Miami Marlins offer clarity on one of their top prospects, update status of others
A six-pack of Miami Marlins notes on a Wednesday:
▪ Second baseman Isan Diaz hit just .103 this spring after performing unevenly after his promotion to the big leagues last season.
But the Marlins have decided he needs to play at the big-league level, and that’s a sensible approach considering he has done everything he can at Triple A.
“We picture him as our second baseman right now and our second baseman of the future,” manager Don Mattingly said Wednesday.
Diaz hit 3 for 29 with five walks and nine strikeouts in the spring, but the Marlins thought he generally had good at-bats.
After flourishing at Triple A New Orleans last season (.305, 26 homers, 70 RBI), Diaz was promoted Aug. 4 and hit .173 with five homers and 23 RBI in 49 games and 201 plate appearances, with 19 walks and 59 strikeouts.
He also committed nine errors, which was somewhat disconcerting.
“His track record shows he is going to hit,” Mattingly said. “It wasn’t great for him when he came up last year. Had spurts, had moments, but we think he’s a lot more consistent than that. We see him a lot like Brian Anderson, a guy that sees the ball well, gets himself good pitches to hit for the most part, sometimes maybe a little too passive. He knows the strike zone, is capable of using the whole field. He’s got a pretty clean little swing. [With] the experience we think he’s the guy.”
All that being said, Diaz obviously will need to perform this season to keep the job all season. But he’s the starter at the outset, barring injury.
▪ Mattingly said the battle for the fifth-starter job extends beyond Jordan Yamamoto and Elieser Hernandez. Robert Dugger is in the mix, and Mattingly noted Nick Neidert is also among 40 players working at Marlins Park, rather than with other prospects in Jupiter.
“They each have had one little outing — first time against live [pitching] in three months,” Mattingly said. “They will get a few more outings and we will let it play out and then decide on our roster.”
This spring, Yamamoto allowed nine hits and three earned runs in eight innings (3.38 ERA), with no walks and seven strikeouts.
Hernandez allowed nine hits and six earned runs in 11 innings (4.91 ERA), with four walks and eight strikeouts.
Their numbers last season: Yamamoto, after pitching 14 consecutive scoreless innings to begin his career, finished 4-5 with a 4.46 ERA in 15 games, all starts.
Hernandez was 3-5 with a 5.03 ERA in 21 games, including 15 starts.
▪ The Marlins face an interesting decision about whether to keep emerging left-hander Alex Vesia on their initial 30-man roster. He finished last season on a 35-inning scoreless streak and pitched six scoreless innings in spring training, allowing only one hit and striking out five.
Vesia made nine appearances at Double A Jacksonville last season but hasn’t pitched in Triple A. So is he major-league ready?
“You are never sure, but there was plenty to like,” Mattingly said. “Alex jumped a number of levels last year. Everywhere he went he had success. He went to the Fall League and had success. He came into spring training and had success. He pitched with confidence, has some moxie about him. He’s on the attack, not afraid, strike-thrower.
“There is nothing that happened in this camp or in the last year that you have any real doubts about Alex. You never know what happens when a guy gets to this level. He looks really good and we will feel like this guy [can help].”
Vesia, an 18th-round pick in the 2018 draft, is now the top left-handed reliever in the Marlins system after a dominating 2019 in which he pitched at three levels (two in Class A, one in Double A) and allowed 44 hits and 19 walks in 66 ⅔ innings, while striking out 100 and limiting hitters to a .187 average.
▪ Outfielder Monte Harrison’s chances of making the team have received a boost.
“Monte looks good; he’s swung the bat good here,” Mattingly said. “Mega-talented kid, plays with energy, he’s aggressive.”
▪ Mattingly likes what he has seen from first baseman Lewin Diaz and outfielder Jesus Sanchez, who aren’t expected to begin the season on the 30-man roster but are spending some time with the Marlins Park group this week instead of the prospect-heavy group working out in Jupiter.
“You feel good about both of these kids,” Mattingly said. “Both physical kids. You can tell they’re both good kids and like playing. I’m pretty confident both are going to be successful. Sometimes timetables can shift a year here or there. They’ve got pretty good feel for hitting. We like them both. They are both going to be really good players.”
Diaz, considered the Marlins first baseman of the future, was acquired from the Twins in the Sergio Romo trade last July and finished last season hitting .270 with 27 homers and 76 RBI in 121 games on three minor-league teams in Single A and Double A.
Sanchez, acquired from Tampa Bay before the trade deadline, hit .246 with four homers and nine RBI in 17 games for the Marlins’ Triple A affiliate after hitting .275 with eight homers and 49 RBI in 78 games for the Rays’ Double A affiliate and .206 in 18 games for Tampa’s Triple A affiliate.
Baseball America rates him the 64th-best prospect in baseball.
▪ Odds and ends:
The Marlins see first-round pick Max Meyer as a starter, without question. But if a dire bullpen need develops this season, would they consider him a short-term option, with the full intent of him being a starter long-term? Probably only as a last resort.
“Meyer has the fastball/slider combination to pitch in a short relief role any time,” The Athletic’s Keith Law said....
One negative with promoting Sixto Sanchez or Meyer this season: That would start the clock running toward arbitration eligibility and free agency. But if there’s a dire need, that wouldn’t stop the Marlins from promoting them….
The Marlins received no appearances on the Fox Thursday/Saturday or ESPN Sunday night national schedules, but every Marlins game is expected to be televised locally by Fox Sports Florida or Fox Sports Sun.
This story was originally published July 8, 2020 at 2:52 PM.
