Marlins claim prospect Berry off waivers

Friday night the Miami Marlins officially claimed prospect left-handed pitcher Tim Berry off waivers. Berry, formerly of the Baltimore organization was plucked off waivers was ranked at number 18 in the Orioles top 30 prospects list. The right-hander is set to make $500,000 next season.

Berry features a low 90s fastball, a solid curveball, but tends to struggle against right-handed hitters. A bigger pitcher, Berry stands at 6’3 and 180 pounds. He underwent Tommy John Surgery in high school and was a 50th round of the Orioles. Last season was filled with struggles for Berry as he labored through a tough season in Bowie with the Orioles Double-A team. In his second consecutive year with the team, Berry carried around a 7.32 ERA over 15 starts and 23 overall appearances.

The one thing Berry does have going for him is that he does not give up a lot of home runs. All 12 of the home runs he surrendered in 2014 were all two right-handed hitters and he only allowed eight long balls in 2015. He has showed some encouraging signs, but the disastrous 2015 was probably enough for the Orioles to surrender him onto waivers.

For the Marlins, this is an extremely low risk move. You pilfer some organizational pitching depth which is something they’ve been severely lacking. With top pitching prospect Tyler Kolek years from the majors, and their farm-system pitching depth defined by middling players like Jarlin Garcia, Kendry Flores, and Brett Lilek adding more arms can never hurt. Overall, a solid move for the Marlins even if it’s just a minor league pitcher, it’s a low risk, low reward move and a solid one at that.