Alex Carver

Controversy continues to swirl around one of the most talented prospects in the Marlins system, Kahlil Watson, but other players have stepped up in the mean time. A few under the radar prospects who put together their best weeks of the season are featured in this edition of the roundup. - 1B Lewin Diaz, AAA This Week's Stats: 5-16, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 3/3 K/BB With the lack of high quality play that the Marlins position players have demonstrated, it remains a bit of a mystery why the big league team has not turned to Jacksonville for reinforcements. The AAA team's two most productive hitters this season, Diaz and Charles Leblanc, have seen a combined ten major league plate appearances. Veteran ballplayers, like Willians Astudillo and Erik Gonzalez, have seen far more time in Miami despite possessing lower ceilings and not performing as well at Jacksonville. Diaz, now twenty-five years old, is just about at the point where the Marlins have to decide his future in the organization. For a while, it has seemed like the team has not valued Diaz in the same way as many prospect analysts have. Considering his elite glove and plus raw power, and the Marlins status as a below- .500 team over the past few seasons, the Marlins would be wise to see what they have in Diaz. Over the past two seasons in Jacksonville, the big lefty has hit thirty eight home runs in 148 games; he does not have much more to prove at this level. Diaz has done an impressive job over the past few seasons to maximize his power output. His swing is designed to do in-air damage, with a slight upper cut that is still quick through the zone. He sees breaking pitches through the zone well, and hammers pitches on the lower half of the zone. Keeping his contact rate as low as it is (hovering around 20% in AAA) will be key to his future as a big leaguer, considering his strong but not elite power. Diaz's glove remains his calling card though, and could be useful in Miami very soon. Garrett Cooper and Jesus Aguilar are both known as bat-first first basemen, and have combined for a -3 DRS at first this season. In an admittedly small sample size, Diaz has been an exceptional +12 DRS in just fifty seven MLB games. SS Nasim Nunez, A+ This Week's Stats: 11-22, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 5 SB, 3/6 K/BB The forward leaps that Nasim Nunez has made over the past month have been amongst the most exciting Marlins prospect developments going. As the season has gone on, Nunez has hit for more power, struck out less, and continued stealing bases at an astounding rate. It has culminated in Nunez being amongst the most productive hitters in the Marlins system. Ranked fourteenth in the recent Fangraphs Marlins Prospect List, it is fair to expect that Nunez will keep climbing up the rankings. During his slow start to the season at Beloit, the lack of contact that Nunez was making was probably the most concerning aspect of his game. Nunez was never projected for more than an average hit tool, but it is vital that he reaches that potential as a glove-first, low power middle infielder. Since April, when Nunez was striking out in nearly every other plate appearance, he has gradually brought that rate way down. From June 1st onward, Nunez is striking out in 18.7% of his plate appearances, which is an above average rate. Things have clearly clicked for Nunez, who augmented that contact with more power as well. The last time that Nunez was featured in the roundup he was fresh off of his first minor league home run. This week he hit his second long ball, while posting another week where he walked more than he struck out. Scouts would certainly say that they would like to see Nunez be a bit more aggressive at the plate, and he does seem to be hunting mistakes by the pitcher more. On the other hand, getting on base at a high rate provides Nunez with a decent floor even if his power never develops much. Continuing to make contact is the most important thing, as Nunez's speed is a constant threat on the base paths. RHP Huascar Brazoban, AAA This Week's Stats: 3.0 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 5/1 K/BB Huascar Brazoban stood out in Spring Training, as he was consistently throwing fastballs in the high-nineties and generating swings and misses. Having spent the past few seasons playing in different countries and in independent leagues, Brazoban was given a chance on a minor league deal over the winter. With the way he pitched in the spring, Brazoban deserved a chance in full season ball. The thirty two year old right hander has backed up his opportunity with his best season yet in professional ball. One of the more intriguing aspects of Brazoban's season has been how the Jumbo Shrimp, and manager Daren Brown, have utilized him. He has been one of the team's best relief pitchers, but has also thrown the fourth most innings of anyone on the team. As the season has gone on, Brazoban has gone deeper into games on a per-outing basis. Since the start of June, every one of Brazonban's outings have generated at least five outs. Most of those appearances have between two-three innings, giving Brown a valuable swing man to use in the middle innings of close games. Not only has Brazoban given the Jumbo Shrimp that sort of length in his appearances, but he has also pitched very well. His 32% K-rate is well above average, while he has kept his walk rate in the single digits. Considering Brazoban's past minor league status, when he was consistently walking 12-16% of batters, that is an important improvement. His heavy fastball seems well geared to generating ground balls when hitters do make contact, while the slider will get swings and misses. The Marlins have gone through many relief pitchers this season, but Brazoban has pitched well enough to be knocking on the door. RHP Zach McCambley, AA This Week's Stats: 6.0 IP, 1 R, 0 H, 6/3 K/BB This has not been an easy year for the development of Zach McCambley. After entering the season as one of the Marlins more electric pitching prospects, McCambley has struggled with control and pitching with runners on base. However, there have still been moments like his start last week against Mississippi, where McCambley shows his potential as a guy who it is very difficult to make quality contact against. The key to McCambley's start against the Mississippi Braves was command of his curveball. It is by far his best pitch, and the one most likely to give hitters problems. McCambley consistently commands the pitch better than his other pitches, and can execute it well on the outside corner against lefties. The lack of a quality, high velocity fastball to match that breaking ball is what has slowed his development. His changeup has showed flashes of being a useful offering as well, but it is not as easy to set it up when the fastball is not particularly dangerous in the first place. Due to the strangeness of that repertoire, McCambley's future is most likely as a reliever who frequently pitches backwards. Setting guys up with the curveball for a strike, then throwing a fastball or changeup, before finishing with the curveball could be a recipe for success. That's what his plan seemed to be against the Braves, and he clearly had hitters out of rhythm. McCambley must also continue to clean up the issues with runners on base; his 57.2% left on base rate is concerning, but also likely too low to continue. Commanding his fastball is the first step towards McCambley cleaning that up and lowering his ERA. Last weeks start against the Braves was certainly a positive sign. 1B Zach Zubia, A This Week's Stats: 6-14, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 3 2B, 3/6 K/BB Most of the recent news surrounding the Jupiter Hammerheads has regarded two of the top Marlins prospects. Jose Salas was promoted to Beloit a few weeks ago, and has continued to hit. Back in Jupiter, Kahlil Watson has had a brutal last few months that have culminated in him not playing at all last week due to disciplinary issues stemming from a conflict with an umpire. Unfortunately, it is not the first controversy surrounding Watson this year, but last year's first round pick has plenty of time to mature. While the Marlins need to focus on that, Zach Zubia has kept on raking in the middle of the Hammerheads lineup. Zubia came out of the draft last year as a big bodied, athletic first baseman with some serious raw power. He hit over thirty homers in his college career at Texas, while posting impressive strikeout-to-walk ratios. A twentieth round pick in the draft, Zubia did not come with much hype as an older prospect without a clear defensive home. After some struggles last year in his professional debut, in which he failed to hit a home run in eighty five plate appearances, Zubia is looking much more confident at the plate this season and should be in line for a promotion. The most striking statistic when examining Zubia's profile remains his strikeouts compared to his walks. He has struck out sixty eight times this season, but walked fifty nine times. His walk rate is over 20%, demonstrating a particularly disciplined approach. However, if Zubia is going to reach his potential, he will have to start being a bit more aggressive and hunt pitches to do damage against. Despite all the walks, Zubia does still swing and miss quite a bit. He has also not hit the ball in the air frequently enough. This past week was a great sign, though, as he hit for extra base power. Zubia's slugging percentage now stands at exactly .400 for the season, and will need to keep climbing before he earns a promotion to Beloit. Next Up (7/12-7/17) AAA Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp at Syracuse AA Pensacola Blue Wahoos vs ChattanoogaA+ Beloit Sky Carp vs Cedar RapidsA Jupiter Hammerheads at Bradenton

Fresh off a sweep of the Washington Nationals, things are beginning to look up again for the Marlins. Some quality pitching performances from top prospects at the lower levels should extend that optimism for Miami fans, as the second half of the season continues in the minors. - RHP Max Meyer, AAA This Week's Stats: 9.2 IP (2 GS), 1 R, 4 H, 9/1 K/BB Prior to being sidelined with right ulnar nerve irritation, Max Meyer had been experiencing his first difficulties of the 2022 season. This forearm injury may have contributed to Meyer's struggles, as he gave up fourteen runs in his two starts before landing on the injured list. Meyer had exactly a month off between outings, and he has looked much better since his return to action. Since coming back from the injury, Meyer has a 14/1 K/BB ratio through three starts and has given up just two runs. He has been the electric pitcher that fans were getting excited about in April, and is again knocking on the door of the big leagues. Perhaps the best sign that Meyer has shown over the past few starts has been improved command. After walking close to 10% of the batters he faced last year in Pensacola, Meyer has lowered that walk rate a few ticks this season. He seems to be a bit more consistent with his delivery, which has helped him throw pitches exactly where he wants them. Meyer's changeup continues to need work to avoid leaving it in dangerous spots, but it is clearly becoming more of a weapon against left handed hitters because of the way it tunnels with his fastball. The changeup is not the out pitch that his slider is, but Meyer can still get some uncomfortable looking swings on it when the pitch is well executed. Meyer got a few strikeouts on the changeup in his win versus Memphis on Sunday, and was featuring it frequently against lefties. Meyer's fastball continues to be an effective, ground ball generating pitch, although his velocity has not yet returned to the upper nineties consistently. His velocity was down right before he went on the injured list, so the forearm injury could have led to a slight decrease in miles per hour. Still, it is worth monitoring as Meyer continues to pitch his way closer to the Major Leagues with each successful start. OF Osiris Johnson, A This Week's Stats: 8-20, 1 HR, 2 2B, 1 SB Osiris Johnson has developed a bit slower than many may have hoped. However, it is important to keep in mind that the former second round pick is still only twenty one years old. If he had decided to play college baseball instead of signing with the Marlins, Johnson could be eligible for the upcoming draft. So, while Johnson is still trying to find his footing in Jupiter, it is important just to see his tools starting to translate to on-field success. That was the case this past week, as the quick Johnson showed some extra base power against St. Lucie. Johnson's development was further hindered by a tibia injury; he had fewer than 200 career professional plate appearances prior to missing the 2020 season due to the pandemic. Finally back seeing live pitching last year, Johnson struggled with an overly aggressive approach. While his right handed swing is smooth through the zone, Johnson tended to make poor swing choices that limited how often he was maximizing his contact. Johnson drew the unenviable task of batting leadoff against the Mets' Jacob DeGrom in his rehab start on Sunday afternoon. Johnson struck out against the Cy Young Award winning right hander, but that did not sour his performance for the rest of the week. He has shown plus bat speed throughout his minor league career; this spring Johnson hit a home run with a 103 mph exit velocity. That is a trait that can continue progressing as Johnson matures and gets stronger, but it is vitally important that he already possesses such a talent. Johnson still needs to work on his approach and get on base more, but he is also making more contact than he was a year ago. I would be surprised if Miami moves him up to Beloit anytime soon, but Osiris Johnson is showing some encouraging signs in recent weeks. C Ryan Lavarnway, AAA This Week's Stats: 4-16, 2 HR, 1 2B, 4 RBI I will admit that I was a bit excited when the Marlins acquired Ryan Lavarnway a few weeks ago from the Tigers, in exchange for cash considerations. With Payton Henry still on the minor league injured list, Jacksonville needed another catcher for depth, so the move made sense. Lavarnway has been around for a long time, and I can remember his days as a top prospect in the Boston Red Sox system. Lavarnway came up to the Majors in 2011 to some fanfare, and almost saved the Red Sox from a late season collapse with a few timely homers. Lavarnway never panned out for Boston, or in the big leagues in general unfortunately. His career line of .217/.272/.345 is not out of place for a backup catcher, but his defense behind the plate has never been of a high enough quality to latch on to a team. Lavarnway is the perfect example of the "Quadruple A" hitter as a guy who can hit AAA pitching consistently well, but struggles against major leaguers. With a .274/.366/.457 career minor league batting line, Lavarnway has never struggled to produce at the lower levels. He has also belted 141 minor league homers and 213 doubles. Lavarnway put a few of those homers onto his career line this week against Memphis. With a swing generated to do pull side damage through elevation, Lavarnway crushed a 443 foot homer on Friday night. He does not hit for the same kind of power that he did as a younger top prospect. Lavarnway hit 32 homers in 2011 between two levels (not including the two he hit in Boston), but has not come close to matching that total since then. Still, it was great to see this kind of power this week, to show that Lavarnway is still capable of adding to his résumé as one of the best minor league players of the past decade. The leadership he can provide for some of the Marlins young hitters should go a long way. RHP Eury Perez, AA This Week's Stats: 5.0 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 8/3 K/BB Eury Perez belongs to the Zach King and MD Johnson Club of guys who could be included in these roundups pretty much every week. Perez has been similarly dominant as those two Beloit pitchers, but he has done it a bit differently. As a guy who just turned nineteen years old to pitch this well at an upper level of the minor leagues, a spot in this list really could be guaranteed. The Marlins have been careful about Perez pitching too many innings at such a young age, but that has not limited his value to the Blue Wahoos this year. Manager Kevin "Smoke" Randel told us in April that Perez would be limited to about seventy five pitches per start, and that has largely proven to be the case. Perez has not thrown more than eighty four pitches in any given start, and has also yet to give up more than three earned runs in a start this year. With a 77/14 K/BB ratio through fifty six innings now, Perez has been everything Marlins fans could have possibly hoped for before entering the year. The numbers do not do Eury Perez justice though, as his composure and Major League quality stuff have been more of the story. Fangraphs, who now rates Perez among the top pitching prospects in the game, gave Eury a 70 future grade on his command. They already have a 50 on his current command, meaning that they think he already has big league average command. That is an incredible accomplishment for a nineteen year old, an age where most guys are just being drafted or are beginning their college careers. While he did walk three batters in his start last week, Perez still has a 6.3% BB rate on the season. That figure is solid for a starter at any level, and is a testament to how comfortable he is with a four pitch arsenal. As long as he keeps pitching like this, Eury Perez will be on the top of many prospects list going into 2023. RHP Evan Fitterer, A+ This Week's Stats: 6.0 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 5/2 K/BB It has been a rocky year to this point for Evan Fitterer, a prospect who I was hoping to see more out of this year. His strikeout rate sits at a below average 17.2%, while a double digit walk rate has contributed to a high ERA. Fitterer intrigues me as a prospect due to two plus off speed pitches that contribute to a plethora of ground balls. Pitchers with that background have had success out of the bullpen for big league teams in swing roles, as they tend to effectively give hitters a different look compared to a fastball heavy starter. Fitterer has not had the necessary command to utilize that sort of repertoire this year though. Fitterer continues to sit in the low nineties with his fastball, which also has a lot of movement. The pitch seems to cut more than anything else, and can be deceptive at times against hitters. Unfortunately, his delivery has not been consistent enough to deliver the pitch where he always wants to. Against South Bend last week, Fitterer did seem to clean things up a bit and put together one of his better performances of the season as a result. With only two walks, he now has five walks total over his last eighteen innings. That is nothing special, but is a step in the right direction. Over that same stretch, however, Fitterer has only eleven strikeouts. He needs to put the two together to locate pitches within the zone, but where it will be more difficult for batters to make contact against it. Giving me optimism going forward is Fitterer's ground ball rate, which is just below 60% right now. If he can just keep pitches near the zone, Fitterer can get outs on the ground and limit serious damage through the air. This past week's start was a step in the right direction. Up Next (7/4-7/10) AAA Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp vs NorfolkAA Pensacola Blue Wahoos at MississippiA+ Beloit Sky Carp at PeoriaA Jupiter Hammerheads vs Palm Beach

Gary Denbo (AP Photo)Following Derek Jeter’s departure from the Marlins organization this offseason, one of his original and appointees has been relieved. On Wednesday afternoon, Craig Mish of SportsGrid broke the news that the team has parted ways with Vice President of Player Development and Scouting Gary Denbo. Denbo was a Jeter guy even before the start. One of the new regime’s first hires, Denbo joined the Marlins’ organization in 2017, replacing Mark DelPiano. In a controversial move, Jeter had asked then outgoing team president David Samson to inform DelPiano and three others of their releases before Jeter officially took over the team. Denbo and Jeter were well acquainted friends and colleagues as a result of spending seven seasons together in the organization. With the Yankees, Denbo first served as a hitting coach in 2001 before returning to the organization in 2009 as a player development executive. In 2011, Jeter attributed improvements in his swing made while he was on the IL to Denbo’s teachings. But that was far from Denbo’s only qualification. Beginning in 2015, Denbo completely overhauled the Yankees’ farm system. He remodeled the organization’s image from the perennial mortgagers of young talent to a club that can effectively build from within. In Denbo’s years, the Yankees developed positional prospects such as Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Miguel Andujar, Gleyber Torres and others to become a much more prominent minor league system. In his tenure with the Marlins, the organization experienced a similar rise up farm system rankings. In 2016, Miami ranked as the second worst farm system in baseball. Today, most major outlets concur that the system is amongst the top five. While pitching development flourished, Denbo’s major crux with the Marlins was getting the most out of his positional talent. Though Denbo has used similar tactics he used with the Yankees such as bringing his preseason tutelage and education program for top prospects Captain’s Camp to Miami and while pitching development has flourished, heavily invested in prospects such as JJ Bleday, Victor Victor Mesa, Connor Scott, Jordan McCants, Kahlil Watson and others have so far struggled to live up to their believed potential. Denbo also drew ire for not advocating for pay for minor league players in extended spring training and providing players with their own bedrooms at every MiLB affiliate. The Marlins are one of just three organizations in baseball who do not provide at least one of those accommodations. Furthermore, Denbo was at times unpopular for other HR related decisions and treatment of employees he managed. With Denbo moving on, the Marlins have several in house options who could fill his position. Highly-heralded for his work in the last few MLB Drafts, Senior Director of Amateur Scouting DJ Svihlik is an obvious option. It would seem Svihlik will take on increased responsibility in the meanwhile as the MLB Draft approaches. Director of Pro Scouting Hadi Raad, Director of Player Development Geoff DeGroot and Director of Minor League Operations Hector Crespo are other qualified candidates. While all of those names are deserving, like Denbo, they all have ties to the Yankees. It will be very interesting to see the direction the organization goes as they continue to operate sans Jeter.

Most of the Marlins' minor league affiliates were finishing up the first halves of their seasons last week. Congratulations are in order for the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, who won their division and have secured a spot in the playoffs in a few months. Moreover, all four minor league teams are now at .500 or better on the season, which underlies the development we have seen from many players this season. - LHP Andrew Nardi, AAA This Week's Stats: 3.0 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 5/1 K/BB The Marlins may rank 21st in the Major Leagues in bullpen ERA, but they have a host of exciting relievers in the system that should be valuable reinforcements within the next year or so. Nardi is one of the guys closest to contributing at the highest level of professional baseball. Since his promotion to Jacksonville about a month ago, Nardi has continued to display a repertoire that can gets swings and misses and limit base runners. He has posted a WHIP below 1.00 at both Pensacola and Jacksonville this year, while posting a strikeout rate of 38% between the two levels. This has been Nardi's most promising season since being drafted in 2019, and the twenty-three year old is still young enough that more development can be expected. Nardi worked primarily as a starting pitcher in college, albeit with limited success. He posted a 6.75 ERA in seventeen games (fourteen starts) while at Arizona in 2018. Still, the Marlins saw enough promise to take the big lefty in the sixteenth round of the 2019 draft. Nardi has worked only as a reliever since joining Miami's pipeline, but has shown an ability to pitch multiple innings. These types of hybrid roles can be incredibly valuable for a manager, as we have seen progressive teams utilize pitchers like Nardi one to two times a week for multiple innings. Nardi has made twenty five appearances, between the two levels, this season; in over half of them he has gotten four outs or more. Nardi's three pitch arsenal makes this sort of multi-inning role plausible in the Major Leagues. His fastball sits in the low-to-mid nineties, while his slider misses bats. Nardi's third pitch, a changeup, neutralizes opposite handed batters well when he is able to locate the pitch. Lefties have not been able to touch Nardi this season, with a .105/.191/.105 line against him, while righties have had greater success. Developing the changeup will be crucial to Nardi's big league future, as just being a lefty specialist would provide value but would also limit Nardi's ceiling. Still, as that .000 ISO against lefties indicates, Nardi has not even given up an XBH against them this season. Based on the way he has pitched, even if Nardi does not get a call up before the end of the season, he will have earned a spot on the 40 man roster this winter instead of being exposed to the Rule 5 Draft. OF Victor Mesa Jr., A+ This Week's Stats: 8-23, 4 2B, 6 R, 2/7 K/BB It is hard to believe Victor Mesa Jr. is only twenty years old still (he turns twenty-one in September). After signing with the Marlins as the second wheel to his brother in a much publicized pursuit of the Cuban outfielders, the younger Mesa brother has slowly developed into the more intriguing prospect. While neither of the Mesa brothers is a sure thing to ever even reach the big leagues, Victor Jr. has shown enough this season to retain some hope that he could end up contributing at the highest level. Much like the rest of the Beloit lineup, Mesa's performance has gotten better as the season has gone on. His OPS has trended upwards on a monthly basis, while he is walking more and striking out less. With a .253/.343/.380 line, Mesa has performed 3% better than league average. Interestingly, the lefty swinging Mesa has performed far better against left handed pitchers than righties. His .855 OPS versus lefties, as opposed to a .676 OPS against righties, may just be a case of a small sample size. Still, two of his three home runs this season came against lefties, and his strikeout rate is also lower against southpaws. Mesa struggled mightily against lefties last year, so he has made some important adjustments to counteract that with his approach. Scouts still raise concerns, and justifiably so, about the lack of a standout tool from Mesa. An argument could be made that his hit tool could end up being that trait. Looking at his last week, Mesa was on base fifteen times while striking out only twice. His K% for the season sits at an impressive, if not necessarily elite, 18%. For the month of June, that strikeout rate is at an exceptional 11.9%. Hope needs to remain that Mesa can come into some more power considering his age and athletic frame. Unfortunately, not much power has emerged in games, with an ISO of .122 this season. The doubles we saw this week are a good sign, and Mesa's future path to the big leagues may be as a contact hitter who can pick up some steals, doubles, and get on base enough to be a fringe starter/fourth outfielder type. SS Nasim Nunez, A+ This Week's Stats: 9-19, 1 HR, 2 2B, 2 3B, 1/6 K/BB The defense that Nasim Nunez consistently plays is not usually discernible in the minor league box scores, but provides a value that is hard to quantify at the lower levels. The major scouting publications all seem to agree that Nunez's calling card is his glove though, and it has the potential to be a ticket to the majors eventually. Unfortunately, up until the last few weeks, the glove and speed were about all there was to be excited about when it came to Nunez. To say he had not hit in professional ball would be an understatement; Nunez had never hit a home run in the minors and most of his hits were a result of great speed. Nunez snapped that homerless drought this past week with not just a homer, but a no doubt bomb to center field. Nothing demonstrates how toolsy Nunez is better than that long ball. The switch hitting shortstop is still growing into his frame and tacking on muscle that will help him reach more power. Nunez has also definitely made some adjustments this year with his swing to try and get to some more of that raw power. His ground ball rate of 52% is still high, but certainly not unreasonable for a speedy, glove-first player. The glove will provide so much value that all Nunez needs to do is be a somewhat productive hitter to be a useful player at the upper levels. One concern that remains with Nunez is his ability to hit from the right side of the plate. He is striking out more, walking less, and hitting for less power as a right handed hitter. The swing from the left side, which you see on his home run cut, also looks more fluid and geared toward maximizing his contact. On the whole, Nunez is making more contact as the season progresses though. In June, he has eighteen strikeouts to seventeen walks, an impressive ratio at any level. While Nunez will probably need to be more aggressive eventually, that approach is working to make him a league average hitter at High-A and restoring some belief amongst Marlins fans that he could be an eventual contributor. LHP Zach King, A+ This Week's Stats: 7.0 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 11/1 K/BB I try to avoid including the same player in the Roundup in consecutive weeks, but Zach King followed a great performance up with an even better one. His eleven strikeouts cement King's status as the strikeout leader in the organization, which is quite the accomplishment considering King's initial sting in High-A last year. He labored towards an ERA a few ticks below 6.00, while giving up fourteen home runs in seventy-eight innings. This season, on the other hand, King has avoided the long ball and gotten more strikeouts. After this most recent outing, his ERA sits at 2.77 and has helped spur a Beloit revival to the .500 mark for the season (34-34). Unlike some of his peers on this list, King has not needed to get continuously better this season to earn a spot in the Roundup. He has pitched well throughout the year, as him and MD Johnson managed to keep the Sky Carp in many games earlier this season when the offense was as cold as the weather. King has done it by consistently pitching deep into games; only two of his twelve starts have been shorter than five innings long. He has done it with a fastball-cutter combo that can get groundballs, a slider that misses plenty of bats, and a changeup that neutralizes righties well. Considering King was a reliever at Vanderbilt, his transition into a starter has been an impressive bit of development from both the player and the Marlins pitching development program. Fangraphs recently speculated King could be used as a "bulk reliever" in their Marlins Prospects List, but I am optimistic that he could end up being a back end starter. The four pitch mix that has emerged this season is promising, as is King's improved control. He has walked just 5.6% of opposing hitters this month, after posting walk rates over 12% in both April and May. Keeping that walk rate low will be the best way for King to remain a starter, as his more fluid delivery and deep repertoire indicate that he can stay in a starting role going forward. SS Jose Salas, A This Week's Stats: 6-23, 2 HR, 2 2B, 6 R In that aforementioned Fangraphs prospects list, Fangraphs' Eric Longenhagen stirred up a fair bit of discussion amongst Marlins fans by ranking Jose Salas the third best prospect in the Miami system. Most other rankings have had the shortstop on the back half of the top ten in the system, but Longenhagen even had Salas ranked above his teammate in Jupiter, Khalil Watson. While I have tended to regard Watson as the higher ceiling prospect with the potential for more power, the two are probably closer than people imagine. Salas, being a well-known international free agent signing in 2019, has certainly shown more at Jupiter this season than Watson, who was also a well regarded amateur taken in the first round last season. Nasim Nunez is more known for his speed than Salas, and has doubled his stolen base output compared to the younger Salas this season. However, Salas has been caught only once this season, while he has successfully stolen fifteen bags. Nunez has thirty steals, but has been caught ten times. I mention this, along with Salas' plus power, to demonstrate that he may be the most complete shortstop prospect in the system. While it remains to be seen if Salas stays at short, his athleticism and arm should make him adequate at second or third base as well. Ultimately, there is not any one glaring weakness in Salas' game right now. As with Nunez, Salas and the Marlins will have to decide if they want him to remain a switch hitter going forward. There is plenty of time to decide, as Salas is still just nineteen years old. Moreover, he has had success from both sides of the plate this year. The sample size from the right handed side is small (46 plate appearances), but he has just five strikeouts from that side and has hit a homer. It was not long ago that the right side was not even mentioned as a concern, but Salas has made so much progress from the left side that it naturally leads people to wonder. For now, the Marlins will sit back and watch him continue to develop. Salas' two homers this week both came from the left side, and contributed to an impressive 126 wRC+ for the season. The Marlins will take it slowly with the youngster, but his star level potential remains. Up Next (6/28-7/3) AAA Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp at MemphisAA Pensacola Blue Wahoos vs MontgomeryA+ Beloit Sky Carp vs South BendA Jupiter Hammerheads at St. Lucie

The Major League Marlins have had a rocky first few months of the season. Their minor league affiliates have had similar ups and downs, but things are certainly looking more up at the moment. Three of their four affiliates are over .500, while Beloit is playing much better baseball after a slow start. The theme of this week was some excellent pitching performances resulting in wins. LHP Zach King, A+ This Week's Stats: 6.0 IP, 0 R, 5 H, 9/1 K/BB The Beloit Sky Carp have managed to rebound from what was an ugly start to the season, and are now near the .500 mark. The offense has heated up as the warmer has gotten warmer, while a few pitchers have also stood out. MD Johnson, featured on the Weekly Roundup a few weeks ago, has been one of those guys. King has nearly been as good, with far more walks but also more strikeouts. Ultimately, his ERA sits at an impressive 3.10 for the season. It is not surprising that King is difficult for batters to make contact against when examining his background. He was a relief pitcher at Vanderbilt for three seasons, and was drafted following their 2019 College World Series Championship. King has mostly been used as a starter since being drafted though, with three plus pitches being shown at times. The tall left hander does not get above the low-mid nineties with his fastball, but it has tailing action that results in a decent amount of groundball. The slider and changeup have been especially effective when it comes to getting strikeouts. Righties are batting just .208 against King this season, with fifty seven strikeouts in forty two innings. The changeup clearly seems to be succeeding against opposite-handed hitters. King does still have room for improvement when it comes to control. The 11% walk rate that he is currently working with is doable for a relief pitcher with filthy stuff, but not for a long-term starter who needs to be a little bit craftier to get outs. Still King has certainly taken a step in the right direction this season. Due to graduations, he was recently moved into the MLB Pipeline Marlins Top 30 Prospects list. OF Griffin Conine, AA This Week's Stats: 5-18, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 8/6 K/BB It would be fair to say that Griffin Conine has figured out how to hit in Double-A. His 2021 Pensacola debut featured plenty of power, but way too many strikeouts and an overly aggressive approach. Conine's success this season has largely stemmed from a change to that approach; he is swinging at pitches that can be barreled up far more easily. While the strikeout totals remain high, the Blue Wahoos are more than happy to live with it if it results in optimal contact so often. While narrowing in on pitches he can hammer, Conine has also managed to lay off more pitches out of the zone. This has helped him achieve far more success at the plate, with an impressive .269/.380/.497 batting line at the moment. MonthK%BB%April38.67.2May3213.3June33.823.9Griffin Conine's K-BB rates in 2022As you can see, that approach has been refined as the season has worn on. The strikeout rate remains high; anything above 30% at the minor league often is often deemed to be dangerous. After all, if a player swings and misses this much against minor league pitching, how can he possibly make more contact against big leaguers? While this point is certainly true to an extent, Conine must be rewarded for the changes he has made to cut down on the K's. As this season has gone on, he is walking far more and striking out less. This past week demonstrated everything that Conine can be; he hit a few homers, got on base, and had some swings and misses. Still, he was a productive hitter. At this point, Conine has had success at every level once he gets acclimated to it. It should not be long before Conine is brought up to Jacksonville, and while there may be growing pains, he is clearly not a guy to bet against. RHP Colton Hock, AA This Week's Stats: 4.0 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 4/0 K/BB Colton Hock has once again been among the most reliable relievers in the Marlins system this season. In 2021, he settled into a role as the Wahoos closer. Hock tallied nineteen saves in thirty-six appearances, while striking out over a batter per inning. That performance was more than deserving of a late-season call up to Jacksonville. Hock seems to be well on his way to another promotion, as he has shown himself capable of getting Double-A hitters out. That was certainly true last week, where Hock faced the minimum of twelve batters in four perfect innings. His performance as a dominant reliever has been impressive to watch, and it is something that Hock has been for a while now. The Marlins briefly used him as a starter back in 2018, but he seems to have settled back into the reliever role that he dominated in at Stanford. The Marlins may have been hoping to transition Hock into a starter based on their college scouting report of him. The tall-right hander has a fastball that sits in the mid-nineties with elite spin. He is able to manipulate his breaking pitches to give hitters different looks. All of this may have contributed to Hock being a fourth round pick in 2017, which is usually when the top relievers are picked. The biggest difference in Hock's success this season is how he has been getting outs. His strikeout numbers are down from last season, with a K% hovering around an unimpressive 20%. However, Hock possesses exceptional control, and has a WHIP below 1.00 for the season. Finally, his groundball rate is way up at over 50%. Hock is clearly in command of his arsenal right now, and manipulating his pitches to get the kind of contact he wants. The Marlins should be satisfied with what Hock has given them, but at 26 years old, it may be about time to see what he can do at the highest level. LHP Luis Palacios, A This Week's Stats: 7.0 IP, 3 R, 5 H, 6/1 K/BB This is probably the third or fourth week in a row that Luis Palacios could have been included in the weekly roundup. It did not feel right to go another week without including him. Palacios has consistently gone deep into games, with all of his starts this season being over five innings long. Seven of his ten starts have been six innings or longer. That is impressive for a pitcher at any level, nevermind a twenty-one year old at the lower levels of the system. One of the reasons that Palacios has flown under the radar is he does not possess a big fastball or a nasty repertoire. Instead, he has succeeded with deception, quality off-speed stuff, and insane command. Palacios has walked just four batters in sixty two innings, resulting in a miniscule 1.6 BB%. This is not an aberration; Palacios has posted walk rates below 2% at three different minor league stops of over forty innings. His fastball may not top ninety miles per hour, but Palacios clearly has some level of deception that is working to keep getting batters out. With a strikeout rate just below 25%, Palacios is also clearly capable of getting swings and misses. His changeup is probably his best pitch, which can lend itself to soft contact as well. At this point, I am curious to see if Palacios can continue his success at the next level. Sometimes, there is no explaining it, but certain pitchers just get guys out without identifiable velocity or nasty stuff. Palacios feels like one of those guys. RHP Bryan Mitchell, AA This Week's Stats: 7.0 IP, 1 R, 5 H, 7/0 K/BB Bryan Mitchell got drafted all the way back in 2009, by a New York Yankees team that was on the way to the World Series. He underwent plenty of highs and lows with the Yankees, including some success in the bullpen and a series of unfortunate injuries. Since being a part of the Chase Headley trade, Mitchell has bounced around and appeared in a few organizations. He was DFA'd by the Marlins last August, only to be brought back in the minors for 2022. Mitchell got off to a rough start with the Wahoos, but pitched a gem against Tennessee last week that should cement his spot in the Wahoos rotation for the time being. Mitchell had his curveball working in that game, with the majority of his strikeouts coming on off-speed pitches that darted towards the dirt. He appears to be operating with three pitches at the moment, while appearing especially comfortable with that breaking ball. Mitchell also features a fastball that gets ground balls and a cutter that has a good amount of movement. The fastball played well up in the zone against Tennessee, but it has been more of a low-in-the zone, ground ball producing pitch in Mitchell's MLB experience. He has now made three straight starts for Pensacola, so Mitchell just needs to keep on showing that he still has what it takes to pitch at a higher level. Not walking any hitters in that start was the best thing Mitchell could have done for himself; he had walked eighteen batters in just twenty six innings going into that appearance. Up Next (6/21-6/27) AAA Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp vs DurhamAA Pensacola Blue Wahoos at BiloxiA+ Beloit Sky Carp at LansingA Jupiter Hammerheads at Daytona

Josh Simpson (Photo by Pensacola Blue Wahoos)With a 4.49 ERA including 6.91 in the month of June, the Miami Marlins' bullpen needs help. Viable assistance is thriving just nine and a half hours away from loanDepot park as Josh Simpson has continued turning in strings of lights-out innings for the Pensacola Blue Wahoos. Who is Simpson and how soon could we see him in a Marlins uniform?— Josh Simpson has been through a lot in his four-year career. As a 6’2” lefty out of a cold weather state, his name wasn’t spoken much leading into the 2019 MLB Draft. Because of those stigmas, the Marlins were able to pluck him off the board in the 32nd round. From there, Simpson’s timeline is very turbulent. Almost immediately, Miami converted Simpson from starter to reliever and he turned in solid numbers for the short season Batavia Muckdogs. Then 2020 happened, challenging all Minor League Baseball players, including Simpson. During that process though, Simpson not only stayed active, he went back to the lab, completely modifying everything related to his game. “That COVID year, to me… it gave you time to sit down and that was what was going to separate you from guys who really wanted to work and get their stuff done on their own or kind of take that time to relax,” Simpson said. “I reworked my whole repertoire, my mechanics, my pitches just trying to make everything as good as I possibly could.” The soon-to-be 25 year old faced his next test in 2021 when an injury kept him out of action for nearly two months. The Marlins attempted to make up for the lost time and build Simpson’s arm back up by re-inserting him into the rotation at A+, leading to some inflated numbers. He also participated in the hitter-friendly Arizona Fall League where more crooked figures were put up against him. Simpson describes 2021 as a learning curve season and this past offseason as his 'a-ha' moment. “I think last year was a little bit of getting adjusted and kind of understanding who I was as a pitcher. Going out there every time and not necessarily knowing what was going to happen," Simpson said. "This offseason, I think I just kind of found what worked for me best and the way I can go out there and be as consistent as I can every time." Despite his past trials and tribulations, the Marlins challenged Simpson to the AA level. There, he has put polish on his reworked craft quickly become one of the best relievers in the organization. In 31 innings, Simpson is holding down a 2.90 ERA via an even 1.00 WHIP. Amongst AA South pitchers with at least 30 IP, those figures rank ninth and sixth. Minus one rough outing in which he allowed five of his 10 earned runs, he would have a 1.45 ERA and 0.84 WHIP. If that weren’t impressive enough, Simpson is the best strikeout pitcher in his league with a 45.1% K rate. His latest gem was a 2 IP, 1 H, 5 K two out save. After that outing, veteran starter Bryan Mitchell spoke highly of his first impressions of Simpson. “I’ve only gotten to see him a few times now but his curveball is really, really good and he’s got velo to go with it,” Mitchell said. “I wasn’t worried at all about him coming in behind me.” An Ivy League student, Simpson knew very early in his playing career he would need a plus breaking pitch to succeed. A main reason for his dominance has been the polish he’s put on the aforementioned nasty sweeping curveball that sits in the mid-70s. Simpson describes the pitch as his bread and butter. “When I was younger, being a lefty and undersized and not necessarily going to dominate guys with the heater so I always relied on my offspeed stuff and I think that kind of stuck with me and it’s blossomed into the pitch it is now,” Simpson said. “It’s definitely been solid for me so far.” Coupled with a dancing fastball that sits around 93 but can touch 95, Simpson has shown impeccable command, a good mix of speeds and an overall incredible pitcher’s IQ capable of speeding up the game and stifling hard contact. Simpson would have been exposed to the Rule 5 draft last season if there were a Major League portion. That will now happen this coming offseason if he is not added to the big league roster. Starving for scoreless relief innings, Simpson is the best in-house option Miami has. He should keep a packed bag close by.

In this week's roundup, a few players are deserving of repeat mentions after continued stellar performance. On the other side of things are a few unheralded prospects, worthy of your attention, who both put up noteworthy pitching performances at the lower levels. RHP Luarbert Arias, A This Week's Stats: 4.0 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 8/0 K/BB Luarbert Arias is quietly emerging as an exciting find for the Marlins this year in Jupiter. The Venezuelan right hander was signed by the Padres in 2017 as an international free agent. He pitched well in his first few professional seasons, while typically starting games but not throwing more than a few innings at a time. However, missing the 2020 season due to the pandemic may have taken a tole on the development of Arias. In his 2021 preview of the Padres minor league system, Fangraphs' Eric Longenhagen noted that Arias, "throws a ton of strikes." While not a hard thrower with a wipeout breaking ball, Arias was known as a guy who could get outs quickly and a surprising amount of swings and misses. That went away in 2021, when Arias was working out of the bullpen and struggled towards a 15% walk rate. San Diego waved Arias in December, after that tumultuous season, and the Marlins quickly pounced. Arias is now twenty one years old, and has yet to pitch above the A level. His BB% this season remains in the double digits, a troubling trend for any pitcher at any level. However, slight improvements have been seen in recent weeks. Since the start of May, Arias has walked four batters over 15.1 innings. In that span, he has struck out twenty one opponents. After an April in which he struggled to find his control, Arias has become a reliable and trusted member of the Hammerheads bullpen. Against the St. Lucie Mets on Thursday, Arias was about as perfect as it gets. He faced six batters, and struck out all of them. Moreover, five of those K's were of the swinging variety. His fastball, sitting around 92-93 during the outing, was paired well with the slider, in the low 80's, that got many swings and misses. Arias' fastball-changeup combo had led to his success in the past, but he seems to be utilizing the slider more this year out of the bullpen. He posted two more scoreless innings on Sunday, with just one hit and no walks allowed. The Marlins pitching development pipeline seems to have worked wonders on Arias, who was available on waivers just six months ago. This is the sort of find that provides crucial depth in an organization, as Arias is a far more interesting arm than he seemed like a year ago at this time. OF JJ Bleday, AAA This Week's Stats: 4-16, 3 HR, 1 2B, 6/6 K/BB We have written about JJ Bleday a few times in these roundups so far this year, but it is hard to understate his importance to the Marlins organization. This offseason, there was no denying that Bleday's stock had dipped quite a bit since he was initially drafted in 2019 out of Vanderbilt. 2021 saw Bleday's power greatly diminished, which is a huge concern for a hitter with such extreme fly ball tendencies. Without elite power, there is little benefit to hitting the ball in the air so often. After an improved Arizona Fall League performance, and putting on some strength over the winter, Bleday is firmly back on the prospect radar. His inclination to hit the ball in the air has become even more extreme; Bleday's ground ball rate of 25.8% is comically low. Perhaps due to the added strength, however, Bleday is managing to maximize the potential of those fly balls more often. His thirteen home runs at Jacksonville this season already eclipse the twelve he hit last season, in almost exactly half the plate appearances. That is not to say Bleday becoming a more productive hitter has been without it's hiccups. His K% is hovering around that ever dangerous 30% mark, and has remained around there throughout the season. For a player lauded for his tool coming out of the draft, that is of some concern. Still, I think the benefit of the doubt should be given to Bleday; he made some mechanical change this winter, including lowering his hands, that could plausibly result in some transition time needed before the contact rate can stabilize. Bleday is such a natural hitter with a great feel at the plate when things are going right, that any worries about his K% may be premature due to the small sample size. More impressive is his high BB%, which is in line with some prime Carlos Santana seasons at the moment. Any hitter who can get on base that often has a high ceiling, which is how Bleday should start being viewed. He may not have the hit-power combo that fans dreamed on coming out of Vanderbilt, but he should be a productive hitter at any level due to his approach. Bleday currently is sitting with a 126 wRC+ and a .370 OBP for Jacksonville, and has been their most consistent hitter over the past month or two. The Marlins may give him some more time to get comfortable with the mechanical changes, but I think he will be a productive big league hitter whenever that time comes. C Paul McIntosh, AA This Week's Stats: 7-15, 1 HR, 3 2B, 7 RBI, 2/3 K/BB No hitter in the Marlins system improved his stock to begin the season more than Paul McIntosh did in April. McIntosh finished the month hitting .316/.435/.544, and threw in five stolen bases just for good measure. Every night seemed like a multi-hit game for the catcher, who was also walking and limiting his strikeouts. Naturally, every hitter (not named Mike Trout or Juan Soto) is going to come down from that sort of high after a while, and McIntosh's May was certainly more humble. Still, he hit three homeruns and produced a .754 OPS, which is far from anything to be ashamed of. The month of June has seen more of a return to those early season numbers, though. In just seven games this month, McIntosh is slashing .435/.594/.870, with nine walks against three strikeouts. While that has clearly come in a small sample size, anybody who is doubting that Paul McIntosh can hit at this point probably has not been paying attention. It remains hard to believe that McIntosh went undrafted as a college hitter. He was taken late in the 2018 draft by the Angels, coming out of high school, but chose to attend West Virginia University instead. McIntosh was a productive college player, but he has shown more offensive ability in his minor league appearances with the Marlins. While catching the majority of Pensacola's games this season, McIntosh has put up a cumulative 151 wRC+ with seven home runs and nine stolen bases. That amount of steals is not common for any catcher, and McIntosh does have a pretty big frame. Still, it shows just how exceptional of an athlete that he is, as he is able to impact the game offensively, defensively, and on the base paths. The Statcast data that is available from McIntosh's 2021 with Jupiter even indicates that he was consistently posting exit velocities over 110 mph. The Pensacola Blue Wahoos' Twitter account confirmed as much in the video you see above. Having that baseline ability to hit the ball hard indicates major league caliber bat speed, so it is no fluke that he is performing well at every level the Marlins have brought him through to this point. While this has been a bit of an up-and-down start for the Wahoos' catcher, there is a reason that McIntosh has quickly emerged as cult favorite amongst Marlins fans who are monitoring the Marlins minor league system: finding catchers who can hit like Paul McIntosh is just not that easy to do. LHP Pat Monteverde, A+ This Week's Stats: 6.0 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 6/3 K/BB Much like McIntosh, Pat Monteverde was a late find in the 2021 Draft process with the potential to reap rewards. While McIntosh went completely undrafted, Monteverde was selected in the eighth round out of Texas Tech. He transferred there for his final year of eligibility following three seasons with Seton Hall, and put up a complete performance after missing time in previous years. Monteverde posted an impressive 22% K-BB ratio, as he demonstrated impressive control with swing and miss ability in a major conference. Transitioning from a Northeastern school is no easy task, so Monteverde deserved a lot of credit for the job he did in boosting his stock. Making it all the way up to the eighth round, Monteverde entered the draft as an older prospect (he is almost 25 years old already) with a refined repertoire and plus command. Through almost a season's worth of games, it is fair to say that Monteverde is living up to that scouting report. I am continuously impressed at his ability to miss bats, despite lacking high velocity or filthy off-speed pitches. The fastball serves more as a sinker, but has not gotten as many ground balls as one might expect. Instead, it seems to fool hitters quite a bit, to the point of swinging and missing, when paired with his quality slider and changeup. The changeup helps Monteverde neutralize right handed batters very well; they have hit just .183 against him this season with 32 strikeouts in 29.2 innings pitched. Lefties have hit Monteverde considerably harder, but there is a certain amount of deception that is helping Monteverde succeed in unusual spots. The Marlins have utilized him as a starter all season at Beloit, but I wonder if these reserve splits could lead Monteverde into a relief role by the end of the year. That fastball-changeup combo could serve as an effective weapon to neutralize opposite handed hitters at any level, while an improvement in the slider would make it more difficult for lefties to hit him as well. He mowed down the Wisconsin lineup with ease last week in a 2-0 Beloit victory, and he has been the team's most reliable starter along with MD Johnson. Still, if a path for the big leagues exists for Monteverde, I would not be surprised if it comes in a swing-man role out of the bullpen as opposed to starting. SS Jose Salas, A This Week's Stats: 8-24, 3 2B,1 3B, 1 SB, 4/3 K/BB Salas turned nineteen years old just over a month ago, so patience is the key word when it comes to monitoring his development. Still, there have been gradual improvements in recent weeks that are encouraging for the long term development of one of the Marlins' best prospects. Salas has about as high of a ceiling as any position player in the system, other than his teammate Khalil Watson probably. This is due to plus raw power, foot speed, and an ability to be an adequate defender at several premium positions. Coming into the season, a few things that the experts at MLB Pipeline, Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo, hoped to see was a less pull happy approach, fewer groundballs, and a more patient approach at the plate. For the most part, Salas has made improvements in all three of those categories. Starting with the groundball rate, nobody should be too disappointed to see Salsas put the ball on the ground a decent amount. While he has plus raw power, with the potential to get to far more as he gets older and stronger, Salas has enough speed to the point where he can post a high BABIP even while hitting balls on the ground. While his GB% eclipsed 50% last year, it is down to a more reasonable 41% at the moment. More importantly, Salas is hitting far more line drives, which is the right path towards barreling up more balls. He has been pulling balls at about the same rate, but the increase in line drives makes this a bit less of an issue. Moreover, considering Salas' speed, it is hard to imagine huge shifts being used against him with the threat of the bunt existing. Finally, while we lack the data to see how often Salas is chasing pitches at Jupiter, he has posted a solid walk rate of 9% and is not striking out too often. His hit tool is not considered a major plus, so keeping that K-rate low and consistently making contact is vital. Perhaps most important to the value of Salas is his future as a switch hitter. Scouts had expressed concerns with his swing from the right handed side, but he has actually performed better from that side this season. Admittedly, we are not talking about huge sample sizes, but his .849 OPS from the right side far exceeds the .674 OPS from the left. Salas has hit one home run from both sides of the plate. So, while the lefty swing may be more dependable and mechanically sound, Salas is at least seeing results from the other side of the plate as well. With a 109 wRC+ and 11 SB added into the profile, Salas is trending towards a successful first full season at Jupiter. Up Next (6/14-6/19) AAA Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (32-28) at Charlotte (23-37)AA Pensacola Blue Wahoos (28-24) vs Tennessee (32-25)A+ Beloit Sky Carp (25-31) at Lake County (30-26)A Jupiter Hammerheads (29-26) vs Dunedin (25-32)

Due to some issues with COVID, and general business at this time of year, we are a bit behind on our weekly roundups. However, we are back this week with a general breakdown of how the last month went down, and prospects to continue watching as the season heads into the dog days of summer. - RHP Jeff Brigham, AAA The Last Month's Stats: 11.1 IP, 5 R, 7 H, 24/10 BB Marlins fans have been put through the ringer while watching the career of Jeff Brigham play out. Originally drafted by the Dodgers back in 2014, Brigham was part of the return that sent Mat Latos to Los Angeles at the 2015 trade deadline. Since then, the right hander has pitched in parts of three seasons in the big leagues, with mixed success. Brigham was removed from the 40-man roster this offseason after not pitching in 2021 due to injury. The Marlins were willing to give him another shot at AAA though, and he has looked beyond encouraging in a bullpen role in Jacksonville. In 26.1 innings this season, Brigham has struck out 43 batters. That 37.1 K% is the best amongst all Jumbo Shrimp pitchers, and it has made Brigham the premier reliver on the team. Brigham was a starter for much of his amateur career, and the benefits of that can be seen in the way he has pitched this year. Brigham has pitched multiple innings in eight of his sixteen appearances this year, and all but two of his appearances in May were at least two innings long. That kind of versatility could make him a valuable swing man in the Majors, if Brigham continues to pitch the way that he has. While he did turn thirty years old in February, Brigham still seems to be able to maintain a high velocity out of the bullpen. Like many pitchers, Brigham may have less trouble throwing harder in the bullpen because he is able to put more effort into each pitch, rather than pacing himself throughout a long start. His slider has been the out pitch this season, and has given hitters plenty of trouble. Brigham has been mostly a two-pitch guy for a while now, so there should be no concerns about his ability to pitch well over multiple innings. He seems to be comfortable with his repertoire, and the results are really starting to show up. Brigham did have a rough first week of June, with a couple of homers given up across two appearances. Still, the strikeouts continue to come, making Brigham an enticing potential piece of the big league bullpen. He has walked far too many batters, especially recently, but the swing and miss stuff continues to show up. Brigham is giving up less than one hit per inning, so if he can harness his control then the WHIP and ERA will tumble down as a result. AAA is the place for these veteran pitchers to figure things out, and it certainly seems like Brigham is on the verge of doing just that. C Joe Mack, A The Last Month's Stats: 4-13, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 R, 3/3 K/BB For a nineteen year old hitter from the Northeast, expectations are typically not too high. Joe Mack was the thirty-first overall pick in last years amateur draft, and he has done nothing but raise expectations in his brief professional debut. The lefty swinging catcher has shown power and impressive plate discipline. While it has been a small sample of just 91 total plate appearances, Mack has a ridiculous 25.2% walk rate. Coming out of the draft, Mack was known as a guy who may struggle to make contact immediately due to his lack of experience and young background. However, he had a decent future projected hit tool, with plus raw power. That has proven to be the case in Mack's brief professional career, as the strikeouts have been a bit high. Mack has shown a much more professional approach at the plate than could have been expected. Having that solid baseline of performance should raise Mack's floor significantly, especially considering how depressed the catching position is offensively. Mack's value as a prospect would be significantly dampened if he was not also a superb defensive catcher. His athleticism contributes a lot to his success behind the plate, as he has a quick pop time and a strong arm. That should help Mack stay at the position long term. The one area of his game that could use improvement defensively is framing, but Mack is several years away from being ready to contribute to the big league team. By then, an automated strike zone may be the reality, so Mack's receiving improvements may not be as vital as it may have seemed if he was in this situation a few years ago. Ultimately, Mack's bat will determine his future. The home run he hit last week, in his 2022 debut, was hit at 100 mph with a forty degree launch angle. That is an encouraging sign from Mack, as he still has plenty of room to add strength to his frame. Having that baseline exit velocity in the triple digits makes Mack an exciting prospect, and another enticing hitter to watch in the Jupiter lineup. While Mack did get off to an impressive start, he unfortunately went back on the injured list following his first full week of action. Getting Mack back on the field in Jupiter, to showcase more of his power and improved contact, should be a top priority for the Marlins at the minor league level. Considering his age and background, Mack has one of the highest ceilings in the system as a catcher with the potential to be an above average hitter. Getting in-game reps should be the best way for him to realize that potential. 2B Cody Morissette, A+ The Last Month's Stats: 23-93 , 11 2B, 4 HR, 19 RBI For the second straight roundup, Cody Morissette is deserving of a shoutout. Like most Beloit hitters (including the next guy in this roundup), Morissette had gotten off to a slow start to the season. The cold weather undoubtedly contributes to the unfriendly hitting environment of the Midwest League, in April especially. That seems like it may have applied even more to Morissette than others, considering the shift in his batted ball profile. Morissette's fly ball rate is way up, as he seems to have made the adjustments necessary to try to utilize more of his raw power. Cold weather and windy conditions can knock down a lot of fly balls early in the season, as we see often. Morisette was primarily known as a contact hitter in college, with long hitting streaks at Boston College. Still, he has quality bat speed and certainly had some power that was not being tapped into in games. Seeing Morissette making that adjustment successfully in games has been vitally important, and now the hits are starting to come with warmer weather. Following Morissette's slow start, his wRC+ was still just 96 by about hte middle of May. He was beginning to heat up, but had still only been about a league average hitter in the Midwest League. The past couple week's success has brought that wRC+ up to an above average 119. Morissette's batting line for the season now stands at .243/.332/.446, with a reasonable strikeout rate and a high walk rate. That batting line may not be gaudy, but in the pitcher friendly Midwest League it is more than enough to be a prized hitter. His BABIP on the season still stands at just .281, which is not insanely low for a guy hitting the ball in the air so often. Still, it seems like there may be some room for improvement there, considering Morissette is frequently hitting the ball hard and he has the speed to beat out ground balls. His six home runs are five more than he had in all of last season, in just twelve more plate appearances. Morissette has one of the most fluid swings in the Marlins system, and he should rise up prospect rankings if he keeps translating that to on field success. 1B Troy Johnston, AA The Last Month's Stats: 33-75, 7 2B, 4 HR, 19 RBI Troy Johnston was one of the best hitters in the entirety of the Marlins minor league system a year ago. The Gonzaga product displayed power, batting average, and an ability to get on base. Johnston was universally lauded by those in the organization for his work ethic and makeup. He is one of those guys that everyone seems to be rooting for, but that did not translate into success early in this season. Once again at Pensacola, Johnston had just one home run this season and a 77 wRC+ two weeks ago. He had not been an above average hitter, in a Wahoos lineup that has been full of them. However, things finally seem to be turning around for the left handed first baseman, as Johnston has done nothing but rack up hits over the past few weeks. Nothing appears to be overly concerning in the batted ball data that is available for Johnston this season. He is hitting a similar amount of fly balls and line drives as last season, while not putting the ball on the ground more often. His walk rate has come down a bit, but Johnston has not struck out any more often. The most notable difference from this year's performance compared to last season's is what Johnston's fly balls are turning into. 14.0% of Johnston's fly balls turned into home runs last season, while just 2.3% of his fly balls this season had turned into long balls up until two weeks ago. Since then, Johnston has seen positive regression with three more home runs clearing the yard. That number can be a bit fluky, and Johnston has enough pop to hit balls out of the park more often. He is still pulling the ball at a similar rate, and has power to all fields. Instead of hitting homers this year, though, Johnston's in-field fly ball rate is way up. If he can continue to level off the pop ups, and start driving the ball a bit more regularly, than Johnston will be just fine. Johnston certainly seemed to simplify things at the plate over the past few weeks. While going through those early season struggles, he seemed to be experimenting with all sorts of ideas at the plate. Johnston was using a noticeable toe tap with his lead foot, and his stance was fairly narrow. Since then, he has opened up, put the bat further back on his shoulder, and limited the toe tap. These changes have seemed to serve as a way for Johnston to make things easier at the plate, and just concentrate on hitting the ball hard. Over the past month, that is all that he has been doing. RHP Edward Cabrera, AAA The Last Month's Stats (just AAA): 14.2 IP, 10 ER, 15 H, 24/7 K/BB With the way Max Meyer and Eury Perez have dominated the opposition this year, Edward Cabrera has managed to fly under the radar. Undoubtedly, his slow ramp up did not help, as Cabrera did not appear in a game until the end of Spring Training. He then started in Jupiter, before working making his way up to Jacksonville. This is now the second straight season where Cabrera has had to endure a biceps injury, so it is understandable that it took him some time to get right. After watching all of Cabrera's MLB starts from last year, it is clear that his stuff this year has gotten even nastier, which is incredibly impressive considering all of the injuries that he has gone through. Cabrera's velocity appears to be back to where it was last season. That was never much of a concern, but his fastball is consistently sitting in the high nineties again while frequently hitting triple digits. Despite the elite velocity, his fastball is not a dominant pitch and is instead geared towards producing weak groundball contact. The swing-and-miss stuff that makes Cabrera an elite prospect comes from the breaking ball and changeup. The changeup arguably became Cabrera's best pitch last season, but he struggled to locate it in his Major League cup of coffee which resulted in a lot of hard contact. This season, he seems to have much better command of the pitch and it still has some filthy movement. Again, it will all come down to how well Cabrera can locate the pitch when he is inevitably called up to the big leagues for the second time. Against Durham on May 20th, Cabrera continued to looked comfortable with all three off speed pitches than he did at any point last year in the majors. He is never afraid to throw his slowest pitch, a low-eighties curveball, in any count. It is often effective as a first pitch strike, as hitters continue to not really expect it. His slider has more bite to it, and almost looks more like a cutter, but did not seem to be used as frequently as the curve. The changeup seemed to be his out pitch in many two strike counts, which shows an increasing comfort level with a pitch that he has been inconsistent with in the past. Ultimately, Cabrera seemed very comfortable using his fastball against the Bulls, and was able to locate it well. Command was his biggest problem last season in the Majors, despite not being a major concern to that point in his career. Cabrera deserves a lot of credit for the way he seems to be fine tuning things right now, and working through any potential command or injury issues that arise. After seeing the way his stuff looked in his last few starts at Jacksonville, even while getting hit a bit, I am not surprised that he pitched so well in his season debut against the Rockies last week. There is plenty more in the tank for this thrilling, tall right hander. Next Up (6-6/6/11) AAA Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp vs Gwinnett AA Pensacola Blue Wahoos at Birmingham A+ Beloit Sky Carp vs Wisconsin A Jupiter Hammerheads vs St. Lucie

Jesus Sanchez (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)Last season, Jesus Sanchez overcame a lot of obstacles. Called up prematurely as a necessity due to the pandemic while battling some mental demons in 2020, the now 24-year-old went on to become one of the most talked-about prospects in the Miami Marlins’ system. After an impressive spring training, Sanchez, who admittedly had to learn how to have fun on the field again while improving physically, got off to a flying start with the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. With a .348/.407/.653 slash line, Sanchez quickly became the best hitter in the Marlins’ organization and one of the top hitters on the minor league circuit as a whole to earn his full opportunity at the big league level. Sanchez went through some more battles in 2021 including one with COVID-19 that cost him a month, things went pretty swimmingly for the remodeled top five organizational prospect. In 64 games, Sanchez played to his strengths, hitting for a .250+ batting average with 24 extra base (14 homers) and a .489 slugging percentage. His ability to impact the baseball while maintaining a decent average and playing plus outfield defense allotted him a 1.3 WAR. Sanchez made up for lost time in the offseason by taking part in the Dominican Winter League where he hit .324/.429/.465 and came into spring training this year primed to put his full potential on display full time as an every day starter. The first impression from Sanchez in 2022 was very positive as he hit .340/.386/.623 in his first two weeks of play. But since then, things have quickly spiraled downward. From April 24th through the present, Sanchez has been an .095 hitter. He is 6 for 63 with one extra base hit, a double, and a 23/5 K/BB. So what happened? Why have things gone so wrong so fast for Sanchez and how should the Marlins address it? A power hitter who works best when he’s able to get his arms extended on hard pitches over the plate, opposing pitchers have taken the bat out of Sanchez’s hands by busting him up and in on his fists and commanding just off the low/outer half. Pitch locations vs Jesus Sanchez 5/15/2022 (0-4, 4 K)Sanchez has always struggled with plus breaking stuff and so far this season, he’s faced a much healthier diet of them. After seeing fastballs and pitcher’s highest velos 57% of the time last year, that figure is down to 53% in 2022. Against breaking pitches, Sanchez is hitting just .108 with a 40% whiff rate. Due to this plan of attack, opposing pitchers record first pitch strikes against him 66% of the time (40% swinging). All of this has led to Sanchez seeing far less pitches inside the strike zone — 34% vs 41% in 2021 — and an overall limited exit velocity under 89 mph. Sanchez’s expected slugging percentage is down to .388. Further compounding Sanchez’s struggles is the fact that his setup, swing and follow through are mechanically altered. Even when he’s gotten pitches in locations he has been able to handle well in the past, the good part of Sanchez’s bat has eluded the baseball. After exhibiting a higher front foot timing trigger, Sanchez’s lower half has been susceptible to leaking and collapsing on follow through. His head is also up off of the ball to his pull side, disallowing him to stay through it. As a result, he is sporting a hard hit rate of just 24%. Even though his defense in center field has been more than the Marlins could have asked for, if Sanchez does not show improvement for another week or two at the most, it will be hard to defend including him in the every day lineup and could spur a demotion to either the bench, AAA or both. In the event of a Sanchez demotion, Bryan De La Cruz, who is 13-39 (.333) with a much lower and more sustainable BABIP than last year, could slot in as the starter until either Sanchez rebounds, one of JJ Bleday or Peyton Burdick is deemed ready and able to hold down the job or until a move to someone outside of the organization is made. Major League Baseball has adjusted to Jesus Sanchez and now it is his turn to adjust back. Hope is that Sanchez can get that done at the big league level and avoid a trip to AAA but that may be easier said than done.

Due to a rare six-game sweep of the Rocket City Trash Pandas, the Pensacola Blue Wahoos feature prominently in this week's roundup. However, a few Marlins middle infield prospects putting together their best weeks of the young season are also worthy of our attention.-- 2B Ian Lewis, A This Week's Stats: 10-17, 2 R, 1 SB, 1 2B Lewis made his 2022 debut this season after getting a late start this spring due to a personal issue at home in the Bahamas. After getting some work in at extended spring training, Lewis picked up right where he left off at the end of last year. The switch-hitting middle infielder showed surprising pop in his professional debut at rookie ball, while making consistent contact and showing off the athleticism that made him a prized international free agent signing. Lewis had nine steals last year in just 43 games in the Florida Complex League, while playing solid defense at second base. He is almost certainly athletic enough to play shortstop, with a strong arm to boot. However, with Jose Salas, Khalil Watson, and Nasim Nunez needing reps at short as well, the smart move was to give Lewis the chance to show his versatility at another infield spot. With the way he has hit, finding Lewis a position in the field is far less important than getting his bat in the lineup every day. The numbers speak for themselves from Lewis' debut week in 2022 at Jupiter. He smacked nine singles, and got on base in 61% of his plate appearances. Lewis also only struck out one time, showcasing a hit tool that scouts have always been confident in. While his contact did not result in an abundance of extra base hits this week, the limited Statcast data that we have from Jupiter showed why there should be plenty of optimism for Lewis showcasing more of the power that we saw last year. On Thursday, Lewis ripped a single with a 106.4 mph exit velocity off of a 93 mph fastball. For a nineteen year old who is still getting stronger to showcase an ability to hit the ball that hard is incredibly promising. For context, Billy Hamilton, who has put up over 11 fWAR in his career, has never hit a ball over 107 mph in the big leagues. Hamilton was years older than Lewis when he was hitting the ball even close to that hard, showing that some guys just do not have the bat speed and strength to hit the ball hard enough to be quality big league hitters. Lewis seems to already possess that tool, which combined with his elite speed, makes him one of the best prospects in the Marlins entire system. LHP Josh Simpson, AA This Week's Stats: 4.0 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 5/1 K/BB Trying to find a more dominant relief pitcher than Josh Simpson, at any level of baseball, would be a waste of time. Simpson has thrown 17.2 innings this season; he has yet to allow a run. Simpson has gotten 53 outs; 32 of them have come via strikeout. He has only allowed five fly balls all season. Needless to say, none of them have turned into home runs. 62 batters have come to the plate against Simpson this season; the majority of them have struck out. These statistics of pure dominance could continue to be listed, but the point has been proven: nobody has been able to hit Josh Simpson with any success this year. This week was not even one of Simpson's most dominant. His five strikeouts in four innings actually brought his K% down for the season, which further shows how dominant he has been. With a low arm slot and a fastball that sits in the mid-nineties, Simpson has basically done whatever he desires against hitters. His breaking ball plays well off of the fastball low in the zone, and both pitches seem to generate a lot of weak contact on balls that are chopped right into the ground. From simply watching Simpson's delivery, it is evident just how uncomfortable left handed hitters must be against him. The ball seems to disappear behind his back before it is finally released, and then it gets on hitters quickly. Still, right handers have not had any more luck against Simpson than lefties. His third pitch, a changeup, seems to work well in these situations, but Simpson still leans on the fastball-curveball combo. With the way he has pitched, it is fair to say that Josh Simpson has done literally everything possible to be deserving of a promotion to Jacksonville. RHP Eli Villalobos, AA This Week's Stats: 3.0 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 8/1 K/BB Picking a dominant reliever in the Blue Wahoos Bullpen is an easy task, as so many of them are worthy of recognition. Simpson, Andrew Nardi, Colton Hock, Jeffry Yan, and Anthony Maldonado have combined to form a dominant unit. Eli Villalobos has been another valuable contributor to Pensacola, a team that is fresh off of a rare and impressive six game sweep of the Rocket City Trash Pandas. The Blue Wahoos are now in first place in the Southern League South Division, with an 18-15 record and +15 run differential. Not only is this team talented, but just from watching them one can see the way they seem to get along well and enjoy winning together. On Sunday, Villalobos contributed a scoreless seventh inning in a wild game that featured a rain delay and a four run comeback in the bottom of the ninth inning which culminated in a Pensacola victory. Villalobos, a 14th round pick in 2018 out of Long Beach State, had some hiccups to start his minor league career. The Marlins tried to stretch him out a bit as a starter in 2019, but that was met with limited success. Villalobos had been a reliever in college, and he has been dominant in that role this year. It was last year that Villalobos began to really put things together. With 72 strikeouts in 44 innings, Villalobos showcased the potential he had as a reliever and is now firmly on the radar as a future big league relief pitcher. Like Simpson, Villalobos is a three-pitch guy, with a fastball, slider, and changeup. He has had reverse platoon splits this season, as lefties have not touched him. That shows the effectiveness of the off speed pitches, which he is not afraid to throw in any count. In the seventh inning of Sunday's crazy game, Villalobos showed this ability to utilize his off speed pitches in an at bat against Rocket City's Torri Hunter Jr. He started him with two breaking balls down and away, with Hunter whiffing on both. Villalobos finished him off with a high fastball up in zone, producing another swing and miss. There have been many at bats just like that this season for Villalobos, who has a very clean delivery for a guy who was primarily a catcher only five years ago. If the Marlins are looking for a guy who has gotten better each year as a pitcher, than look no further than Eli Villalobos. OF/1B Jerar Encarnacion, AA This Week's Stats: 10-19, 2 HR, 5 R, 5 RBI Charles Leblanc and Jerar Encarnacion have had a great competition going when it comes to getting recognition in these weekly roundups. Both hitters have done nothing but rake at their respective levels, but this week belonged to Encarnacion. His OPS now stands at 1.010 for the season, with a 169 wRC+ that is just one point shy of Leblanc's for the lead amongst all Marlins minor league hitters. Encarnacion is just one home run shy of his own total from last season, in roughly half of the plate appearances. Going into this year, the book on Encarnacion was always that he was a freak athlete who could hit the ball as far as anybody in the organization. However, his lack of pitch recognition and an uncertain future defensively made Encarnacion more of a middle of the road prospect. In 2022, by quieting his doubters at the plate, Encarnacion is firmly back on the radar as a potential big leaguer. To be clear, the defensive question marks and limitations still exist. On Sunday, Encarnacion completely overran a foul ball pop up while playing first base, resulting in Eli Villalobos essentially needing to get an extra out in the seventh inning. Encarnacion does have a plus arm, which leads me to believe that if he is going to find a home in the field it will have to be in right field. With such a large frame, however, it is not easy to see Encarnacion having the necessary range to play the position in the big leagues. However, all the talk about defense is irrelevant if Encarnacion continues to progress like that at the plate. His K% of 25.7% is well below last year's 38.1%, as Encarnacion has made more contact with more experience at AA. He is posting a high line drive rate, and hitting the ball to all fields, leading to a remarkably high BABIP of .449. That will not be sustainable, but the process leading to that high BABIP is far more important. Encarnacion is squaring the ball up consistently and hitting it hard, while also getting lift more often to hit the ball out of the ball park. We always knew that he had big raw power, but seeing it in games was essential this year for Encarnacion. Right as this post was being finalized, the news came in that Encarnacion would reportedly be promoted to AAA Jacksonville later this week. Due to just how thoroughly Encarnacion has dominated pitching at AA this season, it is understandable that the Marlins front office would like to see him get more of a challenge. Considering the swing and miss risk inherent in Encarnacion's profile, it is fair to assume he will get a long look at Jacksonville before hopefully contributing to the big league club. 2B Cody Morissette, A+ This Week's Stats: 6-21, 2 2B, 1 HR, 5 R, 1 SB With players that come from the Northeast, it is not uncommon to see a slow start to professional ball. The lack of reps that come from not being able to play year round puts many of these players at a disadvantage compared to their warm weather peers. Cody Morissette, a two-time All-American at Boston College and a New Hampshire native, would certainly not use that as an excuse for his limited success in the lower levels to this point. Still, as we now are in the midst of the second month of the season, Morissette's bat is coming alive at the right time. A second round pick in last year's draft, the hit tool was Morisette's calling card. He has an all fields approach that should result in high batting averages eventually, with a sweet swing from the left side of the plate. When analyzing Morissette's batted ball data this year compared to last year, the increase in his fly ball rate stands out. Morissette was known as a guy who hit a lot of grounders, in part because his lack of raw power makes him better equipped for that time of profile. However, the power is starting to come with his ability to lift the ball more. Morissette has four home runs so far this season, compared to only one last year in A ball. His strikeout and walk numbers both remain acceptable, so he has not had to sacrifice contact to hit for some power. This could be a good sign for Morissette's ceiling, if nothing else, as he is better utilizing the bit of loft in his swing. The load depth of his hands remains pretty high, so it is impressive that Morissette is figuring out ways to pull the ball with authority more often. Despite the slow start, he is now at about a league average hitter (96 wRC+) rate for High-A Beloit. All the signs are pointing up for Cody Morissette as he continues to figure out ways to get to more power. RHP George Soriano, AA This Week's Stats: 6.0 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 8/1 K/BB George Soriano's path to get to the point of being a prized Marlins prospect has not been an easy or linear one. The big Dominican righty made his professional debut in 2016, missed the entirety of 2017 due to injury, and then had to deal with the missed 2020 season due to the pandemic. Through it all, Soriano has pitched well at the lower levels of the minors and gotten better as he has gotten older and stronger. Still, Soriano turned twenty-three years old in March, so he is not necessarily behind in his development. At that age, it is impressive to be matching up well with AA hitters, as Soriano has to this point in the year. Soriano faced Rocket City on Tuesday, who came into the game having won five out of six games. This makes the Blue Wahoos sweep even more impressive, but Soriano got the week started the right way with a great start. His greatest weakness right now may be a lack of consistent command, but that was not the case on Tuesday. Soriano located the fastball well to both sides of the plate, and got a lot of weak contact off of the pitch. He also only walked one batter in the game, in part because his off speed pitches were getting plenty of chases. The slider generated several strikeouts, and Soriano's changeup has improved as well. His fastball is sitting in the mid-to-low nineties, but with his frame scouts expect that there could be more to come still. For a guy who was left unprotected by the Marlins over the offseason by not being placed on the 40 man roster, it seems like his stock should be on the rise and that the organization should be valuing his potential more going forward. If Soriano can continue to develop his changeup, there is certainly a chance that he could remain a starter going forward. Next Up (5/17-5/22) AAA Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp vs DurhamAA Pensacola Blue Wahoos at MontgomeryA+ Beloit Sky Carp vs PeoriaA Jupiter Hammerheads at LakelandMarlins Links Blue Wahoos' catcher Paul McIntosh spoke with Alex and Daniel on Swimming Upstream about his growth in the game, his ability to immediately produce at the pro level, the catching craft and moreAlex joined Peter Pratt on Locked On Marlins to talk about the Marlins' recent roster decisions and to highlight some standout minor league performersOn The Offishal Show, Ely Sussman points out how important it will be for Marlins' depth players to step upMLB.com's Christina De Nicola reports on how the Marlins' big bats are heating up in MayOn the Man On 2nd Baseball podcast, Joe Frisaro and David Fernandez when we might see JJ Bleday get his big league call

This past week may have been a frustrating one for the big league team, but the performance of several Marlins top prospects should make the outlook more sunny as we enter the second full week of May.-- OF JJ Bleday, AAA This Week's Stats: 9-21, 3 HR, 2 2B, 4/6 K/BB Bleday was featured in last week's roundup, as it was evident that his bat was starting to awaken following a relatively slow start to the season in Jacksonville. This week, Bleday went a step further by terrorizing the Memphis pitching staff all week. He got on base in over half of his plate appearances, while striking out less than he walked. This past week's performance was one that Marlins fans have been expecting for some time now; Bleday has such a natural feel at the plate and was a tremendous collegiate hitter at Vanderbilt. Still, he had yet to truly break out in his minor league appearances, in no small part due to the pandemic wiping away what would have been his first full season in 2020. Now, everything finally seem to be coming together for Bleday while in the Jumbo Shrimp lineup each day. Scouts had expressed some worry that the slight hitch in the swing of Bleday would prevent him from ever being a starting big leaguer. While those concerns may still exist, Bleday has quieted most of the criticism with his success to this point in 2022. After that slow start, his batting line is now up to .240/.382/.470 with a reasonable strikeout rate and a very high walk rate. That line is 33% better than the average at AAA, against pitchers who are right on the doorstep of the majors. Moreover, Bleday homered against two breaking balls and one fastball (which was up in the zone) last week. Being able to recognize the pitch and make quality contact is a testament to the hit tool of Bleday, which seems much more stable now than it did at this time last season. When Bleday had a quality performance in the Arizona Fall League last year, there was concern that it was due to the lack of pitching talent at the league. Once again, Bleday is showing that his added on muscle and patient approach at the plate is no fluke by hitting high quality pitching this year. Considering the frustration of watching Avisail Garcia chase so often, it may not be long before more Marlins fans are calling for the patient approach of Bleday to be utilized. OF Griffin Conine, AA This Week's Stats: 6-17, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 3 BB It may seem like an understatement, but when Griffin Conine consistently makes contact he can be a highly productive hitter. That is why his ceiling is so high as a prospect, but there is also a certain level of risk in depending on him in your lineup. This past week, Conine's strikeout rate was still a bit high, at 26%. On the other hand, that was a slight improvement from his mark from the beginning of the season, when it was hovering at 40%. In our weekly recap two weeks ago, we mentioned how an increased familiarity with the quality pitching at AA will only help Conine hit for more contact. A small sample size improvement may be nothing, but steps in the right direction should still be applauded. The high likelihood of extra bases when Conine makes contact make any improvements in his swinging strike rate notable. Conine had talked with our Alex Carver in that weekly recap two weeks ago about his finally being able to pull the ball and hit it hard. While becoming overly pull-side dependent can be dangerous for many hitters, maximizing your chances of extra bases often comes from hitting the ball hard to your pull side. Conine has done just that; over his last two weeks he is hitting a robust .395/.477/.658. He has easily been the most productive hitter in Pensacola's lineup during that time, with a strikeout rate of 23%. That is a bit larger of a sample size than the one previously noted, all while maintaining that slugging percentage. Continuing to walk at higher rate will also benefit Conine, as he becomes a bit more selective in hunting pitches that he knows he can pull and crush. Ultimately, there is no understating just how important it is that Conine is trending in the right direction with his contact rate and is becoming a highly productive hitter in the process. RHP Zach McCambley, AA This Week's Stats: 6.0 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 8 K Zach McCambley has been understandably overshadowed by Eury Perez in Pensacola this season, but too many people are sleeping on just how effective McCambley's stuff can be as well. A poor three start stretch has his numbers for the season looking ugly, with five homers given up over those three appearances. This past week, however, McCambley put up his best start of the season over six dominant innings in Mississippi. McCambley gave up back-to-back doubles to start the game, against the impressively productive bats of Michael Harris and Luke Waddell. Both balls were not hit particularly hard, and Conine took a poor route on the leadoff double by Harris. Following that bit of bad luck, McCambley was near perfect for the rest of the outing on his way to a 3-1 Wahoos victory. Facing the next nineteen batters, he walked just one and allowed no hits, while striking out eight. The first thing one notices when watching McCambley is the violence of his delivery. He rotates his body slightly back towards second base before delivering a pitch but does not struggle too much with control like many pitchers do with similar deliveries. The walk rate could stand to come down a bit, but hovering around 10% is not too dangerous for a minor league pitcher. With the quality of McCambley's high spin fastball and devastating curve, that walk rate should play. Against Mississippi, he commanded his breaking ball as well as he has at any point this season. He was able to throw it for a strike when needed, while his fastball was also commanded well both up and down in the zone. He sat 93-94 with the heater, which seems to be up a bit from the beginning of last year. McCambley's lack of a third pitch has been much discussed, and his changeup still needs to be better located and is not a plus pitch. McCambley did discuss, during the Wahoos Media Day prior to the start of the season, how he is able to manipulate his curveball depending on the movement of his wrist. This should mitigate the need for a third pitch somewhat and keep McCambley in a starters role moving forward. While many prospects experts have speculated that McCambley could end up in the bullpen, his outing on Saturday showed why it is too early to give up on his being a future back-end major league starter. RHP M.D. Johnson, A+ This Week's Stats: 7.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 6 K M.D. Johnson was not a pitcher getting discussed much going into this season, despite an impressive 2.58 ERA over nearly sixty innings last year in Beloit. While that success was backed up by a fluky low BABIP, Johnson pitched well enough to earn praise. Still pitching at Beloit, he has followed up last year's performance with a far better start to this season. His BB%, which was in the double digits last year, is at a miniscule 2.4% right now, while there have been far more swings and misses. A sixth round pick out of Dallas Baptist University in 2019, Johnson will turn twenty-five in July. He is at this point where he needs to start dominating the lower levels in order to get to the big leagues eventually, which is exactly what he has done. In a game that featured all of three hits total last Wednesday against Great Lakes, Johnson emerged as the victor in a quick 1-0 Beloit victory. The only two hits that Johnson gave up were plays that could have been made potentially, as seen in the video above from Fish Stripes, showing just how dominant Johnson was on the mound. The tall right hander has taken to the pitch clock well, as gets the ball and is ready to throw almost immediately. From simply watching his delivery, one would imagine that Johnson induces many ground balls due to his high release point. However, within his quick and twitchy delivery, he manages to get his hand lower than expected and deliver a high spin fastball. That is why the four-seamer has played so well up in the zone for Johnson, and resulted in more fly balls, with velocity sitting in the low nineties. It seems to be the pitch he relies on most, as there was little shaking off of catcher Bennett Hostetler on Wednesday. Continuing to develop his secondary pitches will be key for Johnson as he works towards a promotion to Pensacola that should be coming any day now. Many minor leaguers note how much better the hitters are once they reach AA, so Johnson facing that challenge should be telling of his future in the Marlins organization. OF Tanner Allen, A+ This Week's Stats: 7-16, 1 HR, 1 2B, 1 SB Scouts noted that Tanner Allen looked a bit fatigued in his professional debut last season, after being drafted in the fourth round of last summer's amateur draft. That should certainly be excused; Allen was coming off a remarkable collegiate season in which he was the SEC Player of the Year and led Mississippi State to a College World Series Championship. After being one of the best players in the country, Allen probably could have used some time to reset. This past offseason seemed to serve him well in that regard, as his .291/.325/.506 slash line is 34% better than league average in the notoriously pitcher friendly Midwest League early in the season. For a team that has struggled to hit, Allen has emerged as the bright spot in the Beloit lineup. As a result of the fatigue, or possibly just the pressures that come with being drafted, Allen struggled to make an impact in games last year. Playing in A ball, Allen's ground ball rate was over 50%, which contributed to a failure to maximize his solid raw power. An ugly .189/.258/.288 line was the result, but there was optimism for improvement due to his low strikeout rate and BABIP. After all, a hitter with Allen's speed and high effort should not be posting a BABIP of .211 with a high ground ball rate. This year, his swing has looked much more fluid, and the power has come as a result. The groundball rate has come down to below 40%, and Allen has hit the ball to the gaps well. He has seven doubles already this season, compared to just one at A ball in a larger sample last year. Allen has become faster over time, and that should help him become a better defender as well, even if he has settled into more of a corner outfield role. All in all, Allen has been very steady for Beloit this season, and with his strong college track record there is plenty to be excited about. Next Up (5/10-5/15) AAA Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp vs NashvilleAA Pensacola Blue Wahoos vs Rocket CityA+ Beloit Sky Carp at West MichiganA Jupiter Hammerheads vs BradentonMarlins Links Bryan Hoeing spoke with BaseballAmerica about refining the grip on his slider and how it has aided in his early success this seasonJordan McPherson of the Miami Herald recapped an impressive MLB debut for Joe DunandDaniel Hirsch of Fish Stripes provided his own thoughts on JJ Bleday's improvements at the plate recently and explains why he believes Bleday is starting to play to his full potentialCraig Mish joined Peter Pratt on the most recent episode of Locked On Marlins where the pair chatted all things Marlins pitchingThe Pensacola Blue Wahoos are giving away fungible tokens on their upcoming homestand. The team calls them "completely worthless"; we're sure a lot of fans will want one.

Bryan Hoeing (Photo by Pensacola Blue Wahoos)The route to success for Bryan Hoeing has been an interesting one thus far in his baseball career. Pitching nearly exclusively as a reliever in college and early in his professional tenure, the Marlins challenged Hoeing to a rotational role in 2021. He accepted and hasn’t looked back. On Tuesday afternoon, it was officially announced that after just four games at the AA level, Hoeing, a 25-year-old righty, would be promoted to the highest level of minor league baseball with the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. The promotion for Hoeing comes after he showed some impressive stuff both physically and mentally early this season. With a 0.35 ERA, Hoeing ranked as the second best starting pitcher in all of Minor League Baseball among qualified starters. Hoeing has allowed just one run (an earned run) in 25.2 innings pitched. How did Hoeing get here and earn an early season call to AAA after he had a 4.83 ERA in 22 starts in A+ last season? Including his fellow starter and Marlins top 30 prospect Zach McCambley as well as new pitching coach Dave Eiland, Hoeing was called out by name as a guy who really impressed during spring training. Hoeing credits some of his success to an early start to his spring during the Marlins’ development camp. “It was good to get down to Jupiter in early January to start a throwing program. I was able to build up my pitch count during some live ABs and some intrasquad scrimmages,” Hoeing said. “That lead into spring training where I was built up to maybe 4-5 innings as far as my pitch count. I knew I was in a good spot heading to Pensacola as far as my arm and my pitch count. I felt even from week one, if I was pounding the zone and getting early ours I could go into the 5th or 6th inning.” A main catalyst that has allowed Hoeing to make it deep into his starts has been the development of his primary breaking pitch, a slider, which Hoeing says he put a lot of work into during his stay in Jupiter. The enhanced bender in the low-mid 80s has allotted Hoeing what has been his bread and butter, a high ground ball rate over 70% as well as a K rate of 25%. According to Hoeing, adjustments he made to the slider have made it a more affective offering which has allowed him to challenge hitters both in early and in deeper counts. That pitch on top of two other solid offerings allowed Hoeing to tough his way through 5.2 one run innings against Montgomery last week. “I tweaked with my grip a little bit and it’s been a great pitch for me so far,” Hoeing said. “I had to battle a bit more than usual. My sinker was still working in and out of the plate, I threw some good changeups today and mixed my slider in here and there. They did put up some good at bats against me. I had to find my way to battle through and get some outs.” Hoeing went on to have a seven inning, two hit, eight strikeout shutout performance in his final start for Pensacola. On top of improved stuff, Hoeing’s mental capacity and understanding of who he is as a pitcher is a big difference maker. His ability to adjust to the lineup he is facing and settle for recording outs any way possible whether it be by strikeout, groundout or by any other means speaks to his maturity as a competitor. Furthermore, Hoeing has been nearly untouchable in his second year as a full-time starter via his understanding and ability to differentiate what it takes to get it done in this role versus the one he served in prior. “It’s preparation throughout the week; being wary of how many throws you throw in catch play during the week,” Hoeing said. “Right now, we are in a six man rotation. When that day comes, I should feel like I’m fresh and ready to go.” Hoeing also pinned importance on challenging hitters, keeping the rest of the Blue Wahoos’ roster involved in what he’s doing on the mound and limiting his overall pitch count. “As a starter, I feel like it’s so important to pound the zone and keep the defense alive. I don’t want them to fall asleep behind me,” he said. “When you pound the zone early and guys put it in play, you’re able to go deep into the game.” Hoeing, who previously didn’t have certainty on how long he would be relied upon, has embraced his current role with an open mind and open arms. With continued success and satisfaction to get outs however possible — whether it be by double digit strikeouts or double digit ground balls — he is an innings eating arm that can serve a major league roster in a multitude of ways. With all the Marlins have both in front of and behind Hoeing, his future with the organization appears to be in a swing-man role but he has the experience and flexibility to be able to serve the team in a positive capacity pretty quickly. After his quick development, Hoeing has the capacity to produce results wherever he may be called upon in a game. His name is well on the radar for an MLB debut as early as this season.

Eury Perez continues to make Marlins fans feverish, several other prospects put up dominant pitching performances, and the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp continue to hit as well as any team in the minors. Here is our weekly roundup as we head into May. -- RHP Eury Perez, AA This Week's Stats: 5.0 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 12 K Eury Perez had three promising outings in his AA debut to start this season. He had 18 strikeouts in just 12.0 innings prior to this past week's start, but had yet to really put everything together in a single start. The Blue Wahoos revealed to us, prior to the start of the season, that Perez would be kept around the 75 pitch maximum per start. So, he has also not pitched deep into any games because he's given up some hits. That all changed on Friday, when Perez went long enough to qualify for a win and absolutely dominated a Biloxi lineup that he was facing for the second time this season. Perez got fifteen outs on Friday, and twelve of them came via punch-out. Luis Urias, who had a breakout season last year with Milwaukee and is with Biloxi rehabbing, provided two of those K's. Garrett Mitchell, a first round pick two years ago and one of the Brewers' best prospects, was a victim of two strikeouts himself. The bottom line is that whoever Perez faces on this level does not stand much of a chance when he is locating his pitches. The quality of his repertoire is just too much, with strikeouts coming on the changeup and fastball frequently. Unfortunately, the camera angle in Biloxi does not provide easy analysis on how well Perez was throwing, but the numbers speak for themselves. Eury has been hindered by a .375 BABIP to this point, which has resulted in some hits and runs. Yet, he has 30 strikeouts in 17 innings through four starts, and is getting more swings and misses than any starter at any level has a right to. OF JJ Bleday, AAA This Week's Stats: 6-24, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 6 R The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp can really hit. Among all AAA teams, they rank fourth in homers, third in OPS, an fourth in runs scored. They have assembled an impressive collection of journeymen having breakout seasons, and then a few hyped prospects who are showing their talent this season. Bleday and Peyton Burdick fall into the ladder group, and have contributed to a solid 13-11 start for Jacksonville. Bleday took a few weeks to get going, but posted a .875 OPS last week that was backed by three extra base hits and three walks. Scouts were more down on Bleday entering this season than they ever have been. The fourth overall pick in 2019 has struggled to get to his power in games to this point in his professional career, and added on some muscle in the hopes of slugging more this season. Bleday also played much better in the Arizona Fall League last year after making some mechanical adjustments at the plate, in part lowering his hands to potentially get a bit more loft in the swing. Bleday also wanted to emphasize plate discipline, which he had gotten away from a bit in his early minor league appearances. This year, his BB% is at an impressive 15.6 %, leading to a respectable .333 OBP. His strikeouts are up a bit, but not yet to a concerning extent considering the sample size. Ultimately, it all comes down to Bleday unlocking whatever it is that helps him to tap into his raw power. We know he has more of it than he has shown in games, considering he has yet to post a .400 slugging percentage at any level. His .542 slugging percentage last week is a sign that Bleday is trending in the right direction, and why he is still one of the highest upside prospects in the Marlins system. He also had a few hard hit balls that were caught by the Charlotte defense last week, so that .235 BABIP should start trending upwards with greater luck. 3B/OF Charles Leblanc, AAA This Week's Stats: 10-23, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 3 R The best hitter in that vaunted Jacksonville lineup has been Leblanc, who has now been featured multiple times in our 2022 Weekly Roundups. While we look to feature different players each week, Leblanc has made it impossible not to mention him because he rakes in every series. His 197 wRC+ leads all the Marlins hitters at any level, which takes into account park factors and the offensive environment of the league in general. In other words, Leblanc has been 97% better than the average International League hitter. Considering he was released from the Rangers system this offseason, this has been a truly remarkable season from Leblanc. Leblanc's .469 BABIP will undoubtedly come back to earth a bit at some point, but there has been nothing fluky about his success. The strikeouts have gone down, the walks have gone up, and Leblanc always had a good amount of raw power. He is getting to more of it in the games now, and is racking up the extra base hits as a result. Leblanc's defensive versatility is also important to note, and should help him eventually get a chance in the Majors. He has made starts at third base, second base, and left field this year, and made a few dazzling plays at the hot corner last week. Leblanc continues doing everything possible to make it hard for the Marlins to overlook him whenever they need to call someone up. RHP Bryan Hoeing, AA This Week's Stats: 7.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 8 K Eury Perez has been promising, and beyond dominant, at certain points this season. Yet, no pitcher has performed better for Pensacola than Bryan Hoeing. The tall right hander was more of the veteran of the staff, and set a good example for a young guy like Perez to follow. In 25.2 innings pitched this season, Hoeing has given up just four runs, with only one being earned. He also has over a strikeout per inning, to go along with exceptional control. This kind of performance unarguably earned Hoeing the promotion to Jacksonville that he received on Sunday, due to Braxton Garrett's injury. To get a bit deeper into the weeds, Hoeing reminds me more of your typical workhorse starter straight out of the 1990s. He is a tall righty with a ton of downward action on his fastball that results in a plethora of groundballs. Hoeing led the High-A Central League in innings pitched last season, while putting up a groundball rate of over 55%. That is the formula to keep you in the game for longer, and to get outs more quickly. Hoeing is getting more strikeouts this year with an improved slider, and a changeup that neutralizes lefties well. With command as good as his, then anything extra he can get out of his stuff will go a long way. With the sinker sitting in the low-nineties and consistently hitting the bottom of the zone, I expect Hoeing to continue pitching well in Jacksonville. Our own Alex Carver further suggested on Twitter that Hoeing could serve in a multi-inning role out of the Marlins bullpen eventually, which makes sense considering his improved swing and miss stuff and the high groundball rate. Ultimately, he is the type of pitcher that managers tend to trust and know what they can expect from. LHP Sandro Bargallo, A This Week's Stats: 5.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 2 BB, 5 K Speaking of miniscule ERA numbers this season, Bargallo is the owner of his own. Through just 18.2 innings for Jupiter, Bargallo has given up just one earned run and no unearned runs, putting his ERA at a petite 0.48. Walks were a major issue for the Cuban born lefty last season, with 31 free passes handed out in just 27.2 innings. Walking more than one guy per inning is never going to work at any level, but Bargallo seems to have made some of the necessary adjustments this year. Through those 18.2 innings, he has walked 9 batters, which is still a bit high but is not hindering his success to this point. For a just-turned twenty year old, as long as the control is improving than there is plenty to be excited about. This past Sunday, Bargallo shut down the Palm Beach Cardinals lineup over five innings to help the Hammerheads to a 1-0 victory. The organization has limited Bargallo to one start per week at this point, which is probably wise considering his age and the goal of gradually building up his innings. Bargallo has demonstrated swing and miss stuff throughout his brief minor league career; in 66 professional innings he has 92 strikeouts. That has come at the lower levels, but shows the quality of the fastball-curveball combo that Bargallo is capable of displaying. Against Palm Beach, the curveball was frequently his out pitch, and resulted in four of his strikeouts. The fastball sat in the low nineties, and should keep getting faster as Bargallo develops and gets stronger. The fastball has, like Hoeing's, resulted in many grounders, indicating tailing two-seam movement. Consistently throwing strikes is the clear way to improvement for Bargallo, and why I think he could skyrocket up prospect rankings by this time next year. OF Davis Bradshaw, A+ This Week's Stats: 4-12, 2 BB, 2 R, 1 SB The Beloit Sky Carp have struggled to start the season, with a 7-14 record placing them in the entirety of the Midwest League. Still, they have had a few bright spots to start the year, and Bradshaw has clearly been one of them. With a 165 wRC+, Bradshaw has emerged as Beloit's best hitter, along with JD Orr. This past week's performance was not actually one of his stronger ones, but we have yet to talk much about Bradshaw and he is clearly worthy of recognition. Besides, a .429 OBP, which Bradshaw posted last week, is certainly nothing to scoff at. Drafted in 2018 out of Meridian Community College in Mississippi, Bradshaw is an impressive athlete with raw talent that has not yet translated into success onto the field. To this point in the 2022 season, he has displayed more power than we have seen at any point in his professional career. Bradshaw has also managed to continue making a high level of contact, which is necessary for a twenty-four year old who is still playing at a lower level of the minor leagues. Beloit is not a hitter's paradise, especially in the cold month of April, but Bradshaw is still making the most of his athleticism and speed to get on base. Hopefully, the power will continue to come as the weather gets warmer. Next Up (5/3-5/8) AAA Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp at MemphisAA Pensacola Blue Wahoos at MississippiA+ Beloit Sky Carp at Great LakesA Jupiter Hammerheads at DaytonaMarlins Links Craig Mish and Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald provide updates on Max Meyer's potential timeline and updates on Braxton Garrett and Ian Lewis.Man On 2nd Baseball's Joe Frisaro and Eric Wiedeke what is next for the Marlins' rotation and bullpenFish Stripes' Ely Sussman delves into Kahlil Watson's heightened K rate thus far.The Herald's Jordan McPherson and Andre Fernandez discuss what is going right for the Marlins so far and what could be going better on their latest episode of Fish Bytes.