How many big-league starting position players do the Marlins definitely have? Some feedback
As the Marlins embark on yet another rebuild, they already have the components of a strong big-league rotation when healthy: Sandy Alcantara, Eury Perez (who expects to be healthy enough to pitch around the All Star break next season), Braxton Garrett, Jesus Luzardo and Ryan Weathers, Max Meyer or Edward Cabrera. Other top prospects, led by Thomas White, are on the way.
Position players? That’s another story, and the biggest unknown about whether the latest rebuild will be successful.
So I posed this question to manager Skip Schumaker last week: Who on this team can we safely say can be a starting position player on a good team?
There’s not enough information on some of them to know for sure, as the manager noted.
Schumaker -- who is likely in his final days as Marlins manager -- cited Connor Norby, who has been playing primarily third base but came up as a second baseman:
“Connor Norby is an everyday player. He’s only moving up in everybody’s book here that he’s going to be better next year at third base. He’s going to be a top-of-the order, middle-of-the-order bat and I think he’s going to do damage. There’s not too many guys that can juice the ball to the opposite field like he can at the major-league level. There’s no reason he can’t be a 20-, 30-home run guy in this league for a number of years.”
Norby, acquired in the Trevor Rogers deal with Baltimore, is hitting .271 (.331 on base) with seven homers and 16 RBI in 30 games for Miami.
Jake Burger is in that group too: “Burger is a real major-league player, no doubt about it,” Schumaker said.
Burger — who said he’s fine whether the Marlins permanently move him to first or continue to alternate him between first and third — is hitting .248 (.301 on base) with 28 homers and 69 RBI in 131 games. He’s under team control through 2028.
What about outfielder Jesus Sanchez, who’s hitting .273 (.333 on base) with 15 homers and 56 RBI against right-handers but just .152, with three homers and seven RBI and 31 strikeouts in 99 at-bats against lefties?
“Sanchez needs to get better against lefties or he’s going to be off the bench against righties or start against righties,” Schumaker said. “He’s really good against righties. He’s going to continue to get better against righties, as well. That’s a very useful piece on a winning team.”
And don’t discount Xavier Edwards, who’s hitting .311 (.378 on base) with 19 RBI and 30 steals in 33 attempts in 64 games.
“Xavier Edwards has a chance,” Schumaker said. “Edwards at shortstop/second base — trying to figure out exactly what that looks like.
“He’s done a really good job with opportunities so far at second base. Shortstop is going to be and still is a work in progress. He’s shown some really good signs that he can play there. He’s also shown there’s a lot of work to do. He knows that. He’s shown he’s capable of playing there.”
With the team’s other position players in the big leagues, “it’s too soon” to know if they’re big league starters long-term, Schumaker said. “The game will tell you if you are ready or not. The adjustments the league is doing to them, can they counter it? You’re starting to find out yes or no on some of them.”
That means the Marlins need to find at least five and probably more starting position players, or hope that several acquired via trade (catcher Agustin Ramirez, outfielder Kyle Stowers, among others) become good big-league starters. That will determine whether the Marlins can become at least competitive, if not better than that in the years to come.
PENSACOLA POSTSCRIPTS
Here are the final numbers for the top Marlins prospects who spent much of the summer with Double A Pensacola, which ended its season recently:
▪ Left-handed pitcher Robby Snelling, who was acquired in the Tanner Scott trade with San Diego and is rated the Marlins’ No. 6 prospect by MLB.com:
Selected 39th overall out of a Reno, Nevada, high school in 2022, Snelling had a 6.01 ERA in 16 starts in Double A San Antonio this season. But he performed better at Double A Pensacola following the trade, closing with a 4.00 ERA in seven starts, with 41 strikeouts in 36 innings.
MLB Pipeline said he touches 96 mph on his fastball and noted that his “strong 2023 success” — including a 1.82 ERA in 22 starts at three levels — “reinforced his high floor as a future Major League starter. His continued comfortability with all three of his pitches could push him into at least the middle of a rotation.”
▪ Catcher Joe Mack, who is rated the Marlins’ No. 10 prospect:
The former 31st overall pick in 2021 hit .241 (.322 on base) with 22 homers and 65 RBI and 25 doubles in 112 games at Pensacola, where he threw out 34 percent of would-be base stealers.
He has 36 homers and 131 RBI in 308 minor-league games — promising power for a 21-year-old backstop who is continuing to improve.
▪ Infielder Jared Serna, who was acquired in the Jazz Chisholm Jr. trade with the Yankees and is rated the Marlins’ No. 11 prospect:
After a simmering start, Serna fell off in recent weeks and finished at .266 (.343 on base) with two homers, 23 RBI and 13 doubles in 39 games at Pensacola.
Rachel Balkovec, the Marlins’ director of player development, managed Serna in Single A Tampa last season before the Marlins hired her in January. What stood out about Serna, Balkovec said in our recent four-part series on the Marlins farm system, was “his energy, work ethic, demeanor. He’s fiery.”
▪ Center fielder Andrew Pintar, who was acquired in the A.J. Puk trade with Arizona and is the Marlins’ No. 19 prospect:
He struggled after the trade, hitting .192 (.287 on base) with eight RBI in 33 games in Pensacola.
Drafted in the fifth round out of BYU in 2022, hit .304 (.403 on base) with nine homers and 32 RBI in 57 games in High A Hillsboro, Oregon, this season and went 7 for 38 (.184) in his first 10 games at Double A Amarillo, Texas, before the trade to Miami.
Pintar is 30 for 38 on steals in two minor-league seasons.
▪ Third baseman Graham Pauley, who was acquired in the Scott trade and is rated the Marlins’ No. 23 prospect:
Pauley’s offensive production at Double A Pensacola was neither great nor awful since the trade — .239 average, .325 on base, with four homers and 17 RBI in 38 games.
Drafted in the 13th round out of Duke in 2022, Pauley hit .228 (.342 on base) with eight homers and 41 RBI in 70 games at Triple A El Paso this year, before the trade.
The Padres thought enough of him to keep him on their roster coming out of spring training. But he was sent to the minors on May 1 after going 4 for 32 (.125) with 15 strikeouts for San Diego. He’s a .273 minor-league hitter but must prove he can hit consistently above Double A.
▪ Right-hander Jacob Miller, the Marlins’ No. 28 prospect:
The 2022 second-round pick, out of an Ohio high school, had a 4.02 ERA in 16 starts at High A Beloit this season and pitched pretty well in seven starts at Double A Pensacola (3.44 ERA, with 36 base-runners allowed in 34 innings).
▪ First baseman Nathan Martorella, acquired in the Luis Arraez trade with San Diego and the Marlins’ top No. 30 prospect:
The results were uneven after the trade; he finished at .214 (.283 on base) with 16 homers and 41 RBI in 102 games.
He hit much better — .292, .393 on base — in 25 games at Double A San Antonio before the trade.
This story was originally published September 18, 2024 at 12:03 PM.
