Next Man Up! Miami Marlins Prospect Watch: Raul Brito

Raul Brito turned in his best season so far in 2018 with the DSL Marlins.

This weekend, we’re finishing up our offseason-long every-Miami Marlins player series. Each player who participated at any level of affiliated baseball with the Marlins in 2018 get an article. Today’s first story is about Raul Brito. This is part 283 of 286.

Raul Adolfo Brito is a 6’1″, 180 lb. right-handed throwing and hitting pitcher from Licey, Dominican Republic, population 69,321. If Brito someday reaches the major leagues, he will be the first Licey native to get that far. In fact, nobody from Licey has ever advanced past the high-A level.

Brito was born on May 23rd, 1997, and signed his first professional deal with the Miami Marlins on July 22nd, 2016. Just six days later, he was assigned to the DSL Marlins, in the rookie-level Dominican Summer League.

Brito didn’t give the Miami Marlins much to go on in his first look, pitching in three games, striking out five in six innings, and allowing two unearned runs on four hits and a pair of walks. That version of the DSL Marlins were nearly historically bad, finishing the campaign with a mark of 10-56. 2017, however, was a different story.

In 2017, Brito pitched in 18 games for the DSL Marlins. He pitched 31 1/3 innings, and surrendered a .301 batting average to opposing batters. He struck out 28 and walked 16, allowing 14 earned runs on 37 hits. Despite his 1.69 WHIP, he posted a 6-2 record for the season, with a 4.02 ERA. The club racked up a 40-29 record overall.

Brito was held at the rookie-level with the DSL Marlins for a third season in 2018, and brought his ERA all the way down to 2.35 in 23 innings of work. He collected 21 strikeouts and issued 15 walks, going 2-2 with a 1.65 WHIP.

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• Miami Marlins: Farm System rankings part 1

For the nine-game stretch from June 28th through August 23rd, Brito worked 16 innings and allowed only two earned runs for a 1.13 ERA. Unfortunately, although he held the opposition to a .210 batting average over that time, he also walked 11 for a .324 opposing on-base percentage. All 13 hits off him for that span were singles.

Brito is not ready for the full-season-A level, with the Midwest League’s Clinton LumberKings. Look for him this season either with the domestic-based rookie-level GCL Marlins in the Gulf Coast League or the short-season-A Batavia Muckdogs, in the New York-Penn League.

Make sure to keep checking back here for all the latest news and musings on the Miami Marlins and their tenant minor league system. Later today, we’ll review fireballer Tayron Guerrero, then two more tomorrow.