Miami Marlins Part Way With Eight: Spring Training Roster Cuts

With two games remaining in 2019’s version of Spring Training, the Miami Marlins cut ties with eight minor league players.

While we wait with baited breath for the Miami Marlins to announce their final 25 for the Opening Day roster, the organization quietly parted ways with eight minor leaguers.

Sharif Othman, who turns 30-years-old today, was released from the Miami Marlins major league camp yesterday. The 6′ backstop and product of California Baptist University spent seven of his eight professional seasons with the Miami Marlins organization. He played the 2017 campaign in the New York Yankees system.

Othman has slashed a career .202/.265/.302 line in 402 minor league appearances, throwing out 24.6 percent of would-be base stealers. This spring, Othman played in three games with the parent club, and went one-for-three from the plate. He’s now free to pursue opportunities with other organizations.

Luis Pintor is a 5’9″ shortstop from Puerto Rico and Miami’s 21st round selection from 2016. In three minor league seasons between the GCL Marlins, the Greensboro Grasshoppers, the Jupiter Hammerheads, and the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, he has logged a .217/.310/.280 slash line in 211 games. In a 21 game look last season with the double-A Shrimp, he hit just two-for-40 with a double and an RBI.

Sam Perez was the Miami Marlins number 19 rated prospect as recently as 2017. After posting a 20-2 record as a reliever for the Missouri State Bears, the Marlins chose him in the fifth round in 2016. Since then, Perez has played with the Batavia Muckdogs, the Grasshoppers, and the Hammerheads. Last season with Jupiter, he was 2-2 with a 4.14 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP.

Zech Lemond was a third round choice of the San Diego Padres in 2014. At the start of the 2018 campaign, he signed a free agent minor league deal with the Miami Marlins. Through last season, he was 4-0 with a 2.29 ERA between GCL, Jupiter, and Jacksonville. He also struck out 47 in 51 innings and posted a 1.04 WHIP, the best mark of his professional career.

Brandon Miller was the Seattle Mariners sixth round pick in 2016. In 2017, he was the number 21 ranked prospect in the Mariners system. On July 20th, he joined Pablo Lopez, Brayan Hernandez, and Lukas Schiraldi in a deal to the Miami Marlins for pitcher Dan Phelps. Miller started 22 games over the past two seasons with the Grasshoppers, yielding a 3-12 record and a 5.76 ERA.

Scott Sebald is a 6’5″ lefty pitcher out of Cincinnati. Now 24-years-old, he signed a free agent deal with the Miami Marlins on June 19th last year. He would go on to appear 10 times for Greensboro, with five starts and five relief appearances, going 2-3 with a 5.79 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP.

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Michael Mertz differs from the other seven players the Marlins parted ways with in that they were all released, whereas Mertz retired instead. He was Miami’s 14th round choice in 2016, and worked his way up through GCL, Batavia, Greensboro, and Jupiter. In his three minor league seasons, he was 14-9 with a 3.52 ERA over 95 appearances, including six starts. He saved nine games, and struck out 153 in 160 1/3 innings.

Matt Brooks was also taken by the Miami Marlins in the 2016 draft, in the 35th round. Born on March 21st, 1996, the Auburn, NY native and natural left fielder hit .228/.323/.267  over three minor league seasons between the GCL Marlins and the Muckdogs.

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