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 240 of 286. Stay tuned.
Igor Leonard Baez is a 6’1″, 214 lb. catcher from Orlando, Florida. Born on June 6th, 1995, he was signed through free agency by the Miami Marlins on August 16th, 2017.
Baez played Division II NCAA ball for Flagler College before getting selected in 2017. In 55 games, he slashed out a .297/.358/.438 line with seven home runs and 41 RBI of Peach League action. After his draft, he reported to the rookie-level GCL Marlins, in the Florida-based Gulf Coast League. He only appeared in one game, a 4-2 victory against the GCL Nationals. Baez went 0-for-2 with a walk and a strikeout.
2018 would open with Baez up one level, with the short-season-A Batavia Muckdogs in the New York-Penn League. He appeared in 39 games for the Dogs, with a .207/.288/.273 line. He had four multi-hit games through the season, including two three-hit affairs. On June 28th, in a 14-9 loss to the Auburn Doubledays, Baez batted ninth and hit two singles with a double, a walk, and two runs scored. On July 4th, he hit his only home run of the season, the eventual game-winner in a 4-3 win against the Mahoning Valley Scrappers. On July 8th, in an 8-3 win over the State College Spikes, he went two-for-four with a pair of RBI.
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Defensively, Baez picked up 314 2/3 innings behind the plate, and made six errors for a .983 fielding percentage, along with five passed balls. He threw out seven-of-52 baserunners trying to steal, good for a 13 percent caught stealing rate.
The Miami Marlins don’t have much in the way of expectation for Baez. He’s 15th on the organizational depth chart at the moment, and is likely to repeat a season with the Muckdogs. He’s equally likely to spend the 2019 campaign with the Clinton LumberKings in the single-A Midwest League.
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