Marlins looking to top prospects to ‘set the standard’ as they close in on MLB debuts
The group of rising prospects in the Miami Marlins organization made its way into the clubhouse at their Jupiter training facility where Gary Denbo waited for them.
As the 13 players settle into their seats, Denbo provides his opening message.
“Welcome to 2020 Captain’s Camp, gentlemen.”
Denbo, the Marlins’ vice president of player development and scouting, has run this pre-spring training camp each year since he joined the Marlins organization before the 2018 MLB season. He along with other higher-ups in the Marlins organization identify as the future of their organization and run them through a multi-week symposium that usually ends right before the first day of full-squad practices.
The goal: give their top prospects a glimpse of the expectations that are to come as they work their way toward a Major League Baseball debut and, the team hopes, become the next wave of players to help the franchise as it attempts to move from rebuild to contender.
The camp’s name stems from Marlins CEO and part-owner Derek Jeter’s nickname “The Captain” during his playing days with the Yankees.
The 2020 group included seven players from the last draft class, including five of the team’s first six picks in JJ Bleday, Kameron Misner, Nasim Nunez, Peyton Burdick and Evan Fitterer along with 12th-round pick Chris Mokma; both Mesa brothers; Arizona Fall League standouts Jerar Encarnacion and Alex Vesia; 2017 first-round pick Trevor Rogers; and 2018 sixth-round pick Cameron Barstad.
It includes players at just about every level of the club’s minor-league system, from the rookie Gulf Coast League to those closing in on cracking the roster in Triple A Wichita. It features outfielders, infielders, a catcher, starting pitchers and relievers. It mostly has players who have joined the organization over the past two years but also had two players who were in the organization before the Bruce Sherman and Jeter ownership group took over the franchise.
“It’s a privilege to be here,” Denbo tells the room. “After you’re done with this camp over the next two weeks, we want you to set the standard for how a Miami Marlins goes about their business. We want you to go out and lead. Make sure you take advantage of this opportunity.”
There was field work during the camp, but most of the captain’s camp centered around work away from the baseball diamond.
They had guest speakers, including Jeter, Marlins manager Don Mattingly, former Marlins player Mike Lowell and current Marlins shortstop Miguel Rojas, who taught them what to expect as they maneuver through the minor leagues and how to handle the big leagues when they get the call up.
“It’s more than telling people what you can do and what you can accomplish,” Rojas said. “It’s with actions you can get wherever you want to get without anybody giving you a title. ... Giving them that confidence for when they get to the big leagues, just be yourself and we’re going to be waiting for you there with our arms wide open. I want you to be comfortable as soon as you get here and be ready to contribute.”
Past players to take part in the first two rounds of Captain’s Camp included Nick Neidert, Jordan Yamamoto, Monte Harrison, Isan Diaz, Jorge Guzman, Connor Scott and Will Banfield.
“When you say ‘captain’ you usually think one guy,” Mattingly said, “but when you’re on a ball club, you need multiple leaders. ... It’s a compliment to them because you identified them with those qualities.”
And now that they have been identified, these 13 players — in addition to those who went through the camp over the past two years — are now serving as player stewards, taking what they’ve learned over the two weeks in Jupiter and share it with their more than 200 teammates in the minor leagues.
“When spring training really starts and the rest of our teammates get here,” Nunez said, “the goal is for us to be able to show them what a leader looks like.”
Rojas added: “These guys are going to be the ones who have to set the standard in how we’re going to play the game, how we’re going to go about our business, how we’re going to attack every phase of our careers. Preparing in the weight room, how you eat, how you sleep, how you drink water. It’s so important for those guys to take advantage of the opportunity and show the rest of the group that they’re ready to relay the message.”
The message has been received.
Now it’s time to produce.
“That right there,” Bleday said, “is what sets you up for the year and is only going to create more success and opportunities for that.”
This story was originally published February 19, 2020 at 1:37 PM.
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