Kevin Barral

The Miami Marlins have exceeded expectations so far in 2023. However, to sustain this (and to better position themselves for perennial postseason contention), they’ll likely need to acquire help from outside the organization. Leading up to the August 1 MLB trade deadline, Fish On First will profile potentially attainable players who would fit with what the Fish are building. Jordan Montgomery is having a career year for the St. Louis Cardinals, posting a 3.23 ERA and 3.52 FIP through 103.0 innings pitched this season. He's simply a well-rounded starting pitcher with solid control, swing-and-miss ability and the efficiency to work deep into his starts when needed. The 30-year-old has been the most valuable piece of a shaky Cardinals rotation. Montgomery throws a sinker, changeup, curveball and occasional four-seam fastball. The curve is especially effective for him when he has the platoon advantage. He hasn't walked any left-handed batters all season. Another desirable quality about Montgomery is his track record of eating innings. He pitched full-length seasons in both 2021 and 2022 and he's on pace to do the same in 2023. The Miami Marlins starting rotation consists of Sandy Alcantara, Braxton Garrett and Jesús Luzardo, with Edward Cabrera expected to return from the injured list on this current road trip. Bryan Hoeing received an opportunity, but couldn't fully take advantage of it—he fits better in the bullpen. The Johnny Cueto signing has not worked out, to put it gently. Posting a 2.36 ERA in 11 starts, 20-year rookie phenom Eury Pérez showed that he belongs in the majors. However, the Marlins are managing his innings carefully and recently optioned him to AA Pensacola. Trevor Rogers (right lat strain) is still more than a month away from contributing. Montgomery is a nice fit for the Marlins to stabilize their rotation in August and eventually start playoff games for them if they're able to make it that far. Availability The Cardinals are suffering through their worst season in decades, entering Sunday with the third-worst record in the National League. They have made it clear that they're approaching the trade deadline with a willingness to sell veterans on expiring contracts like Montgomery. He'll be among the most desired arms on the market. As long as the proposals they receive are more valuable than the compensatory draft pick that would come from Montgomery declining a qualifying offer, he'll be moved. Player Movement The Cardinals will be seeking multiple prospects in exchange for Montgomery, at least one of them being a quality pitcher. The Marlins have to be careful not to subtract guys who are important to their 2023 playoff hopes. A package that would make sense for both sides includes Yiddi Cappe (No. 7 prospect on our updated Fish On First Top 30 list) along with 2022 draft pick Karson Milbrandt (No. 16). Both are currently assigned to High-A Beloit. Although Cappe has struggled this season, he still has a high ceiling and would thrive in a system like the Cardinals which is well known for developing raw bats into major league talent. As for Milbrandt, he's a projectable right-hander who conveniently grew up in the Midwest.

After dropping game one of the three-game set, the Marlins offense woke up early, leading by as many as four runs. However, Miami's pitching staff had a lot of trouble continue the Orioles offense as well. The Fish lost once again on Saturday, this time by the final score of 6-5. The Miami offense wasted no time getting to former Phillies pitcher Kyle Gibson. Jesus Sanchez got the second inning going with a single followed by a single by Yuli Gurriel, but Sánchez noticed that the center fielder wasn't making much of an effort to go for the ball and pushed for third, which allowed Gurriel to get to second o the throw. Jean Segura then hit an RBI single to drive in Sanchez and move Gurriel to third. https://sporty-clips.mlb.com/46f7b09d-7c3f-4eb5-be7a-2ee0a0b05ef9.mp4Still, with no outs in the top of the second, Joey Wendle hit an RBI single that drove in Yuli and moved Segura to second. Miami extends the lead, 2-0. A soft dribbler by Nick Fortes moved both Segura and Wendle into scoring position. Dane Myers then pushed across another un on a fielder's choice. The rally was capped off by a Luis Arráez RBI single, stretching the lead to 4-0. The Orioles answered right back in the bottom of the second inning. They would tack on three runs of their own. A Ryan Mountcastle double was followed by Aaron Hicks working a walk, and then Cedric Mullins, who did damage to Miami's pitching staff on Friday, smacked an RBI single driving in Mountcastle and moving Hicks to second. https://sporty-clips.mlb.com/a7d13862-db57-4fdd-a7c2-76acef2429be.mp4With Mullins on first, Jordan Westburg was at the plate and he hit a foul ball that just barely missed staying fair for an extra-base hit. Mullins was removed for a pinch-hitter after that pitch due to what was later announced as right quadricep tightness. Colton Cowser entered the game to pinch-run for him and replace him in center field. After Westburg struck out, Gunnar Henderson grounded out, but moved both runners into scoring position. Jorge Mateo, who has struggled for the majority of the season, smacked an RBI triple which drove in both Hicks and Cowser and the Orioles were down by just one. Miami's fifth run of the night came on a Bryan De La Cruz sac fly which drove in Dane Myers who had a base hit in his at bat. Miami extends their lead, 5-3. Braxton Garrett struck out five, one walk, but gave up four runs off of six hits. Garrett went into his deep pitch mix, leaning heaviest on his sinker and cutter. His overall performance would've been better if the inexperienced center fielder Myers had gotten a better read on the Mateo triple—although not charged with an error, it was a catchable ball that led to two extra runs scoring. Still, you have to tip your cap to the Orioles offense, which is one of the best in baseball. Skip Schumaker took out Garrett with two outs in the fifth after allowing an RBI single to Anthony Santander. On the other end, Kyle Gibson lived up to his groundball-heavy reputation. He only struck out one Marlin among the 28 total batters he faced. The Orioles offense bailed Gibson out for the most part as he left the game only being down a run. He still made a contribution by giving the Orioles length and lasting 5.1 innings. Miami went with Huascar Brazoban in the seventh inning. On the first pitch he threw, Gunnar Henderson took Brazoban deep for a 371-foot solo homer tying the game at 5-5. That was Henderson's 14th home run of the season. The Orioles saw Brazoban very well as Austin Hayes and Adley Rutschman had back-to-back singles, but Hayes went to third on Adley's single. With runners on the corners and one out, Santander smacked another RBI single, scoring Hayes and giving the Orioles their first lead of the ballgame at 6-5. After the Orioles took the lead in the bottom of the seventh, Miami was unable to score any runs. The closest they got was when Jorge Soler launched a 393-foot fly ball in the eighth, just missing a go-ahead homer. Felix Bautista shut the door for the second night in a row. Baltimore clinches the series against Miami. The Marlins will lean on a bullpen day to try to salvage Sunday's game. Steven Okert will be their opener for the first time in his career, with George Soriano and Johnny Cueto available to eat the bulk of the innings in relief. Game begins at 1:35 pm EST.

After a historic first half for the Miami Marlins, they looked to get the second half going on a high note, but the Marlins offense struggled for the majority of the night on Friday. Sandy Alcantara had a quality start, but gave up home runs to Cedric Mullins and Adam Frazier as the Baltimore Orioles won game one of the three-game set. Final Score: 5-2. Although Sandy gave up three runs, the Marlins ace struck out five and only allowed one walk. The issue was his pitch placement and high pitch count per hitter. Sandy had a 21-pitch first inning followed by an 18-pitch second inning. The Orioles are an overall patient ball club that works high counts, and that is exactly what happened here. The first run of the ballgame came in on an Adam Frazier RBI single which drove in Cedric Mullins and gave the Orioles an early 1-0 lead. That same part of the lineup would do more damage against Sandy in the bottom of the fourth inning. The first home run was hit by Mullins. Sandy threw a fastball down the middle that he took 382 feet deep to right field for Baltimore's second run. That was Mullins' ninth homer of the season. The second solo home run came from Frazier. On a 1-0 count, Sandy threw a 97.7 mile-per-hour sinker that also caught too much of the plate. Frazier hit a no-doubter to right-center field and extended the Orioles lead, 3-1. Frazier's 11th home run of the season left the bat at 101.9 MPH and went 413 feet. Otherwise, Sandy pitched fairly well to contain an explosive offense on the road. His next scheduled start is set to be against the final game of the three-game set against the St. Louis Cardinals. Miami only scored once while Sandy was on the mound. That's because Dean Kremer was lights out, striking out eight, only walking two, and giving up one run. The only run Kremer gave up was a bases-loaded RBI single to Bryan De La Cruz, which drove in Joey Wendle. When it came to pitch mix and usage, it was his usual fastball/cutter combo. Kremer generated 16 swings-and-misses. He out-dueled Alcantara. https://mlb-cuts-diamond.mlb.com/FORGE/2023/2023-07/14/c446afb9-b83240d6-99553c68-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4Called up from Triple-A Jacksonville last week, left-hander Robert Garcia entered in the seventh inning to make his major league debut. Garcia allowed a walk, lineout and single during his brief appearance and didn't surrender any runs. Late in the game, the Orioles went with All-Star flame-thrower Yennier Cano to see if he could shut down the eighth inning, but Jorge Soler had plans of his own and homered off the Cuban reliever. Soler's 24th homer left the bat at 106.5 MPH and traveled 406 feet to left field. It's a rare sight for hitters to go deep to that part of Camden Yards ever since the fence was moved back last year. Orioles still led, 3-2. All hope went away for the Fish in the bottom of the eighth inning when Frazier crushed a two-run home run. Bryan Hoeing, who was pitching in relief for Miami, threw a sinker right down the middle. This was Frazier's second home run of the night and made the score 5-2. In the ninth inning, the Orioles went with their second All-Star reliever (and former Marlins prospect) Felix Bautista to close it out. He struck out both Jean Segura and Joey Wendle, and then pinch-hitter Yuli Gurriel flew out to end the game. Miami now has a 53-40 record, still holding onto the top spot in the NL Wild Card race. On Saturday, Braxton Garrett will take the mound for Miami as Kyle Gibson will go for the Orioles. Game two of the three-game set is scheduled to begin at 7:05 pm.

Going off of Alex Carver's article highlighting Marlins prospects at the lower levels who deserve promotions, it is also time to show love to the upper levels (Double-A Pensacola and Triple-A Jacksonville). Here are five players ready for their next challenge. C Will Banfield (AA) The Marlins 2018 competitive balance round pick is finally living up to the hype as he has found an offensive rhythm, slashing .267/.291/.474/.765 with 12 home runs, 43 RBIs, and a 97 wRC+. Combined with his great defense behind the plate, Banfield deserves a promotion to AAA and needs to be looked at as a potential MLB option for Miami in the near future. Statistically, the Marlins have the third-worst catching tandem in the majors when it comes to hitting. Banfield could possibly be an upgrade there and he has familiarity with the Marlins pitchers already from his time in major league spring training as a non-roster invitee. /podcasts/swimming-upstream-will-banfield/The only concern with Banfield is the fact that he relies a lot on power to have success. His walk rate in 2023 is only 3%. Another reason he hasn't been promoted yet is AAA Jacksonville has a crowded catching situation with Austin Allen, Paul McIntosh and Santiago Chávez. C Austin Allen (AAA) How about making room for Banfield by calling up veteran Austin Allen from the Jumbo Shrimp? Allen signed a minor league deal with the Marlins this past offseason. He has been on a power surge for most of the year, slashing .232/.324/.574/.898 with 18 home runs (tied for the most among Marlins minor leaguers), 47 RBIs, and a 112 wRC+. The 29-year-old has put up those numbers despite being held back by a very low .197 BABIP. Allen's strikeout rate has improved a lot from where it was in 2022 when he was with the Athletics and Cardinals organizations. He's been especially hot recently, leading all of Minor League Baseball with 20 RBIs in July. Realistically, it is more likely that the Marlins acquire a catcher via trade in the coming weeks than call up Allen to take the spot of Jacob Stallings or Nick Fortes, but he has earned a shoutout with his production. INF/OF Xavier Edwards (AAA) Xavier Edwards earned his way up to the majors earlier this season and he's been even better since going back down to Jacksonville. Overall, he is slashing .368/.437/.466/.903 with three home runs, 27 RBIs, and a 133 wRC+, leading the International League batting title race. To make himself more versatile, Edwards began playing center field in spring training, and thus far, he has played it well in the minors (no errors in 25 games). But when Jonathan Davis and Jazz Chisholm Jr. suffered their recent injuries, Miami called up Garrett Hampson and Dane Myers instead. Even in a limited role, calling up Edwards now makes a lot of sense because of the offense he can provide with his contact skills. 1B Troy Johnston (AA) This is the most obvious promotion candidate. Troy Johnston has been repeating the AA level throughout the season and has proven everything that he has had to prove. He is slashing .277/.389/.558/.947 with 18 home runs, 66 RBIs, and a 148 wRC+. The biggest improvements that Johnston has made are adding speed and working to get more extra-base hits. He already has four triples this season and will have more doubles than he had in 2022. Johnston also has a career-high 14 stolen bases, so shedding weight in the offseason has really made a big difference for him. He should be at AAA and next in line to make the big league roster when there's an opening at first base. The Marlins' future at the position is unclear because Yuli Gurriel and Garrett Cooper are both on one-year deals. LHP Patrick Monteverde (AA) The top Marlins minor league pitcher this season has easily been Patrick Monteverde. Posting a 1.93 ERA, 3.07 FIP, 10.13 K/9, and a 3.31 BB/9 through 74.2 innings pitched, Monteverde is having the best season of his career. Monteverde has been so good that he alongside Nasim Nuñez were chosen to participate in the All-Star Futures Game. It wouldn't hurt to promote the 2021 draft pick to AAA to showcase himself at the next level of Minor League Baseball.

When the Miami Marlins signed 2018's number one international prospect Victor Victor Mesa for $5.25 million, they were expecting him to become one of the big building blocks of their future. Unfortunately, the Cuban outfielder has never come close to living up to the hype and his time with the Marlins organization may have just reached its end without him even tasting the major leagues. On Monday, Francys Romero of beisbolfr reported that Mesa abandoned the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, which is the Marlins AAA affiliate. According to Romero, Victor Victor had "disagreements with the coaches and he’s not expected to return." I was able to confirm that report and can add Mesa has been away from the team since June 20, when they began a road series against the Gwinnett Stripers. His last appearance with Jacksonville came on June 16. Per Yordano Carmona of Pelota Cubana, Mesa did travel with the team to Gwinnett, but hours after arriving, he left in another vehicle and went back to Jacksonville. He was then placed on the restricted list. Turning 27 years old later this month, Mesa had been getting limited playing time this season (he also spent more than a month on the injured list). With Jacksonville and Double-A Pensacola combined, he had only 40 plate appearances and a .189/.250/.270 slash line (29 wRC+). His minor league career as a whole isn't much better. Although a great defensive outfielder and efficient base-stealer with consistent contact skills, the quality of his contact has been poor since arriving to the U.S. (low exit velocities). His MiLB career slash line in 290 games is .233/.289/.289 with only eight home runs and 92 RBIs. Victor Victor was briefly Double-A teammates with his younger brother, outfielder Victor Mesa Jr., who came with him to the Marlins in a package deal and received a $1 million bonus. Victor Jr.'s development has been far more encouraging and the 21-year-old is now considered one of Miami's best hitting prospects. Signing the Mesa brothers was the first big splash that the Marlins made in the international market under Bruce Sherman's ownership. They've had more success since then, most notably acquiring rising star Eury Pérez (Dominican Republic). They also inked infielder José Salas out of Venezuela and he became a key piece of the Luis Arráez trade package. It's unclear whether Victor Victor Mesa will continue his playing career once the Marlins eventually release him.

After the selection of pitcher Noble Meyer, the Miami Marlins doubled down on high school arms by selecting left-handed pitcher Thomas White out of Phillips Academy (MA) with the 35th overall pick of the 2023 MLB Draft. Then in the second round of the draft (47th overall pick), the Marlins followed through on the pre-draft college bat buzz by taking outfielder Kemp Alderman out of Ole Miss. "An elite left-handed pitcher," said Miami Marlins senior director of amateur scouting DJ Svihlik on Thomas White. White ranked as the 19th overall draft prospect on Baseball America, 24th on MLB Pipeline, 27th on The Athletic and 27th on FanGraphs. In his senior season, White had a 5-2 record, 1.66 ERA, 95 strikeouts and allowed only 10 hits over 42.0 innings pitched. White was named the Gatorade Massachusetts Player of the Year this past season. White's arsenal includes a mid-90s fastball, plus curveball and changeup. Svihlik compared his body type to that of Andy Pettitte. What stands out about White is the 6'5", 225-pound frame that he brings to the organization. Not only does the body type fit the Marlins mold, but so does the three-pitch mix that he has. "Thomas was really, really good at a young age," said Svihlik. "He was big, he was strong, and he was throwing hard at a younger age. I can imagine the recruiting process sped up a little bit for Thomas and he was able to get committed a little bit earlier." White is committed to play collegiately at baseball powerhouse Vanderbilt, but the Marlins have experience with signing fellow Vandy commits, including Will Banfield in 2018 and Karson Milbrandt in 2022. In the second round, the Marlins selected Kemp Alderman as their first position player of this draft class. In 2023, the outfielder from Ole Miss slashed .376/.440/.709/1.149 with 19 home runs and 61 RBIs. He was ranked 55th in this class by MLB Pipeline, 82nd by The Athletic and 102nd by Baseball America. Alderman's 19 homers were the third-most in program history and his 80 hits and 151 total bases was the fourth-highest in the SEC during the regular season. He also won the Boo Ferriss Trophy winner. Svihlik described the Alderman pick as the most impactful bat available who can also play multiple positions including catcher, which is an organizational need for the Marlins. "He's played a little bit of everywhere on the field," said Svihlik. "He needs some development defensively. Shouldn't be a problem." When asked about the exact plan, he said that they will place him at his natural position as a corner outfielder initially and then ease him into catching (most outstanding college baseball player in the state of Mississippi). Alderman's best tools are his 60 grade power and 60 grade arm. Limitations in the other aspects of his game could help the Marlins sign him to an underslot deal, saving money to be used on upcoming picks. The Marlins next pick will be No. 78 overall, which is in Round 3 of the draft.

On Sunday night, just hours after the Miami Marlins wrapped up their three-game set against the Philadelphia Phillies, the 2023 MLB Draft began. With the tenth pick, the Marlins took right-handed pitcher Noble Meyer out of Jesuit High School in Oregon. "He was clearly the best high school pitcher in the country," said Miami Marlins senior director of amateur scouting DJ Svihlik. "We didn't expect him to fall all the way to us. When you have the opportunity to select something that you're very confident in, then you've done a really good job, and that our evaluations of a lot of prospects in that position on the board, it's very hard to pass." Meyer was the 2023 Gatorade Oregon Player of the Year during his senior season with a 0.33 ERA, 128 strikeouts and 19 walks through 63.0 IP. "The thing that separated Noble was that just his ability to use his stuff to pitch to throw strikes and to do it on just a consistent basis," said Svihlik. The 6'5" right-hander has a three-pitch mix of a fastball, slider, and changeup. Meyer was the seventh-ranked overall prospect in this draft class per Baseball America, eighth according to MLB Pipeline, 12th per FanGraphs and he ranked 26th on The Athletic's list. "I would say we were surprised that he fell to us," said Marlins general manager Kim Ng. "This is a pitcher who we believe will be a top end of the rotation type pitcher." In terms of velocity, Meyer was frequently hitting 97-98 mph this past summer and told the media that his velo kept on increasing throughout the course of last season. Meyer still has a lot to work on and he admits it. "Biggest thing would be fastball command," said Meyer. "I mean, just getting those fastballs to where I need them. Not making those mistakes—the costly mistakes, at least—and then workload management." /mlb-draft/2023-mlb-draft-profile-noble-meyer/Meyer is committed to the University of Oregon. Ng is confident that they'll be able to agree on a signing bonus and bring him to the pros. The No. 10 pick has a slot value of $5,475,300. "Yes, I mean our scouts do a really nice job in terms of signability and, you know, we think he's going to be a Marlin real soon," said Ng. The Marlins still have two picks to go on Day 1 of the MLB Draft: No. 35 and No. 47.

After Eury Pérez was unable even get past the first inning in his last start, he was able to bounce back against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday. The Marlins rookie went six innings of work and only gave up one run, but Miami's offense couldn't generate any runs for him as they would drop the series finale. Pérez, who gave up six earned runs and two home runs in his last start against the Braves, limited a struggling but talented Cardinals team to one run off of three hits. Despite missing a lot of his spots and getting into deep pitch counts, the 20-year-old was able to strike out seven while only walking two. "I don't know what else to say about the kid," said Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker. "Kept up in the game all night long. Matching Flaherty the whole night, pitch to pitch. Fastball, I thought he used the top zone really well tonight, but the slider I thought better, 2-1 slider was at the bottom edge of the zone and he went oppo on it. I mean, I don't know what else you can do with that one to a really good player, so those are gonna happen." Pérez went slider-heavy, which has been a recent trend for him after using his trusty changeup as his main secondary pitch in the minor leagues. In fact, the changeup is the pitch he has used least often this season for the Fish. Pérez has began using his slider as a putaway pitch. Six of his seven strikeouts came on the slider while only one came on the fastball. His slider has also caused a lot of swing-and-miss action. In total, Eury generated 10 whiffs on the slider, three on the fastball and one on the changeup and curveball. He only threw the changeup nine times tonight. "Good outing for me," said Eury Pérez following the game. "Bouncing back from that previous one. Pitches were some not liking where I wanted, but you got to continue going out there and trying to stay in the game and try to help the team staying there." Eury's only mistake came in the sixth inning with two outs. He left a hanging slider to Nolan Arenado who took advantage of it and hit a solo homer to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead. Aside from that, Eury now goes down to a 2.36 ERA, but has given up seven home runs through 53.1 IP. "I think that at-bat, he was sitting on the slider. On the previous at-bat, we attacked him with that, it worked well, but I think he made a good adjustment on that pitch," said Pérez. "The slider was working well and I was able to get a swing and miss with that pitch." Final line: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO, 93 NP Once Eury's night came to a close, reliever Dylan Floro entered the game and that's when the bats became alive for the Cardinals. Nolan Gorman led the inning with a ground-rule double. After Jordan Walker struck out, Alec Burleson drove in Gorman on an RBI single which extended the Cardinals lead, 2-0. Following Floro, George Soriano entered the ballgame and gave up an RBI double to Nolan Gorman to drive in Lars Nootbaar who had hit a double when he was up at the plate. St. Louis scored another insurance run, giving them a 3-0 lead. Despite a bases-loaded opportunity in the bottom of the seventh inning, Miami was unable to get anything going and ended up dropping the final game to the Cardinals. Eury takes the loss and Jack Flaherty wins it. Game Notes The Marlins had averaged 10 runs per game during the previous three games of this series prior to this shutout.General manager Kim Ng will be speaking to the media on Friday.In the bottom of the seventh inning, Bryan De La Cruz and Willson Contreras had a heated exchange after De La Cruz drew a walk. It could have escalated if not for home plate umpire Ryan Wills stepping in between them.Next, the Marlins will go head-to-head against the Phillies in what will be a very important series for both teams. This is also the final series before the All-Star break. Photo: Tony Capobianco - Five Reasons Sports

On Thursday, just three days away from the 2023 MLB Draft, Miami Marlins Senior Director of Amateur Scouting DJ Svihlik addressed the media at LoanDepot Park. Svihlik is overseeing the Marlins' draft process for the fifth straight year, and this time, they hold the tenth overall pick. "It's always the most exciting time of the year," said Svihlik. "This is what we do. This is our World Series opportunity. Like I said in the past, you make a contribution to the organization with all the players that you have an opportunity to bring in this particular year is really exciting." Svihlik described this as a deep draft class with a lot of good hitters, which works out well for the Marlins, who have made that their top priority. "Try to put the best hitters up high," said Svihlik. "We make pitchers push guys out of the way in order to take arms. Sometimes they do, a lot of times, they don't, but the priority will continue to be hitters in the end.” That doesn't mean DJ and the rest of his staff will rule out the possibility of selecting a pitcher in the first round. The Marlins will be on the clock again with the 35th and 47th overall picks, where they're hopeful that more impact bats could still on the board. "Often teams think about taking the best player," said Svihlik. "Sometimes you don't know who the best player is. They're all good. You might have a cluster of four or five guys right there and it's really hard to distinguish which is the perfect player to take. There's a lot of other things that come into play, so the strategy and the depth of the draft and what the organization needs and those kinds of things are certainly high on the record. As you go further down, it's a little bit different in the draft where strategy comes into play, and we've been talking a lot about that today." Svihlik mentioned TCU's Brayden Taylor (.308/.430/.631/1.061 with 23 home runs and 70 RBIs), Grand Canyon's Jacob Wilson (.412/.461/.635/1.096 with six home runs and 61 RBIs), and Ole Miss' Jacob Gonzalez (.327/.435/.564/.999 with 10 home runs and 51 RBIs). Each of them are projected to be drafted in the first half of the first round. /mlb-draft/2023-mlb-draft-profile-jacob-wilson//mlb-draft/2023-mlb-draft-profile-jacob-gonzalez/Another name that stood out to DJ is third baseman Jake Gelof from the University of Virginia (.321/.427/.710/1.137 with 23 home runs and 90 RBIs), who the organization really likes. Ultimately, it's a waiting game for the Marlins. They'll have to see how the first nine picks play out on Sunday and take it from there. The draft begins 7:00 p.m. ET on Sunday and we'll be breaking it down in real time on Fish On First LIVE.

On Monday, the Miami Marlins selected the contract of Dane Myers. Myers, 27, slashed .335/.423/.533/.956 with 13 home runs and 46 RBIs in AA and AAA. Since his arrival to Jacksonville, Myers slashed .440/.494/.707/1.201 and made a statement to receive an opportunity in the majors. In the wake of Jazz Chisholm Jr. suffering an oblique strain, Miami placed him on the 10-day IL and called up Myers as the corresponding roster move. "I was in bed," said Myers about receiving the call-up news around 7 am. "I got a call from a front office person and woke me up. I thought it was a dream, but it was true." He took a 10:45 flight to Miami. Myers, who had previously been in the Tigers organization, was selected by the Marlins in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 Draft this past offseason. A converted pitcher, he credits some of his 2023 success to mechanical changes, but cutting down his strikeout percentage has also been a huge factor. He's gone from a 32.6% K% to a sub-15.0% K% in one season. "Just getting into a good spot to hit just really playing relaxed," said Myers. "Being able to play my game has helped me a lot this year." A big inspiration to Myers is his mother—she raised him and his three siblings as a single mother. "She was shocked," said Myers. "She's been dreaming about the day for a while too. She was happy." Myers has his family and friends in town to see him make his major league debut. Myers played five different defensive positions with Pensacola and Jacksonville (1B/3B/LF/CF/RF). His promotion allows Miami to sit out Bryan De La Cruz and Jesús Sánchez on certain days. They can also give Jean Segura some rest days if it seems that he is burnt out or struggling. Myers wasn't in Monday's lineup, though. For more on Dane Myers and his path to the big leagues, make sure to check out the latest edition of Swimming Upstream where he goes into detail on his adjustments, come up to the major leagues, and even making the transition from pitcher to hitter.

Just hours after the Marlins dropped the final game of the three-game set to the Atlanta Braves, the 2023 MLB All-Star reserves were announced, including Jorge Soler. Slashing .241/.339/.514/.853 with 22 home runs and 47 RBIs, Soler earns his first career All-Star selection and will join teammate Luis Arráez in Seattle for the event. During his second season in Miami, Soler has improved in every statistical category. Most notably, he has stayed healthy, playing in 81 of the first 85 Marlins games. The 31-year-old has also cut down his strikeout percentage substantially while walking at a career-best rate (11.8 BB%). Despite playing home games at a pitcher-friendly park, Soler is on pace to hit 42 home runs this season after going deep only 13 times in 2022. Soler has also been one of the most clutch hitters in baseball this season, which was probably a big reason why he was voted in by his fellow MLB players. Entering Sunday, Soler is slashing .316/.409/.772/1.181 with seven home runs and 21 RBIs in what Baseball-Reference considers high-leverage situations. If it wasn't for Soler, the Marlins wouldn't be where they are at this current point in the season. Historically, the Marlins have struggled to get quality production from their free agent acquisitions. Craig Mish of SportsGrid points out that Soler is the only Marlins FA pick-up in my lifetime to become an All-Star for the team: With the full rosters announced, Soler is joined by eight other Cuban All-Stars, breaking a record which was set in 1968. This is a proud day for the country to be so heavily represented. The big question remaining is whether Soler will put his name down to participate in the Home Run Derby. The confirmed participants are Pete Alonso, Randy Arozarena, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Julio Rodriguez and Mookie Betts, so the competition is going to be fierce. Photo by Danis Sosa/Fish On First

Amongst all of the MLB All-Star weekend events, there is the Futures Game, which is intended to highlight prospects from every MLB organization who have had success in the minor leagues this season and are projected to reach the majors in the near future. Two Marlins prospects were selected for the 2023 edition, per Craig Mish of SportsGrid: shortstop Nasim Nuñez and starting pitcher Patrick Monteverde. Monteverde was drafted in the eighth round of the 2021 MLB Draft. The left-hander has broken out here in 2023. His 0.35 ERA in 26 April innings earned him Fish on the Farm Prospect of the Month and Southern League Pitcher of the Month award honors. This season overall, Monteverde has a 2.13 ERA, 3.11 FIP, 10.51 K/9, and 3.33 BB/9 through 67.2 IP. Although this is his highest BB/9 of his career, he is also sporting the highest K/9 of his career and limiting opponents to only four home runs. Monteverde has shown a fairly low ground ball rate throughout his career, and this year is no different (36.4 GB%). That batted ball profile could work for him as long as he continues to generate a high rate of infield pop-ups. Monteverde isn't viewed as the best pitching prospect in the Marlins organization, but his combination of 2023 production and durability makes him deserving of this selection. As Erik Bremer, voice of the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, told Ely and myself on the latest episode of The Offishial Show, a lot of people inside and outside of the organization think highly of Monteverde and have confidence in how his stuff will eventually play at the big league level. https://fishonfirst.com/podcasts/2023-marlins-top-prospects-pensacola-erik-bremer/Nasim Nuñez was drafted by the Marlins in the second round of the 2019 draft. This season, Nuñez is slashing .226/.343/.308/.651 with four home runs, 27 RBIs, 33 stolen bases (most in the Marlins org), and a 86 wRC+. The switch-hitter has had a lot more success from the left side (.240/.375/.365/.740) than the right side (.202/.282/.212/.494). Nasim's selection has more to do with his elite defense. He has shown the ability to make athletic plays, strong off-balance throws, and react quickly to balls off the bat. The Blue Wahoos have used him occasionally at second base as well, where he has committed only one error in 19 games. Pensacola teammate Victor Mesa Jr. had a strong case for his own Futures Game selection, though his offensive numbers dipped recently. Utility guy Dane Myers (now at Triple-A Jacksonville) has been phenomenal (.335/.423/.534/.957). However, his unconventional path (minor league Rule 5 Draft pick) and age (27 years old) likely worked against him. There's still time for other Marlins to make it depending on injuries and MLB promotions. The Futures Game is set to take place on July 8 in Seattle, Washington at T-Mobile Park, home of the Seattle Mariners.