How to watch two top Marlins draft targets this weekend. And Jeter’s scouting thoughts
If you want to catch a glimpse at two players who the Marlins are considering selecting at No. 4 overall in the MLB Draft on Monday, keep a close eye on the NCAA Baseball Tournament regionals in Nashville, Tennessee, and Fayetteville, Arkansas, this weekend.
That’s where Vanderbilt outfielder JJ Bleday and Cal first baseman Andrew Vaughn will respectively play their final college baseball games before learning with which organization they will most likely begin their professional baseball careers.
Bleday and the Commodores (49-10), the No. 2 national seed, begin the double-elimination portion of the college baseball tournament against Ohio State at 7 p.m. Friday. That game will be televised on ESPN2. Vaughn and the Bears (32-18) play against TCU in the Fayetteville Regional, hosted by the No. 5 national seed Arkansas Razorbacks, at 7 p.m. That game will be live streamed on ESPN3.
Marlins part-owner and CEO Derek Jeter, along with president of baseball operations Michael Hill and a group of other top executives, personally scouted both Bleday and Vaughn at their respective conference championships last weekend and for good reason.
Both are power-hitting position players who have the potential to move up quickly in the minor leagues, something the Marlins’ farm system lacks right now.
Bleday leads college baseball with 26 home runs while also posting a .357 batting average, 67 RBI and 72 runs scored for one of the top teams in the Southeastern Conference this year.
Vaughn is hitting .387 with 15 home runs, 49 RBI and 49 runs scored in 50 games. He is the reigning Golden Spikes Award winner, given annually to college baseball’s top player.
Jeter’s scouting
While Jeter has made it clear he is not a scout, he said he has enjoyed being on the other side of the draft process over the last two years and recognizes the challenges that go into putting together a draft plan.
“I haven’t looked at every player across the country like our scouts have but it is an interesting and eye opening experience. It’s fun,” Jeter said. “You get a chance to see some of these young — even if you don’t draft them or they’re not part of the organization, you may look back five or ten years from now and say you saw that particular player when they were in high school or college and use that experience as you move on, which is what our scouts have done.”
As for what Jeter is looking for when he is out on the scouting trips?
“I like to get an opportunity to see the interaction of players with their teammates, how hard they play, how they play, knowledge of the game,” Jeter said. “Obviously you can see tools. You can see guys hit and run and throw. You see a lot of video.”
Balancing the farm system
Marlins director of player development and scouting Gary Denbo said Wednesday that the Marlins purposely focused on beefing up their starting pitching in the minor-league system during the first year and a half of the rebuild and there have been positives to come out of that.
Sixto Sanchez, the Marlins’ top prospect obtained in the J.T. Realmuto trade in February, has the stuff of an ace and has already moved up to Double A Jacksonville. Jorge Guzman, obtained in the Giancarlo Stanton trade, has shown bright sots in Jacksonville as well. Zac Gallen, obtained in the Marcell Ozuna trade, has been the best pitcher this season for Triple A New Orleans in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.
They’re complementing pitchers who have already been in the system and are starting to turn the corner, such as Jordan Holloway and Edward Cabrera.
“Guys like this that have stepped up and showed us that they have not only the ability to be part of a major league rotation but to be at the top of a major league rotation,” Denbo said. “Those are the types of pitchers we’ve been looking for. That is part of our plan to develop strong starting pitching depth because it’s so hard to find.”
Now, one of the Marlins’ main goals is to balance out the farm system and bring in more high-end position player prospects.
This year’s draft, which is more position player heavy at the top, gives the Marlins a chance to do just that.
“It’s important for us to have balance throughout the organization so that we can provide major-league caliber players to our ballclub in the big leagues on a yearly basis,” Denbo said. “We don’t know how that’s going to fall yet, but we have our eye on several good position players that are available here at the top of the draft and even in later rounds that we really like and would like to add to the organization.”
This story was originally published May 31, 2019 at 11:48 AM.
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