The Marlins made their draft priorities pretty clear: if Miami is going to build something sustainable, it wants the foundation to come from the mound.
That approach showed up fast in the class they put together. The front office selected 14 pitchers, and 12 of them were right-handers.
Ethan Kleinschmit and Ryan Peterson were among the arms singled out as prospects who could eventually help either the starting rotation or the bullpen. Miami also added Trey Beard in the fifth round, a Florida State product who has shown he can handle the strike zone.
Beard’s junior season with the Seminoles came with a 6-1 record and a 4.50 ERA over 68.0 innings in 14 games, including 12 starts. He has the kind of college track record that can make a pick look smart if the command keeps sharpening at the next level.
The Marlins also used the draft to add more depth across the pitching board with Zach Peters, Fabio Bundi, Bane Barker, Connor Benge, Tyler Kapa, Colin Linder, Porter Buursema, and Duke McCarron all joining the group. Barker, who is 18, is from Jacksonville, Fla., while Benge is a 22-year-old pitcher out of LSU.
Miami did not ignore the rest of the roster entirely. The team selected five infielders, and Stanford’s Rintaro Sasaki was one of them in the eighth round. The source material points to Sasaki as a possible future answer at first base, with the added note that he is a gifted hitter who could drive a lot of home runs at the Marlins ballpark.
Even with those infield additions, the message from the draft was unmistakable. Pitching is the engine Miami wants to build around, and the organization used this class to stock the system with arms it believes can help from the rotation to the bullpen.
Now it comes down to the prospects themselves: staying healthy, learning the pro game, and showing they can grow into the roles the Marlins have in mind.
In Other News...
Marlins May Have Landed The Power Bat Fans Have Been Waiting For
Rintaro Sasakis path to the Marlins is already unusual enough to turn heads, and now the organization has a better sense of what it might be getting. The Japanese slugger, who owns Japans all-time high school home run record, announced during a press conference in Japan that he will sign with Miami after the club took him in the eighth round of the recent MLB Draft. For a team that has spent plenty of time searching for more impact in the lineup, the appeal is obvious.
Sasaki was also a coveted name in Japan, where the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks previously drafted him in the NPB Draft, so his next step has drawn attention on both sides of the Pacific. He is expected to take part in the Marlins draft camp soon, and from there the focus shifts to how quickly his bat can translate once he gets into minor league games. [Read more 🡒]
Marlins Suddenly Face A New Otto Lopez Concern
Otto Lopez was out of the Marlins' lineup after taking a ball off his right ring finger, a setback that arrived just as he had been settling into a regular role on the infield. The play left him with soreness and swelling, and Miami had to adjust quickly, turning to Javier Sanoja at shortstop while the club reshuffled its bench to keep the defense intact.
The timing matters because Lopez has become part of the everyday conversation for a Miami team that cannot afford many more moving pieces in the middle of the diamond. The Marlins recalled Graham Pauley and optioned Rece Hinds to give themselves more infield coverage, but the bigger question is how long they will have to manage without Lopez and whether this latest issue lingers beyond a short-term absence. [Read more 🡒]
Pete Fairbanks Wastes Another Eury Prez Gem As Marlins Spiral
Eury Prez did his part again, giving the Marlins six scoreless innings and continuing a stretch that has quietly kept Miami from slipping completely out of the race. Even with the club in the middle of a rough skid, the young right-hander has been one of the few constants, and his latest outing was another reminder that the rotation still gives this team a chance most nights.
The problem is everything around him has started to unravel. Miami has now dropped six straight, and the offense has been too quiet to support strong pitching, leaving little margin for error late in games. The Marlins are still hanging around the NL wild-card picture, but with the way these losses keep stacking up, they need someone besides Prez to stop the slide before the standings start to look a lot less forgiving. [Read more 🡒]