The Miami Marlins played 26 rookies this season. A look at how they fared
Throughout the course of the 2021 season, one in which the club went 67-95, the Miami Marlins played their share of rookies, many of whom the club hopes will be a part of the team’s long-term success.
In total, 26 players with rookie status played in at least one game for the Marlins this season.
Here’s a look at how they fared:
Top of the class
The clear-cut top two rookie performers for the Marlins were left-handed pitcher Trevor Rogers and middle infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr.
Rogers was the Marlins’ lone All-Star Game representative this year and was a front-runner for the National League Rookie of the Year Award before missing a month of the season while tending to family medical issues.
Even with the hiatus and inconsistent performances after his return, Rogers still started 25 games and finished with a 7-8 record, 2.64 ERA and 157 strikeouts against 46 walks over 133 innings.
Since the mound was lowered in 1969, there have been only six other rookie pitchers to match Rogers’ total in wins and strikeouts, while recording as low an ERA: Jose Fernandez (2013), Hideo Nomo (1995), Mark Eichhorn (1986), Dwight Gooden (1984), Fernando Valenzuela (1981), and Jon Matlack (1972). All but Eichorn went on to win Rookie of the Year in their respective leagues in those seasons.
Chisholm, meanwhile, was the Marlins’ Opening Day second baseman and posted a .248 batting average with 23 stolen bases, 18 home runs, 20 doubles and 70 runs scored. He flashed on defense at times but also committed 24 errors (14 at second base, 10 at shortstop).
Growing pains for a top pitcher
The Marlins have high hopes for Edward Cabrera, ranked as their top pitching prospect and the No. 29 overall prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline. But the 23-year-old righty went through his lumps in his first taste of the big leagues.
In seven starts, Cabrera had a 5.81 ERA over 26 1/3 innings with 28 strikeouts against 19 walks, a .247 batting average against and 1.48 WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched).
The Marlins hope he learns from his early struggles and can build on them in 2022, similar to how Rogers did in his breakout year this season.
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Platano Power
The trio of Jesus Sanchez, Lewin Diaz and Bryan De La Cruz — all natives of the Dominican Republic and all acquired in trades over the last three seasons — made their cases to be part of the Marlins’ roster next season.
Sanchez played in 64 games, had a .251 batting average and hit 14 home runs while primarily playing right field. Diaz hit eight home runs in 40 games and showed exceptional skills defensively at first base (his eight defensive runs saved were second among all MLB first basemen despite playing just 258 2/3 innings in the field). De La Cruz had a .296 batting average in his first 58 MLB games and can play all three outfield spots although he would ideally be in one of the corners.
The bullpen surprises
Anthony Bender was an under-the-radar spring training invite with big stuff. Zach Pop entered the season with Rule 5 restrictions and having not pitched in nearly two years while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.
Both became valuable pieces to the Marlins’ bullpen.
Bender struck out 71 batters in 61 1/3 innings while pitching to a 2.79 ERA and picking up three saves. His sinker averaged 96.8 mph and he had a 45.2 percent swing-and-miss rate with his slider, which he used to finish off 51 of his 71 strikeouts.
Pop had a 4.12 ERA with 51 strikeouts against 24 walks over 54 2/3 innings, but most of the damage to his ERA came in two outings — four runs in 1/3 of an inning against the St. Louis Cardinals on April 7 (his second career appearance) and five runs in one inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 4. Remove those, and his ERA dips to 2.72 in his other 48 outings.
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The catchers
The Marlins have a glaring need behind the plate, and it was evident by the roster decisions they made for the final two months of the season.
They acquired the Atlanta Braves’ Alex Jackson at the trade deadline for Adam Duvall and made him their primary catcher for the final stretch of the season ... until they promoted rookies Payton Henry (acquired from the Brewers for John Curtiss) and Nick Fortes (fourth round pick in 2018) for the final two weeks of the season.
Jackson worked well behind the plate with Sandy Alcantara down the stretch but he struggled offensively (.157 batting average, 60 strikeouts in 123 plate appearances with Miami).
The jury is still out on Henry and Fortes but both produced in small sample sizes. Fortes hit four home runs in 34 plate appearances while batting .290 overall. Henry hit .267 and has a track record for solid defense in the minors.
Starting pitching depth
Early injuries to the Marlins’ rotation (Sixto Sanchez and Elieser Hernandez) caused the Marlins to use a revolving door of their second-tier starting pitchers throughout the year.
Zach Thompson, who the Marlins signed to a minor-league deal in the offseason, was the top pitcher of the group and found a way to stay on the roster through the end of the season after making his MLB debut on June 7. The 6-7, 230-pound righty made 26 appearances (14 starts) and posted a 3.24 ERA with 66 strikeouts against 28 walks over 75 innings. Miami moved him to the bullpen for the final month of the season once the rotation was back to full strength.
As for the rest of the group, which includes a few of the club’s top prospects? The results were mixed:
▪ Daniel Castano, who was a stabilizer during the Marlins’ slew of doubleheaders in the shortened 2020 season, made five appearances (four starts) and had a 4.87 ERA over 20 1/3 innings.
▪ Braxton Garrett, the No. 11 prospect in Miami’s system, had a 5.03 ERA through 34 innings in eight starts with opponents hitting .318 against him. He pitched at least five innings in just two of his outings.
▪ Jordan Holloway pitched to a 4.00 ERA over 13 appearances. He had a 10.50 ERA in four starts (14 earned runs allowed in 12 innings) compared to a 0.75 ERA in nine outings as a reliever (two earned runs allowed in 24 innings).
▪ Nick Neidert had a 4.54 ERA in eight appearances (seven starts) with 21 strikeouts against 23 walks
▪ Cody Poteet had a 4.99 ERA over 30 2/3 innings in seven starts.
The rest
▪ Infielder Eddy Alvarez: 24 games, .188 batting average (12 for 64), four doubles, one triple, one home run, six RBI, eight runs, four walks, 18 strikeouts, six hit by pitches
▪ Right-handed pitcher Paul Campbell: 16 appearances (one start), 6.41 ERA (19 earned runs in 26 2/3 innings), 26 strikeouts, 10 walks, 1.58 WHIP, .288 batting average against
▪ Infielder Jose Devers: 21 games, .244 batting average (10 for 41), three doubles, five RBI, seven runs,
▪ Left-handed pitcher Sean Guenther: 14 appearances, 9.30 ERA (21 earned runs in 20 1/3 innings), 15 strikeouts, 10 walks, 2.02 WHIP, .348 batting average against
▪ Outfielder Monte Harrison: Nine games, .200 batting average (2 for 10), one double
▪ Right-handed pitcher Luis Madero: Six appearances, 9.00 ERA (12 earned runs in 12 innings), four strikeouts, eight walks, 1.75 WHIP, .277 batting average against
▪ Infielder Luis Marte: Four games, .167 average (1 for 6), two runs
▪ Outfielder Brian Miller: Five games, .273 average (3 for 11)
▪ Left-handed pitcher Shawn Morimando: Four appearances, 9.58 ERA (11 earned runs in 10 1/3 innings), nine strikeouts, five walks, 2.23 WHIP, .375 batting average against.
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