Jacob Berry settling in, Nasim Nunez stealing bases and more Marlins prospects news
When the Miami Marlins took Jacob Berry with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft in mid-July, they touted his pure hitting skills as a reason they hoped he would be a fast riser in their system.
The switch-hitting Berry is starting to find his groove as his brief first minor-league seasons nears its end. The 21-year-old, Miami’s third-ranked prospect and the No. 52 overall prospect in baseball according to MLB Pipeline, is hitting .262 with a .709 on-base-plus-slugging mark, four doubles, two home runs, 19 RBI and 16 runs scored in 28 games with the Single A Jupiter Hammerheads. He has multiple hits in seven of those 28 games, including three three-hit games over his last 18 starts.
In this current 18-game stretch, Berry is hitting .309 (21 for 69) with six extra-base hits (four doubles, two home runs), 14 RBI and 13 runs scored.
MLB Pipeline’s scouting report of Berry notes that he “has a quality swing and advanced approach as both a lefty and righty hitter, hammering all types of pitching. His exit velocities were relatively low this spring [as a sophomore at LSU] and he did a better job of driving the ball from the left side than the right, but he still did a lot of damage.”
Defensively, Berry has started 20 games at third base and has a .935 fielding percentage (three errors in 46 total defensive chances). His other eight games with the Hammerheads were as a designated hitter.
Nasim Nunez wreaking havoc on basepaths
The Marlins have the top basestealer at the MLB level this season in Jon Berti, whose 32 stolen bases lead the majors despite Berti only playing in 75 games.
The Marlins also have one of the top basestealers in the minor leagues in Nasim Nunez, a speedy shortstop who they took with the No. 46 overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft. Nunez, who was promoted from the High A Beloit Sky Carp to the Double A Pensacola Blue Wahoos in early August, has a staggering 67 stolen bases in 80 attempts this season (49 in 60 attempts for Beloit, 18 in 20 attempts for Pensacola). That’s tied for the fourth-highest mark in the minors, behind Mets outfielder prospect Omar De Los Santos (70 in 85 attempts), Brewers outfielder prospect Esteury Ruiz (70 in 83 attempts) and Orioles shortstop prospect Luis Valdez (68 in 82 attempts).
While Nunez’s speed is tied for his top tool along with his fielding (he is viewed as a potential future Gold Glove caliber shortstop), he isn’t able to tap into that strength unless he has an uptick in his performance at the plate.
That is starting to happen.
Nunez has a .387 on-base percentage this season, aided by an 18-percent walk rate. Of his 100 hits, 16 are doubles and three are triples. He has multiple stolen bases in 17 of 112 games this season, including two games last month in which he stole three bases.
Eury Perez update
Right-handed pitcher Eury Perez, the Marlins’ top prospect and the No. 10 prospect in all of baseball according to MLB Pipeline, has resumed throwing and is playing catch in Jupiter. He has been on the minor-league injured list since Aug. 6 with a minor shoulder injury.
Perez, 19, has pitched 73 innings this season over 16 starts for Double A Pensacola and was the Marlins’ representative in the Futures Game. After struggling against older competition early, Perez quickly settled in and has become one of the top pitching prospects in baseball.
He had a 10-game stretch from April 29 to July 7 in which he had a 1.98 ERA with 69 strikeouts against nine walks and a .166 batting average against over 50 innings.
He then got hit hard over his final three starts, including giving up six earned runs over 1 1/3 innings in his final start on Aug. 5 before going on the IL.
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This and that
▪ Left-handed pitcher Dax Fulton, the ninth-ranked prospect in Miami’s system, threw six shutout innings with eight strikeouts on Friday in his second Double A start. He allowed three baserunners on an infield single, a walk and a hit by pitch. Fulton has allowed no more than two earned runs in his past eight starts (six with High A Beloit, two with Double A) and has pitched at least five innings in seven of those eight starts.
▪ Troy Johnston, Miami’s No. 22 overall prospect, only has a .222 in his first two weeks with Triple A Jacksonville, but five of the first baseman’s eight hits have gone for extra bases (two doubles, three home runs) and he has also drawn seven walks through his first 43 plate appearances for a .349 on-base percentage and a .528 slugging mark.
▪ Outfielder Griffin Conine, Miami’s No. 26 overall prospect, is up to 22 total home runs this season, including three in his past seven games, with Double A Pensacola.
▪ Outfielder Victor Victor Mesa hit his first Triple A home run on Thursday, a line drive to right field against the Gwinnett Stripers’ Ian Anderson.
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