Miami Marlins draft spotlight: Sean Guenther, LHP, 7th round

The Miami Marlins continued to load up on pitching with their seventh selection in the MLB Draft. Today we take a look at Notre Dame lefty Sean Guenther.

In earlier rounds, the Miami Marlins went heavy on big, power-pitching right handers that can play both ways. They went the other way in more ways than one with their seventh round selection. The Fish chose to bring in Notre Dame’s Sean Guenther with the 209th pick in the 2017 MLB Draft.

Guenther logged time in both the starting rotation, and in the bullpen. His senior year was spent exclusively in a relief role. With improvement across the board as his collegiate career progressed, Guenther could develop into an effective situational reliever at the Major League level.

There is a surprising amount of value to be found in the later part of the second day of the draft. Guenther could prove to be a steal in the seventh round in time.

Off the bat, Guenther still has another year of eligibility left at Notre Dame and could conceivably return. A seventh round selection is still in the top third of the draft, though, and there are doubts that he’d climb much higher than that.

For what it’s worth, he posted this on his twitter handle after he was announced as the selection by the Miami Marlins. He and fellow Miami signee Riley Mahan follow each other on twitter now too. This amounts to grasping at straws if trying to figure out if he’ll sign, but it’s all we’ve got.

Based on that statement alone, it would appears as if he is ready to start his professional career. Good news for the Miami Marlins. Sincere congratulations are in order to Guenther, who parlayed a lifelong pursuit into a selection at the highest level of baseball.

What Guenther brings to the mound

The Miami Marlins selected a pitcher who relies on the ability to keep hitters off balance. Guenther throws hard, but isn’t likely to be able to blow the by professional hitters with regularity. Standing at 5 foot 11 inches, and weighing in at 194-pounds, his calling card will be his wits and wiles.

His fastball sits in the 88-92 range, and occasionally can touch into the mid-90’s. What separates Guenther from other pitchers in this draft is his ability to change speeds. He possess several off-speed pitches that he can throw for a strike in live competition.

In the video’s below, he’s able to retire the batters he faces using an array at pitches that kept the hitters looking uncomfortable.

Guenther uses a compact delivery and holds runners on well. Once he kicks his leg, his explosion towards home is quick and powerful. For a batter, this makes it difficult to read the ball coming out of his hand. He mechanics are repeated with regularity regardless of which pitch he’s throwing, making his off speed stuff more deceptive.

In his career at Notre Dame, Guenther throw a total of 182.1 innings, allowing 71 earned runs, amounting to a 3.50 ERA. Guenther logged 13 saves in his time with the Irish, a number that might have been higher had he not started 11 games as a sophomore.

Next: Rogers becomes Marlins top prospect

Guenther doesn’t figure to do any starting in the professional ranks. However, there is always a need for a left handed pitcher who can induce ground balls and match up favorably against left handed batters.