Miami Marlins Season in Review: Jonathan Chinchilla

Throughout the 2018/2019 offseason, Marlin Maniac will devote one article each for every player who appeared in the Miami Marlins system for the 2018 season. Every. Single. Player. This is Part 52 of 286. Stay tuned.

Jonathan Chinchilla is a 5’11”, 160 lb. right-handed throwing and hitting catcher from Maracaibo, Venezuela, home also to 10 current and 21 former major leaguers. Wilson Alvarez, Luis Aparicio, and Rougned Odor hail from the South American city as well.

Chinchilla was born on November 18th, 2000, and as such has not yet turned 18-years-old. He signed his first professional contract on July 2nd, 2017, while still 16. One year minus one day later, he was assigned to the DSL Marlins, in the rookie-level Dominican Summer League.

Prospects who are initially assigned to the Dominican Summer League, MLB-wide, don’t have a very large chance of ever graduating as far as the major leagues. Only around a quarter even make it as far as the domestic Rookie-leagues, for the Marlins, the Gulf Coast League, with the GCL Marlins. It’s understood that chances of advancement for Chinchilla is largely dependent on if he improves his overall game in 2019.

At the plate, Chinchilla went 14-for-80 with five runs, two doubles, and seven RBI. In 91 plate appearances, he also drew seven walks and thrice made it to first via HBP, while striking out 15 times. His .175/.264/.200 slashline puts fear into nobody, just yet.

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• Miami Marlins: Farm System rankings part 1

Chinchilla hit safely in just 13 of his 28 appearances in his first look at the professional level, with one multi-hit game. On August 10th, he batted seventh and went two-for-four with a run and an RBI in a 6-4 Marlins victory over the DSL Dodgers Robinson. Defensively, Chinchilla threw out a robust 34 percent of basestealers, nailing 12-of-35 trying to steal. He also passed five balls in 119 2/3 innings of work behind the plate, with a .984 fielding percentage. Chinchilla displayed versatility by appearing in nine games at first base, getting 49 innings of experience with a .981 fielding percentage to his credit. The team went 42-30, finishing out of the playoff-hunt in the DSL.

The Miami Marlins have no real expectation for Chinchilla, and are highly likely to give him another season with the DSL Marlins before making a longer-range determination on his future with the club. If he improves on last season’s numbers, and advances through the system more-or-less normally, he would get a look in Miami Marlins Spring Training around 2024.

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