Where Miami Marlins’ top pitching prospects stand entering winter. Some could be dangled

As we enter an offseason when the Miami Marlins plan to be aggressive in the free agent and trade market, we’re taking inventory of where all of the team’s top prospects stand, with thoughts from Geoff DeGroot, the Marlins’ director of minor-league operations.

In Part 1 of this series, we explore the pitchers.

And we begin with this general question we asked DeGroot, a question not merely limited to pitchers.

Of all the prospects in the Marlins’ system, who most emerged this season?

In other words, players who — in DeGroot’s words — were “a couple guys we knew were prospects and came on the scene hard and put themselves into top 100-type prospects” in baseball.

DeGroot named two: left-hander Jake Eder (who will miss the 2022 season because of Tommy John surgery) and right-hander Eury Perez.

Eder, before the elbow injury, had a 1.77 ERA in 15 starts, with 43 hits and 27 walks allowed in 71 innings with 99 strikeouts.

The fourth-round pick out of Vanderbilt could end up being the steal of the 2020 Draft if he pitches as effectively after Tommy John surgery as he did before.

“The year he had at the Double A level and his professional debut was truly incredible,” DeGroot said. “It’s a huge credit to Jake himself, all of our coaches and coordinators.”

As for Perez, he was one of delightful surprises in the Marlins farm system this season, producing a 1.96 ERA in 20 starts (15 for Jupiter, five for Beloit), with 43 hits allowed and 26 walks and 108 strikeouts in 78 innings.

The ERA jumped from 1.61 at Low Single A to 2.86 (still very good) at High Single A. He allowed only a .145 batting average at High A.

MLB.com had a good synopsis of him before his breakout season:

“Perez didn’t immediately stand out when he signed out of the Dominican Republic for $200,000 in July 2019, and the coronavirus pandemic prevented him from making his pro debut last summer. But he has grown four inches and 35 pounds to 6-foot-9 and 190 since turning pro and opened eyes in instructional league last fall. He was both the youngest (17 years, six months) and most impressive pitcher in Marlins camp.”

DeGroot’s assessment: of Perez: “You love the body, the arm action, the stuff. Eury making his professional debut in full-season A ball at Jupiter, then going to High A at Beloit and performing the way he did at 18 years old, it’s truly incredible and that’s a credit to our pitching department.

“Ivan Arteaga is our Latin American pitching coordinator, someone who has put a lot of time in working with Eury. Ivan deserves a lot of credit. Not only can he get it up to the mid to upper-90s at 18 years old, but he’s 6-foot-9 with a lot of room for added muscle and strength.”

Beyond the impressive velocity, “the control and command he has over all his pitches at such a young age, and being able to repeat his delivery, repeat his stuff properly, and the changeup stands out for me,” DeGroot said. “It’s an easy plus changeup that he can throw to both right-handed and left-handed hitters. He’s really a special package and a special person. He’s hard working, respectful, someone we’re really really fortunate to have in our organization.”

▪ Max Meyer: The third overall pick of the 2020 Draft closed the season at 6-3, with a 2.41 ERA, 84 hits, 40 walks and 113 strikeouts in 101 innings in Pensacola.

“DJ Svihlik and our scouting department have done an incredible job,” DeGroot said. “They make our jobs a lot easier when they give us that kind of talent to work at. To make your professional debut at the Double A level is something to be admired. That’s not easy to do. The thing that stands out to me about Max is obviously everyone knows about the slider. It’s an easy well above average major-league slider. He’s got the ability to throw it for strikes, the ability to expand for swing and miss. He can use it early in the count, late in the count.

“Max is fearless. No matter what he has that night — he might not have his best stuff — he’s going to compete with what he has. There is something to be said for that and that’s why he was able to perform at the level he did. He’s not scared of anybody.

“Coming out of the draft, everybody knew about the fastball and the elite slider. The development and the growth that his changeup has shown this year is something that’s really encouraging and legitimate third pitch and another weapon he can use to both right-handed and left-handed hitters.”

Could he compete for a big-league rotation spot next spring? ““There is still some development he needs to go through for him to be a everyday major-league pitcher,” DeGroot said. “He definitely put himself on the map.”

Though one veteran scout who watched Meyer a lot told me he sees him better suited to late-inning relief, the Marlins strongly believe he’s a starter.

▪ Edward Cabrera: The ballyhooed prospect had a high ERA (5.81) in seven Marlins starts, with 24 hits, 19 walks and 28 strikeouts in 26 ⅓ innings.

“I’m not worried about Edward Cabrera,” DeGroot said. “The more and more he gets acclimated and sees major-league competition more consistently, [the more the performance will improve]. If you just grade out his stuff, this guy is going to be an above average major-leaguer. There’s no doubt about it. He’s going to be a rotation piece for us for a long time to come. The more reps he gets up here, the more comfortable he will be and we will see the performance what we all expect.”

▪ Kyle Nicholas: The second-rounder out of Ball State was 3-2, 2.52 ERA in eight starts for Pensacola. He had 50 strikeouts in 39 innings, after producing a 5.28 ERA in 13 games at High A Beloit (Wisconsin). So he improved when he moved up a level.

“What intrigued me the most was the way he got better,” DeGroot said.

“It seemed like every outing he went out there he improved in one area or another. You see the body and the velocity on his fastball are things that get everybody excited. He’s strong, he’s physical, he’s a very hard worker. He can spin the ball well. If you saw the changeups he was throwing at the beginning of the year... and then at the end of the season, it was incredible growth.”

▪ Dax Fulton, the 2020 second-rounder out of a Oklahoma high school, had a 4.30 ERA in 14 starts at Low A Jupiter, then a 5.49 ERA in five starts at High A Beloit, with a combined 84 strikeouts in 78 innings:

“I saw Dax his last few outings at Jupiter and those were some of the best outings I saw from any of our pitchers all year,” DeGroot said of the left-hander. “The command of his stuff, execution of his stuff, competitiveness, he was on the attack. The fact Dax coming out of high school got to high A baseball [in his first pro season] is a credit to him.”

▪ Zach McCambley: He was 1-6, 5.18 in nine starts for Pensacola after his promotion from Beloit, with 47 strikeouts in 40 innings.

At Beloit, McCambley — a third-rounder in 2020 out of Coastal Carolina — had a 3.79 ERA in 11 starts, with 73 strikeouts in 57 innings.

“He’s got a well above average breaking ball, one of the best breaking balls I’ve seen in minor-league baseball this year,” DeGroot said. “And another guy who’s on the attack from the get go. Competitive, has the ability to use all three of his pitches.”

DeGroot said the five pitchers that remain from the 2020 class — Meyer, Eder, McCambley, Fulton and Nicolas “all have a chance to pitch in the major leagues and pitch in the major leagues for a long time.”

▪ Jorge Guzman: The hard-throwing right hander acquired in the Giancarlo Stanton trade was sidelined May 9 through July 13 with elbow inflammation, allowed six runs in 1 ⅔ innings with the Marlins over two appearances and pitched in nine games (all out of the bullpen) for Triple A Jacksonville, closing with four saves and a 3.52 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 15 ⅓ innings.

Though he seems to be trending toward being a reliever, DeGroot said no decision has been made.

“He started the year injured, rehabbed, got up to the big leagues briefly here, got injured again. just and minor [arm] surgery,” DeGroot said. “We expect him to be ready for next year.”

Is he a starter or reliever long-term?

“That’s something we’ll have to decide, see how he shows up in spring training, how his health looks like,” DeGroot said. “Obviously our philosophy is develop as many starting pitchers as possible and Jorge is definitely in that conversation.”.

▪ Braxton Garrett had a 5.03 ERA in eight games and seven starts for the Marlins and finished 5-3 with a 3.89 in 18 starts with 86 strikeouts in 85 innings in Jacksonville.

“He absolutely [closed the year well],” DeGroot said. “He was healthy the entire year, which was outstanding [four years removed from Tommy John surgery]. You see the times we got to see him in Miami, each start was better than the one before.

“There’s still a lot of ceiling left for Braxton Garrett. The surgery, the shutdown year in 2020. He hasn’t had as much development and experience as most guys his age [24] because of the surgery and COVID. There’s still a lot of room for growth with Braxton but he’s come a long way and we’re proud of where he’s at.”

▪ Jordan Holloway had a 4.00 ERA in 13 games and four starts for the Marlins this season, with 36 strikeouts in 36 innings. He had a 4.88 ERA in eight games and six starts for Jacksonville.

Is he better as a starter or reliever?

“I think his stuff can play anywhere,” DeGroot said. “Jordan has got incredible stuff, high velocity fastball, 12-6 breaking ball. This year you saw his slider come on too. He’s very comfortable throwing that pitch and that’s a fourth pitch we’ve added to his repertoire that has shown to play really well. This guy has the ability to start in the major league.”

▪ What about potential closers in the system?

“Nobody comes to mind on that front,” DeGroot said. “Our philosophy is develop as many starting pitchers as we can. There are only five rotation spots in the major leagues.That’s an option we can look to later on.”

Holloway and Guzman are two obvious bullpen option.

Coming next week: Parts 2 and 3 of the series on the Marlins’ position player prospects.