The debuts of top prospects are turning the Miami Marlins’ future into the present
The Miami Marlins’ future, slowly but surely, is becoming the present.
The team’s seemingly never-ending roster turnover, an after-effect of the COVID-19 outbreak last month that resulted in 18 players testing positive, has resulted in the Marlins calling up several of their top prospects for their MLB debuts to help the team stay in the thick of the playoff race as the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
Four of the Marlins’ top-10 prospects according to MLBPipeline are on the active roster in right-handed pitcher Sixto Sanchez (No. 1), outfielder Jesus Sanchez (No. 5), first baseman Lewin Diaz (No. 8) and left-handed pitcher Trevor Rogers (No. 9). A fifth, outfielder Monte Harrison (No. 10), has also made his MLB debut this season. Overall, 15 Marlins players have made their MLB debuts this season.
“It just speaks to the uniqueness of the 2020 season,” Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill said, “but it also reinforces what I always preach, which is you can never have enough depth.”
These players have proven they can be more than just depth. They’re holding their own in their first tastes of the big leagues.
Here’s a closer look at those four top prospects still on the active roster.
Pitcher Sixto Sanchez
The Marlins have taken a cautious approach with Sixto Sanchez ever since they acquired him in that February 2019 trade with the Philadelphia Phillies for J.T. Realmuto. He was coming off a limited 2018 season as he dealt with right elbow inflammation. The Marlins delayed his 2019 season by a couple months to ease him back into regular action. He also had to be weaned into baseball activities during spring training as well after reporting to camp out of shape.
But it didn’t take long for him to show why he’s one of baseball’s top rising pitchers once he stepped onto a mound as a major leaguer for the first time.
Sanchez, the No. 24 prospect in all of baseball, held the defending World Series champion Washington Nationals to six hits and three earned runs over five innings of work in his MLB debut Saturday. He struck out four and didn’t walk a batter. Of his 66 pitches, 46 went for strikes.
His four-seam fastball averaged 98.5 mph and topped out at 100.4 mph. His changeup averaged 90.5 mph and maxed at 94.4 mph. His slider averaged 89.4 mph. He filled the strike zone with conviction and showed off polished sequencing with his pitches.
And it looks like he’s here for the long haul.
Sanchez will make his second start of the season Thursday in the Marlins’ final game against the New York Mets at Citi Field.
“Right now, he’s in this rotation,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said, “and we don’t plan on him going anywhere.”
Outfielder Jesus Sanchez
The pure hitting numbers don’t really do Jesus Sanchez justice. He only has one hit in 24 plate appearances so far this season — a two-run double in the Marlins’ 9-3 loss to the Nationals on Sunday.
But the 22-year-old’s approach at the plate has mirrored that of a veteran in the early going.
The numbers to back that up, courtesy of Statcast:
▪ An average exit velocity of 95.4 mph, more than 7 mph faster than the league average. That mark would rank fourth in baseball behind the Minnesota Twins’ Miguel Sano, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Gregory Polanco and the San Diego Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. if Sanchez had enough at-bats to qualify for the leaderboard standings.
▪ An MLB-best 64.3 percent hard-hit rate, defined by Statcast as a ball put in play with an exit velocity of at least 95 mph, among players with at least 10 balls put into play. The league average: 34.8 percent.
▪ A swing-and-miss rate of just 19.6 percent, about five percentage points below the league average.
“I’m looking for fastballs in the strike zone, anywhere in the strike zone,” Sanchez said through a translator. “I kind of even shrink the strike zone a little bit just to be a little more picky with the pitches. ... I stick to that plan.”
First baseman Lewin Diaz
Diaz is in his second stint with the big-league club. He played three games at Marlins Park while outfielder Corey Dickerson was on the Bereavement List and made the most of the limited opportunity. The 23-year-old went 2 for 8 with an RBI and a walk with just one strikeout while having a strong showing defensively at first base.
“I had good at-bats,” Diaz said. “I think that got me brought back here.”
Mattingly said Diaz, a left-handed hitter, should get regular opportunities to be in the starting lineup, splitting time with Jesus Aguilar at first base and also getting occasional starts at designated hitter.
“We didn’t have to bring up Lewin at this point,” Mattingly said. “This is one of those that we wanted to bring up Lewin. We felt like it was the right time.”
Pitcher Trevor Rogers
Rogers had never pitched above Double A prior to getting the call up to start the second game of Miami’s doubleheader with the Mets on Tuesday. His pure stuff, highlighted by a fastball that touches 96 mph, was intriguing.
Nerves and not attacking the strike zone almost got the best of him a couple times, though. Rogers, the Marlins’ first round pick in 2017 and the cousin of former Marlin Cody Ross, walked five batters and gave up one hit over four shutout innings but also struck out six and got himself out of a pair of jams to help the Marlins win 3-0.
“He had some walks in there and got himself into some trouble but was able to make some big outs,” Mattingly said. “He was good. He was poised. The stuff was good. It’s good to see. He looked like he was under control the whole time out there.”
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