Marlins getting read on Stowers, Conine. And how big trade prospect pickups finished season
The Marlins enter the offseason without a single player who seems good enough to be an everyday outfielder on a good team.
Jesus Sanchez — good against right-handers and meek against lefties — comes the closest.
With left-handed hitters Kyle Stowers and Griffin Conine, the question is whether they can make enough contact to be big-league starters, or even part-time players.
Stowers, acquired with Connor Norby in the Trevor Rogers trade with Baltimore, is hitting just .190 (29 for 153) with a .253 on-base average, two homers and 15 RBI in 48 games for the Marlins.
“Stowers is a really good athlete,” said Marlins manager Skip Schumaker, who is expected to part ways with the team after the season. “There’s adjustability in his swing. He’s going to get it and be a good major-league player for a long time. When he first got called up, he was getting abused a little bit at the top, tried to make an adjustment there at the top of the strike zone, trying to flatten out the swing.
“He hits really well on the offspeed stuff or the ones below the zone. Getting to the top is going to be the way he [progresses] from a bench player to an everyday player.”
Stowers, 26, hit .306 in 36 at-bats for Baltimore earlier this season. So what was he doing then that can potentially translate? “I was having a really good time playing the game,” he answered.
What does he need to improve to be a big-league starting player long-term?
“Controlling the strike zone, swing at the right pitches, swing at strikes, take balls,” he said.
The proverbial light must turn on soon. In 334 plate appearances over parts of three big-league seasons, he’s hitting .210 with a .263 on-base average, with six homers and 35 RBI.
As for Conine, 27, he’s hitting .239 (.311 on base) with two homers, six RBI and 24 strikeouts in 74 plate appearances since his promotion to the Marlins.
The son of former Marlins standout Jeff Conine, Griffin Conine batted .244 (.344 on base) hit 128 home runs in 585 minor-league games but struck out on 34.7 percent of his minor-league at bats. This season at Triple A before his promotion, he hit .268 at Jacksonville (.350 on base), with 19 homers and 68 RBI and struck out 29.5 percent of the time.
“Griffin Conine has been fun to watch him get to the big leagues after a number of years in the minor leagues,” Schumaker said. “He has been really good on the defensive side. He knows how to run the bases. His baseball IQ is good, not surprising to anybody. He’s put together some good at-bats against lefties and righties.
“He can hit velo [high velocity]. I think the strikeouts are always going to be the thing he needs to cut down, the swing and miss. He has done that in the minor leagues, especially this year. Hopefully, he can continue doing that. Because he got here a little older doesn’t mean he can’t be here for a long time. He’s a major-leaguer.”
JACKSONVILLE WRAP-UP
Here’s a look at the final numbers for the Marlins’ top-30 prospects who spent much of the summer with Triple A Jacksonville:
▪ Catcher Agustin Ramirez (the Marlins’ No. 3 prospect, per mlb.com): He hit .262 (.358 on base) with five homers and 24 RBI in 39 games.
Between the Marlins’ and Yankees’ Triple A affiliates, Ramirez had nine homers and 44 RBI in 68 games.
But he threw out only five of 51 would-be base stealers at Triple A this season. That’s a concern.
▪ First baseman/third baseman Deyvison De Los Santos (No. 4 prospect): The power remained exceptional after the trade, as it was before: 12 homers (and 36 RBI) in 50 games at Jacksonville, giving him 40 homers and 120 RBI in 137 RBI for two Arizona Diamondbacks affiliates and one Marlins affiliate.
But he hit just .240, with a .284 on-base average, for Jacksonville, and struck out in 60 of 211 plate appearances (28 percent). That needs to improve.
▪ Right-hander Adam Mazur (No. 11 prospect), acquired in the Tanner Scott trade with San Diego: He had a 5.21 ERA in eight starts for Jacksonville, with 42 hits (but just seven walks) and 38 strikeouts in 38 innings.
That’s better than his 7.83 ERA in five starts for Triple A El Paso before the trade. He had a 7.49 ERA in eight starts for the Padres’ big-league team earlier in the season.
▪ Outfielder Victor Mesa Jr. (No. 16): He didn’t play after July 27 because of a lower back injury but “should be back for spring,” Marlins director of minor-league operations Hector Crespo said.
The injury was “heartbreaking. We were excited where he was at and performing before the injury — 13 homers, 14 doubles. He’s a guy we are still really high on.” Mesa Jr. had 51 RBI, a .259 batting average and a .319 on-base average in 80 games at Jacksonville.
▪ Outfielder Jakob Marsee (No. 19), acquired in the Luis Arraez trade with San Diego: He played well at Triple A Jacksonville, hitting .275 (.370 on base) in 93 plate appearances.
He had hit just .188 (.342 on base) in 91 games at Double A Pensacola. The fact he takes a lot of walks is encouraging.
He had 10 homers and 47 RBI in 137 games with three minor league teams this season.
▪ Outfielder Jacob Berry (No. 21), who has moved to right field from third base and first base: He hit .242 (.311 on base) in 103 plate appearances and 25 games, with two homers and nine RBI. Between Double A and Triple A, he had 11 homers and 54 RBI in 129 games.
▪ Notable: First baseman Troy Johnston, the 27-year-old who was again bypassed for a promotion to the majors, finished at .276 (.339) with 11 homers and 63 RBI in 125 games...
Left-hander Patrick Monteverde, who isn’t listed among mlb.com’s top 30 Marlins prospects, had a 5.66 ERA in 13 starts at Jacksonville. The results have declined since he posted a 3.32 ERA in 21 starts at Pensacola last season.
We will have updates on the Double A Pensacola prospects on Friday.
This story was originally published September 26, 2024 at 11:28 AM.
