Kevin Barral

In the 2022-2023 offseason, the Miami Marlins traded longtime shortstop Miguel Rojas to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Jacob Amaya. After having been drafted and developed by the prestigious Dodgers organization since 2017, Amaya had to adjust to new surroundings, but he tells Fish On First that the transition went smoothly. "Not really too difficult," said Amaya. "I think it was just an easy process. You know, came out of nowhere type thing. I found out through social media. So again, just spring training and getting to know the guys and how they are around other people and they talk to you and stuff like that...that kind of made the process easier." The Dodgers were consistent World Series contenders during Amaya's time in their system, winning it all in 2020 and earning postseason berths in all other years as well. What did he take away from that environment and bring with him to the Marlins? “Just how to go about everything," said Amaya. "How to go about your business every day, what you need to do coming in when you get to the field, and what you need to do when the game is going on. So definitely a good org to be a part of. Thankful for my time there.” A former 11th-round draft pick, Amaya earned his way onto the Dodgers 40-man roster after the 2021 season. Then in 2022, splitting the season between Double-A and Triple-A, he slashed .261/.369/.427/.795 with 17 home runs and 71 RBIs while spending almost all of his games at shortstop. Amaya entered big league camp with the Marlins this year as a darkhorse candidate to crack the Opening Day roster, but he struggled in limited Grapefruit League action, slashing .053/.100/.053/.153 in nine games played. The slump continued after being optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville—in March/April, he slashed .211/.284/.311/.595 with two home runs and ten RBIs. “I think I'm a slow starter myself,” said Amaya. The poor performance didn't shake the 24-year-old's confidence in himself. Amaya rebounded with a phenomenal month of May, slashing .368/.443/.658/1.101 with five home runs and 16 RBIs. His hot streak included a home run on Sunday that traveled an estimated 447 feet. The combination of smooth defense and solid game power is extremely encouraging. “Not really changing too much,” said Amaya. “For me, it was just timing. Just trying to get the timing down and then seeing the pitches coming at me and stuff like that.” Another big part of Amaya’s game is his discipline at the plate. Despite a lower walk rate this season (10.0%), he is still striking out only 21.1% of the time, which is less than the International League average. He seems to be seeing the ball better against right-handed pitching than he was in 2022 as his platoon splits aren't as pronounced. When Miami acquired Amaya, he drew comparison to a younger Miguel Rojas with a better bat. That is exactly what we have seen from him in the month of May. Joey Wendle has played poorly this season and is a pending free agent, while Jon Berti is versatile enough to play other defensive positions. Amaya's upside is higher than theirs because of his power potential. If he can continue to do what he is doing at a consistent level, then the Marlins really need to call him up and find out whether he can be their long-term solution at shortstop.

After suffering a 9-4 loss on Tuesday night, the Marlins looked to bounce back in game two as they had Braxton Garrett on the mound. Aside from giving up a home run early in the game, Braxton held his own and only allowed one run throughout his 5 1/3 innings of work. Despite the Marlins offense grounding into three double plays, Nick Fortes would walk it off to win the game. Final score: 2-1. Garrett has credited his new cutter for some of his recent success, but he went in a different direction against the Padres, relying more on his sinker and slider. His putaway pitch was the changeup, which got him three strikeouts. "My changeup was great tonight," said Garrett. "Kinda made a few adjustments with it coming into the start and didn't use as many sliders tonight." "Yeah, that's one of the pitches that I'm talking about that's grown so much," said Nick Fortes after the game. "It used to be like a last option, a last resort for him, but he's gotten to a point to where now we're going into it more and kind of evening out those different pitches." It didn't hurt that Braxton's velo was slightly up on most of his pitches. Overall, he generated a season-high 14 whiffs. Garrett's only mistake of the night came in the top of the third inning when newest Padre Gary Sanchez crushed a solo homer into left field to give San Diego the 1-0 lead. Sanchez's homer left the bat at 111.4 MPH and went 406 feet to left field. The only other issue aside from the home run was the length of his outing. Marlins manager Skip Schumaker decided to take him out after only 79 pitches. Even so, there is a lot for Garrett to be proud of. Blake Snell entered the night struggling with a 5.04 ERA, but you wouldn't know it from watching him work against the Marlins as he went six innings, gave up three hits, walked three, and struck out six. Aside from using his trusty fastball, Snell went with the changeup which was a pitch he had only used 13.6% of the time this season. He used that pitch more since it worked as a putaway pitch. Aside from that, his usage was the same and the velocity was up on most of his pitches. "I had Snell when I was over there at San Diego," said Skip Schumaker. "You will see a guy that has really good stuff all the time. It's just if he throws enough strikes and does and he did today and his curveball was really good." After shutting out the Marlins for eight straight innings, the Padres went with Josh Hader to close the game out. Yuli Gurriel drew a lead-off walk and Joey Wendle advanced him to second with a sacrifice bunt. With one out, Jean Segura, who had one of Miami's four hits up to that point, smacked an RBI double to drive in Gurriel and tie the game up at one apiece. Turning 39 years old next week, Yuli wasn't signed for his baserunning, but he showed off the speed by sprinting 27.4 feet per second on the play. "In the last couple of days, I feel more aggressive," said Segura. "I feel like when you're struggling, it's like automatic first two pitches strike out of the way and now just start fighting pitches outside and so on and so on." This was Segura's 500th career RBI. Right after Segura, it was Nick Fortes' turn to take a hack at Hader. Fortes received help as Jean stole third to put himself in an even better spot. All Fortes had to do was hit a sac fly deep enough for Segura to score, but Fortes ended things off even better. On a 1-1 count, Fortes smacked the ball 105.2 MPH to the first-base side to drive in Segura to win it. "Just honestly looking for a fastball and get on top of it," said Fortes. "We know that (Hader's) fastball plays good at the top of the and from the on-deck circle that's what it was looking like, so I was just looking for a fastball and just try to get on top of it." "Had a good road trip," said Schumaker on Fortes. "Anaheim, that series was really good. The bat started to come alive and he caught some really good games." This marked the first time all season that Josh Hader had given up multiple earned runs, so what Miami did tonight was impressive off of the April NL Reliever of the month. Game Notes The Marlins finish the month of May with a 13-14 recordThis was Nick Fortes' second career walk-off winner. The last one came on June 26, 2022 when he hit the walk-off home run against the Mets.The Marlins bullpen combined for six total strikeouts. Brazoban and Okert each had three strikeouts.The Marlins are now 16-4 in one-run games.The Marlins currently sit at 29-27, just one game shy of win number 30 on the season. The Marlins are in second place in the NL East. On Thursday, Jesus Luzardo takes the bump against Joe Musgrove who's a better pitcher than his 2023 numbers suggest. First pitch at 1:10 p.m. Featured image by Photo by Al Diaz/Miami Herald

In a surprising move Monday night, the Miami Marlins designated Nic Enright for assignment. Selected last offseason in the MLB Rule 5 Draft, the right-hander is likely to wind up leaving the organization without even appearing for the big league club. Coincidentally, Fish On First was in Jacksonville last weekend where Enright was nearing the end of his minor league rehab assignment. Even though the Marlins appear to be moving on from him, we hope you still enjoy this article about his incredible road to recovery and career goals. Nic Enright was drafted in the 20th round of the 2019 MLB Draft by the then-Cleveland Guardians. Enright has always been a solid pitcher in the minors who has shown a lot of promise (2.80 ERA and 2.78 FIP in 141.2 IP for their MiLB affiliates), but Cleveland was already extremely deep when it comes to relievers, so they left him unprotected for the Rule 5 rather than make space on their 40-man roster. The Marlins took him and he immediately became the team's 24th-ranked prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. "It's definitely different everywhere you go," said Enright regarding the change from one organization to another. "Everyone kind of has different ways of going about things...The data itself is all the same and the way they structure the organization is all the same, but there's just little tweaks here and there. So for me, getting here when I did, I'm just trying to learn their language and how they present everything and just acclimate myself to how Miami does everything." At the beginning of 2023 Spring Training, Enright announced via his Instagram that he has been diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma, a rare type of cancer that impacts the lymphatic system. He had completed his first round of treatments by then, but the health scare pushed his throwing program behind schedule. "I might have cancer," Enright wrote at the end of his announcement, "but cancer does not have me!" "Leaning on my family, my fiancé, my friends, people around me" got Nic through his recovery, he said. "In the same sense that for me to get to where I am from a baseball perspective, it took an entire village of people from the time I was seven or eight years old to the time I am now to get here, it was the same. All of that was the exact same thing where it wasn't just me going through it—it's all of them going through it, leaning on them for the good days, the bad and everything in between and I know I wouldn't be where I am now without all of their help and support...This is just one more thing I got to do and once I get through it, that'll make being up (in the majors) that much sweeter." Enright not only has had help from his family and friends, but veteran big leaguer Carlos Carrasco who went through cancer himself and gave him advice through that tough time. Miami's decision to DFA Enright is all the more surprising considering he told Fish On First that he has consistently felt great and he is good to go: "That's one thing that's been really it's been really weird, but at the same time, I've been super fortunate through this entire process. Like I've never had any of those physical symptoms, like when you hear the word cancer, it's really scary and you think of being bedridden and sick and weak and all that kind of stuff, versus I've never had that kind of from the beginning." Looking at Enright's rehab starts, he was good for the most part (3.94 ERA), particularly in terms of his control with only one walk in 16 total innings with Triple-A Jacksonville and Low-A Jupiter. His best game came on May 20 against the Louisville Bats (Reds affiliate) where he went three innings, struck out three, and didn't allow a run or walk. Enright used a four-pitch mix throughout his month of rehab games, leaning heavily on his four-seam fastball. The pitch's lack of velocity (averaged 90.2 mph with Jacksonville) does raise questions about how his style will translate to MLB, but it helps when you're frequently getting ahead in the count the way he is. All Enright wanted was an opportunity at the highest level. With a bullpen that has had a lot of success in his absence and a full 40-man roster, the Marlins decided not to make room for him. Enright expressed excitement and confidence in himself to succeed whenever he does get that opportunity. "It's the same 60 feet, six inches there as it is here," he said. "But I think for my family especially it's going to be super, super cool. My goal is to go out there and do anything I can to help the team win, but I think it's an accomplishment for them and all the sacrifices that my parents and fiancé and everyone around me have made to help put me put me in the position to get to this spot. And so, yeah, I'm looking forward to it." For the , go to the Fish On First YouTube channel and check it out.

Reporting from Jacksonville, Kevin Barral of Fish On First speaks with Miami Marlins RHP Nic Enright as the Rule 5 Draft pick wraps up his minor league rehab assignment. Diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in December, Enright is likely to be reinstated from the 60-day injured list and join the Marlins active roster during their upcoming homestand. Please subscribe to our YouTube channel and turn on notifications!

In the 2022-2023 offseason, the Miami Marlins acquired New York Mets outfielder Jake Mangum and pitcher Franklin Sanchez in exchange for Elieser Hernandez and Jeff Brigham. Although the trade has yet to make an impact for the Marlins at the major league level, Mangum—who was the player to be named later in the deal—is making a big impact with the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. "Yeah, that trade came out of nowhere," said Mangum. "It's been an easy transition. Everybody with the Marlins organization has been very kind and very welcoming and everyone's treated me well." Jake Mangum was selected in the fourth round of the 2019 MLB Draft by the Mets out of Mississippi State University and developed all the way up to AAA. He showed himself to be a good overall player with his combination of speed, defensive versatility, and ability to put the ball in play. During his time in the Mets system, Mangum slashed .284/.346/.414/.760 with 45 stolen bases in 209 games, striking out only 17.4% of the time. This season, Mangum has not slowed down. Through 39 games played (all at AAA), Mangum is slashing .316/.348/.474/.821 with seven stolen bases. Even in the high-scoring International League, his bat is producing above the league average in terms of wRC+. Mangum was Jacksonville's leadoff hitter on Saturday night when the team's offense erupted for 20 runs. He went 2-for-6 with a home run and four RBI. That was only his second homer of 2023. Most of Mangum's production comes from finding gaps in the defense. This season, he has a .380 batting average on balls in play. His BABIP has consistently increased each year during his career in the minors. Since beginning pro ball, Mangum has primarily been a center fielder. It's among the most important defensive positions on the field and the Marlins in particular have struggled to find a solution there in recent years. "I've done it all my life," said Mangum. "A lot of reps. Baseball is a skill sport, so the more you do something, the better you get at it. So just still trying to get better in every aspect of the game. We'll keep trying to do that." Mangum is able to play a good center field thanks to his speed and quick ability to make reads. His Sprint Speed of 29.9 ft/sec leads all Jumbo Shrimp players—that would rank in the 99th percentile among MLB qualifiers this season. "Speed helps, but I put a lot of work in as a kid and growing up to get as fast as I can," said Mangum. "I've gotten stronger in the last couple years. It's just you're always just trying to get better whatever way you can." Will Mangum's success lead to an opportunity in the big leagues this year? It is hard to know. The Marlins went outside the organization recently to acquire fellow center fielder Jonathan Davis. Jesus Sanchez (hamstring strain) tells Fish On First that he will complete his rehab assignment on Sunday and Avisail Garcia (back tightness) is about to begin his own rehab assignment on Monday, so the outfield is crowded. "You're chasing your dream," said the 27-year-old. "You envision the dream and when you get there, it's not such a change."

Jacksonville, FL — It is often pointed out how the Miami Marlins struggle to draw fans to their games, yet over and over again, we see players on the big league roster who grew up rooting for the Fish. Recent examples include Jesús Luzardo and former Marlin Lewis Brinson. Could Cobie Fletcher-Vance be next? "Growing up, I was actually a Marlins fan," the infield prospect said on Friday. "I really liked Hanley growing up. I like Luis Castillo, Juan Pierre...there's so many players on that those teams over the years that I could name that I always looked at." That's despite being raised more than 700 miles away in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Fletcher-Vance's favorite memory as a Marlins fan? He pointed to the iconic play that clinched the 2003 NLDS against the Giants. "When Jeff Conine threw—I don't know who the runner was out—but to Pudge (Rodriguez) at the plate and Pudge got ran over and he's holding the ball...That's the one memory that comes to my mind was Pudge getting ran over, shaking the ball in the guy's face." The Marlins acquired Fletcher-Vance, 25, in the minor league phase of the 2021 Rule 5 Draft. He spent the 2022 campaign with Double-A Pensacola and began this season there again. The Marlins promoted him to Triple-A Jacksonville on April 15. Now, he's just one level away from fulfilling a dream. In 18 games this season across both AA and AAA, Fletcher-Vance is slashing .203/.329/.305/.634 with six RBIs. Despite the slow start, Fletcher-Vance is walking at a 15.0% rate for the Jumbo Shrimp (the International League average is 11.8%). "It's actually really big because I find myself getting into 3-2 or, you know, advantage counts," said Fletcher-Vance prior to Friday's game. "So as a hitter, that's the count I really like to be in and I've been finding myself in a lot more as it's letting them kind of come to me rather than me wanting to try to go out and do certain things at the plate. So being willing to let them come to me is a big thing that I've learned over time." The move from AA to AAA comes with new rules, regulations, and the adjustments in competition. "Man, the biggest difference I think is everyone's just kind of more in tune with what they do," said Cobie. "There's a lot more pitchability when it comes to the pitchers—they know what they're trying to do and what they're able to do, what they're trying to do a lot better. They just make pitches more and that's the biggest difference to me. You only get one mistake as a hitter. The game's quick but isn't as fast as I thought it would be." The ABS (automated ball-strike system) has been implemented for all Triple-A games this season. For Monday-Thursday games, it's used to determine all balls and called strikes. For Friday-Sunday games, players can use ABS to challenge pitches that they feel were called incorrectly by the home plate umpire. "Personally, I'm 1-for-1 on challenges this year," said Fletcher-Vance. "There was a ball and they called it strike three and I challenged and I was correct about it. That felt pretty good and the next pitch, I walk...I love the human nature of the game, but it's such a fine thing and 60 feet away...the umpire blinks, he might miss it." The Jumbo Shrimp continue to host the Charlotte Knights (White Sox affiliate) in Jacksonville on Saturday and Sunday.

The Low-A level is one where we see some of the rawest talent when it comes to baseball played stateside. Last season we saw players such as Kahlil Watson, Jose Salas, and Yiddi Cappe play with the Hammerheads, but with Cappe and Watson on their way to Beloit and Salas being dealt, this opens the way for players to get more regular reps with the Hammerheads. Here is what the Jupiter team is looking like to begin 2023 and what we will be looking for. -- Position PlayersIan Lewis After missing most of the season due to injury, Lewis returns to Low-A to hopefully see a full season of at-bats. Through the 51 games of action, Lewis slashed .265/.347/.368/.715 with two home runs and 21 RBIs. Lewis, who did play in the season opener for the Hammerheads saw himself as the DH in the lineup, will best fit in at second base. The Bahamian’s best attribute is his speed which is graded a 65 according to MLB Pipeline, but his patience at the plate is an attribute will get him far in his career. In 2022, Lewis walked at a 10.3% rate and struck out at a 21.1% rate. The expectation for Lewis this season is to see him stay healthy and see if his 2022 success can translate at a consistent rate and eventually have him promoted to Beloit. Jordan McCants After an underwhelming 2022, the Pensacola native looks to bounce back and show that he is still worth the prospect pedigree that he has. In 2022, McCants slashed .245/.327/.342/.669 with 11 RBIs. Offensively, McCants showed that he has the ability to draw walks as he did that at a 10.7% rate in 2022. Most likely, we can see McCants improve the hit tool and see him hit more for contact and use his 60-grade speed to his benefit. With the bigger bases and the ban of the shift, McCants should see a bump in batting average and on-base percentage. The expectation for McCants is very similar to Lewis: stay healthy, but use the new rule changes to your advantage. McCants has the opportunity to see an increase in infield hits and to put himself in scoring position a lot more often than we saw in 2022. Torin Montgomery After the nice start to his major league career, 2022 fourteenth-round pick Torin Montgomery showed his power off by hitting three home runs and 17 RBIs in 31 games played. Montgomery is one of the few first-base prospects in the Marlins org as this is a position that the Marlins lack organizationally. Montgomery’s only issue in 2022 was the high strikeout rate which almost reached 30.0%. Luckily, the Mizzou product has shown the ability to drive in runners on base and hold up at first base. Torin can also be used as a DH on a day-to-day basis and if we ever see a position change, maybe right field would be the spot. The best build comp for Montgomery would be Avisail Garcia who is 6’4” and weighs 250 lb as Montogmery is 6’3” and weighs 230 lb. Many believed that after the early career success, age, and need of a first baseman at the high-A level in Beloit that Montgomery would receive the promotion. With AAA Jacksonville going with major league depth players as their main group, that affected the development of many players in the organization from top to bottom. With Troy Johnston being held back at AA, Zach Zubia returned to High-A. This leaves Montgomery at Low-A for now, but with future success, he could see a push up through the system shortly. Tanner Allen After reaching High-A Beloit in 2022, Allen struggled by slashing .209/.268/.321/.589 with three home runs and 21 RBIs. If you do want to look at some positives, Allen struck out under 20.0% and from time to time would work walks, but just not at a consistent rate. Allen will be going back down to Jupiter this season to work on the basics and see if he can regain his old collegiate form and eventually make the jump back to Beloit. Jorge Caballero After a nice 2022 season where Caballero slashed .290/.370/.378/.749 with three home runs and 23 RBIs, he finds himself back in Low-A. At 23 years old, I assumed that Caballero would find himself up in Beloit, but that isn’t the case. One reason Caballero didn’t see a promotion was because of the number of outfielders that reside in Beloit. Caballero wouldn’t have seen many at-bats with the Sky Carp. Expectations for Caballero would be to replicate his 2022 performance and force the organization to promote him to High-A. A further positive development for Caballero would be to lower the strikeout rate which was at 25.8% last season. Kyler Castillo After a nice 2022 season with Beloit, Kyler Castillo finds himself back at the Low-A level. With the amount of outfielders at the High-A level, Castillo finds himself in the same situation as Jorge Caballero: guys who wouldn’t have received at-bats in 2023 at High-A. Castillo can be described as a professional hitter when you look at what he did in 2022. Slashing .280/.375/.336/.711 with one home run and 27 RBIs, Castillo is an on base machine that can also be put in the middle of the lineup to drive in runs when needed. To expand on the professional hitter statement, Castillo worked to a 12.0% walk rate and 19.9% strikeout rate which shows patience at the plate. Castillo should be an early promotion candidate to High-A Beloit as he shows the ability to hit at a consistent rate and even help out in the outfield when needed. Spencer Bramwell Cameron Barstad Jan Mercado PitchersJacob Miller The Marlins 2022 second round pick made his debut last season and in three starts at the complex league, he threw 3.2 innings and held a 7.36 ERA and 7.37 FIP. Although not encouraging, his one and only start with the Hammerheads, he went 2.0 innings, allowed one hit, one run, and struck out three. Ranked as the number eight prospect according to MLB Pipeline, Miller’s best pitch is his 60-grade curveball followed by his 55-grade slider and fastball. At only 19 years old, Miler is hitting 97 mph, This showed regularly during his three game stint in the minor leagues. Karson Milbrandt Another top 30 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, it took the Marlins a hefty signing bonus to get the Vanderbilt commit to come play pro-ball for the Marlins. At just 18 years old, Milbrandt got the nod to be the Opening Day starter on Thursday and he did not disappoint. Showing 97 mph velocity and good spin rates, he struck out four through his four innings pitched, One of his strikeouts came against Cardinads' big leaguer Paul DeJong. Justin Fall Fall had a nice 2022 season in which he started 14 out of the 18 games he pitched in. Holding a 3.71 ERA and 2.71 FIP through 87.1 IP, Fall will be a prospect to watch out for. A 6'6", 240 pound lefty, Fall is a model specimen that the Marlins have been targeting and advantageously developing. We see him make the jump to Beloit this season, Kade Gibson Gibson was the Marlins' 10th round pick in 2022. He made nine appearances last year but only made one start. Gibson showed how strikeout dominant he can be by having a 12.86 K/9 at the complex league and then having a 11.74 K/9 at the Low-A level in 2022. He held a 1.29 ERA and 2.25 FIP in 2022 at the FCL and a 0.00 ERA and 2.48 FIP with the Low-A team. Gibson will be a reliever moving forward which is where he had success at in college and where he is now started to have success as a professional. There is a good chance we see Gibson make the jump to Beloit if he replicates his early 2022 success. Jared Poland Poland is another of the 2022 draft picks who pitched in five games combines between the FCL and Low-A. As a starter in Jupiter, he pitched to a 1.80 ERA and 3.92 FIP. Poland is someone who if need be, can be a strikeout dominant pitcher and sometimes you can see him rely heavily on his defense. At 23 years old, Poland may not see himself staying in Jupiter for a long time. If he can show that he can get outs quickly, the promotion to High-A Beloit won't be too far from reality. OutlookAlthough this isn’t the level where you have all the flashy names, it is a level where we will see a lot of the guys who were drafted in 2021 and 2022. Names like Miller and Milbrandt are probably the biggest that we should be looking out for on the starting pitching side with Gibson on the relief side. On the offensive side of the ball, I am intrigued by the potential of Lewis and Montgomery. Something to keep in mind is that although the guys want to win games and have overall team success, this is a level where we want to see development and improvement. Also we want to see if they can show enough to move up to the next level of the minor leagues. That will continue to be the main focus for the Hammerheads in 2023.