Quick hits on JJ Bleday, Max Meyer, Jose Salas and more Marlins minor-league notables
A rundown of Miami Marlins prospect updates...
▪ JJ Bleday only had four hits this week for a .250 batting average for the Triple A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. All four hits, however, went for extra bases, with the outfielder slugging three home runs and hitting a double.
This included Bleday’s first multi-home run game Sunday - his first since joining the Marlins organization.
Bleday, the fourth-ranked prospect in Miami’s system and No. 62 overall in baseball according to MLB Pipeline, also walked six times to boost his OPS for the week to 1.330. Bleday has 13 home runs on the season, tied with Jerar Encarnacion for the most among Marlins prospects. First baseman Lewin Diaz is close behind the duo with 12.
▪ Max Meyer, Miami’s top-ranked pitching prospect and baseball’s No. 28 overall prospect who has been sidelined for nearly a month with right ulnar nerve irritation, threw 30 pitches in a simulated games on a back field at the Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium complex in Jupiter on Saturday.
“I’m glad it feels good now, and it’s just mentally you don’t have to worry about how it’s going to feel every pitch on the mound,” Meyer told MLB.com. “You don’t have to manipulate your mechanics and all that stuff. So it’s a game-changer, just mentally feeling way better on the mound, just being you out there.”
▪ Infielder Jose Salas has safely reached base in 15 consecutive games, dating to May 25, for the Single A Jupiter Hammerheads. Salas is hitting .321 with a .406 on-base percentage, three doubles, two triples, five RBI and 10 runs scored in that span.
Salas, Miami’s seventh-ranked prospect, has bounced between playing shortstop and third base for the Hammerheads this season as part of an infield that also includes fellow top prospects Kahlil Watson (Miami’s top prospect, No. 21 in MLB) and Ian Lewis (No. 11 in Marlins’ system), both of whom are also primarily middle infielders. Cristhian Rodriguez (No. 26 in Marlins’ system) also sees time at third base for the Hammerheads.
▪ The rookie-level Florida Complex League and Dominican Summer League began their seasons last week. The Marlins for the first time are fielding two teams in the DSL.
Two of the Marlins’ top-30 prospects — infielders Yiddi Cappe (No. 12) and Jordan McCants (No. 16) — are on the Florida Complex League roster.
Some names to keep an eye on from the Marlins’ Dominican Summer League teams: Outfielders Antony Peguero, Danny Gonzalez and Toby Simmons, shortstops Lisandro Bonifacio and Cherif Neymour; and right-handed pitchers Jhon Cabral and Santiago Suarez.
Yoffry Solano, Miami’s top signing from the most recent international signing class this offseason, is beginning the season on the injured list.
▪ With Edward Cabrera and Braxton Garrett graduating from prospect status, pitchers M.D. Johnson and Zach King have entered the Marlins’ top-30 according to MLB Pipeline.
Both were part of the 2019 draft, Johnson a sixth-round pick out of Dallas Baptist University and King a 13th-round pick out of Vanderbilt, and both are currently with the High A Beloit Sky Carp.
On the season, Johnson has a 3.35 ERA with 57 strikeouts against 13 walks over 51 innings pitched. King has a 3.46 ERA with 67 strikeouts against 25 walks over 52 innings of work.
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