Reviewing Marlin Maniac’s Preseason Top 20 Prospect List (Part 1)

Jul 28, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Jose Fernandez (16) delivers a pitch during the fifth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Marlins Park. Marlins won 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

We have now surpassed the first half of the season and with Marlin Maniac author David Polakoff and I working on the mid-season top 20 prospect list, I thought it would be the perfect time to go over the preseason top 20 prospect list I made during the spring.

Eight of the top twenty prospects have played in the major leagues for the Fish this season, with all of them making an impact on the Fish for this season and hopefully many more in the future.

This will be a four-part feature, reviewing the season to date for each of the Marlins top 20 prospects.

1. Jose Fernandez, SP: 2.71 ERA/2.99 FIP with 124/42 K/BB in 119 1/3 innings in majors Just 20 years old and has taken the league by storm, making an impressive All-Star appearance. Fernandez has been everything that he was advertised to be as a prospect, and much more. Fernandez has a very bright future and the Marlins are wise to limit him to between 160 and 170 innings in 2013.

2. Christian Yelich, OF: .280/.308/.320 with 1 walk and 8 strikeouts in 25 major league at bats. Yelich was recently called up after posting a .280/.365/.518 slash line with a .395 wOBA in Double-A. Injuries have prevented him from posting even bigger numbers in the minors. Has shown flashes of ability in his stint in the majors, just needs some time to figure things out.

3. Andrew Heaney, SP: 0.79 ERA/2.64 FIP with 62/17 K/BB in 56 2/3 innings in High-A. Heaney started the season on the DL with a lat strain and despite his dominance of High-A, the Marlins have decided to play it safe with Heaney in not promoting him to Double-A until now, he made the promotion official on his Twitter account.

4. Justin Nicolino, SP: 10.13 ERA/6.70 FIP with 2/2 K/BB  in 8 innings in Double-A. After starting the season on fire and earning a promotion to Double-A two weeks ago, Nicolino has had a difficult time in his first two starts with the Suns. If his 2.23 ERA/3.03 FIP are any indication of how good of a pitcher he is, it will be no time before Nicolino makes his adjustments and fares better.

5. Jake Marisnick, OF: .091/.130/.091 with 1 walk  and 5 strikeouts in 22 major league at bats. Marisnick adjusted nicely to Double-A in 2013, improving on his mediocre numbers in the same level with the Blue Jays last season. Hitting .294/.358/.502 with a .390 wOBA earned Marisnick a promotion to the big leagues. He has had a rough time in the majors thus far, but has shown in his previous stops an ability to make the necessary adjustments to become successful.