2%.

Norby struck out in 32.1% of his Miami plate appearances, which is not sustainable for an everyday player. He should be looking for a better balance of power and contact. Maybe that comes from swinging with less intensity.

What went overlooked was Norby ranking in the 94th percentile of sprint speed. He was even ahead of teammate Xavier Edwards, who was among baseball's best base-stealers during the second half of the season. Despite that talent, Norby stole only 16 bases combined between AAA and MLB.

The Marlins scored the fourth-fewest runs in the majors last season and—at least for now—they barely have any experienced bats around Norby. Creating runs on the basepaths will be important. As first base coach of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Clayton McCullough played a big role in helping speedy Shohei Ohtani take his baserunning to the next level. With McCullough now managing the Marlins, hopefully Norby can benefit in a similar way.

With second base occupied by Otto Lopez, the Marlins made the decision to move Norby to third base. Through 30 games at the position, he posted a -5 DRS and had seven errors. Five of those were throwing errors and he just didn't look smooth there. That can change with a full offseason of work.

If the same issues continue in 2025, a transition to left field could be next. Look at the career of former Kansas City Royal Alex Gordon. He thrived after moving from 3B to LF, winning a Gold Glove in his first full season there and receiving the award eight total times. The Marlins would just be grateful for decent defense in that spot after the combination of Bryan De La Cruz and Nick Gordon (no relation to Alex) rated negatively last season.

Development is not always straightforward. It would be ideal for Norby to become a well-rounded player in 2025 and one of the faces of the franchise, but the Marlins have to be patient even if there are setbacks. Either way, we will learn a lot more about Norby as a result of him playing regularly for a whole year.