Three ballyhooed young Marlins struggle, as three diamonds in the rough thrive
The first five weeks of the Marlins’ season has followed a peculiar pattern:
Three diamonds in the rough -- players that the team obtained for next to nothing -- continue to engineer an offense that ranks in the top 10 in baseball in batting average, including No. 1 against breaking balls (.274).
But the ballyhooed prospects, the ones who earned spots on top 100 lists and were viewed as jewels of some of the Marlins’ biggest trades, are still trying to lift their numbers to respectable levels. Their struggles are high on any list of reasons why Miami entered Saturday two games below .500 (at 15-17).
Otto Lopez, Xavier Edwards and Liam Hicks - who in total cost the Marlins nothing but two minor leaguers - have had glorious starts to 2026, all ranking in the top 10 in batting average, with Edwards leading the league in on-base percentage and Hicks among the league leaders in RBI.
But outfielders Jakob Marsee and Owen Caissie and catcher Agustin Ramirez have struggled to various extents.
Marsee, a rookie revelation last season, got off to a woeful start (.152, .260 on-base) through 17 games and struck out in 19 of his first 72 plate appearances. He began to look better for a time, but entered Saturday’s late-afternoon game against the Phillies on a 1-for-13, 10-strikeout skid.
His batting average (.179) and on-base percentage ( .297) are nowhere near his rookie numbers (.292, .363).
He had 33 RBI in 209 at bats last season, 8 in 133 this season. He has one homer, after hitting five last season.
Last season, he struck out once every 4.8 plate appearances. This season, he’s at once every 3.9.
He said opposing players aren’t pitching him much differently than when he had far more success last season.
“Honestly, I think I’m just missing my pitches, and if I miss my pitches, I get put in a hole and these pitchers have good stuff to put you away,” he said. “That’s more of a ‘me’ problem. I have to keep working to tighten up the mechanics and simplifying things.
“But my at bats are getting better; my swings are getting better. I’m just trying to hold my back side a little better and control my forward move a little better, [fix] small things than turn into big things.”
The slow start has been difficult emotionally.
“I felt a little bit of everything,” he said Friday. “I try to bring the same energy every day. Some days are harder than others. It’s frustrating but I trust... that everything is going to work out. I know my time is coming.”
The Marlins remain bullish on his future, but we’re approaching the point of concern. So far, Marsee remains the only big leaguer among four players acquired from the Padres for Luis Arraez in May 2024.
Caissie, acquired in the Edwin Cabrera deal with Chicago, had a magical opening weekend, hitting a dramatic two-run, walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Marlins a three-game sweep over the Rockies.
But after going 0 for 3 in Friday’s 6-5 loss to the Phillies, he’s just 7 for his last 56, with 29 strikeouts.
His average has dipped to .200 and his on-base percentage to .242, which is fourth lowest among 62 qualifying NL outfielders. The Marlins knew he was prone to strikeouts, but the volume of K’s (42 in 99 plate appearances) has been disturbing.
Though the Marlins ideally prefer to let him work through his struggles in the majors, there’s certainly a limit to that thinking with any young player. He already has played two seasons in Triple A in the Cubs system and mastered that level of competition.
“He’s not the first young player that has come up and struggled and had to make adjustments,” manager Clayton McCullough said Friday. “His swing is fine. It’s learning how to go up there with an approach each at bat and be convicted in that approach...
“Sometimes pitchers make good pitches and you get out. If you start chasing your tail, you are swinging up at pitches above the zone and pitches below the zone and out, that’s not a real good way of life, and that’s what you see from young players; they get sped up a little bit.
“You have to play the long game as a player as well. Five, six plate appearances, can’t put you in a tizzy. It’s certainly on his mind. That’s a natural part of a young player maturing at the big league level. He’s a talented player.”
The Marlins had hoped Ramirez -- the key player acquired in the 2024 Jazz Chisholm trade with the Yankees -- would improve defensively at catcher, believing he has more value playing at least part of the time there instead of exclusively as a DH. But significant improvement hasn’t happened.
He has thrown out only two of 20 base-runners, after throwing out just 8 of 91 last season. A year after permitting an MLB-high 191 steals, the Marlins again have allowed the most steals in baseball, with Hicks throwing out just one of 24 base-stealers.
Ramirez has four errors in 139 innings behind the plate, which puts him on a worse pace than last year, when he had an NL-leading 10 errors in 605 innings behind the plate.
He has three passed balls, an improvement over last season, when he led the National League with 19.
“He needs to get better behind the plate,” McCullough said Friday. “He’s committed to that and we are committed to continue to work with him. As long as he keeps doing that, that’s all you can ask for from a player.”
Offensively, he’s getting on base more (.314 compared with .287 last season), but his doubles have declined (from 33 last year - which was 10th in the NL - to five this year). So has his power; he has two home runs in 121 plate appearances compared to 21 in 585 last season. His average (.234) is barely above last year’s (.231).
He also has had a few base-running errors. But he had an RBI single during Friday night’s rally that fell short and McCullough praises his toughness.
Joe Mack, rated by MLB.com as the 54th best prospect in baseball, is considered a very good defender, and it seems inevitable that Mack will take over primary catching duties from Ramirez. He’s hitting .260 at Triple A Jacksonville (.408 on base percentage) with three homers and nine RBI. He has thrown out 11 of 38 attempted base-stealers and has a 30 percent minor-league success rate.
The Marlins internally have discussed when they might promote Mack. There’s sentiment toward keeping him in the minors for a few more weeks, barring an injury to Ramirez or Hicks. But we could see him in June.
.
This story was originally published May 2, 2026 at 10:11 AM.
