The Marlins Debut of Jacob Turner

The opening salvo of a Wednesday doubleheader against the Arizona Diamondbacks will include the Marlins Debut of Jacob Turner, the hot prospect brought to Miami in the trade-deadline swap with Detroit that sent the now-struggling Anibal Sanchez and second baseman Omar Infante to the tigers in exchange for Turner, catcher Rob Brantly, and C-level prospect Brian Flynn.

Ranked as the #6 prospect by FanSided’s own Seedlings to Stars, and at #22 by Fangraphs.com, Turner brings a low-90’s fastball and a plus curveball. Other pitches include a cut fastball and a changeup.  He’s had a few games at the big league level, but has yet to have a steady job in the majors.  Like Ricky Nolasco, he doesn’t throw a lot of strikeouts, so the defense will have to be on the lookout for ground balls.

A review of his statistics shows that he’s 2-0 since arriving in New Orleans, and has an ERA of 1.98 over the 27 innings that he’s pitched. Opinions on his long-term value to the Marlins vary, but the consensus seems to be that for him to do well, he’ll need to improve his command a bit.  When he misses, he misses by quite a bit.  On the plus side, his misses tend to be low and inside.

Turner faces Tyler Skaggs this afternoon, the D-backs 3^rd-ranked pitching prospect. Although he has had a reasonable year in AAA Reno, he gave up eight runs in his last outing.