Gone Fishin’ 4/8/19: Miami Marlins Minor League Report

On an off-day for the parent club, the Miami Marlins farm system played a total of four contests from Iowa to New Orleans to Florida.

This season, Marlin Maniac will strive to bring you more-or-less daily farm reports to let you know that the good times may be coming soon. All four of the parent club’s top affiliates were in action on an off day for the Miami Marlins.

New Orleans Baby Cakes 4, Round Rock Express 5

Triple-A Pacific Coast League

The Baby Cakes and the Express hit three home runs each, but Round Rock took the rubber game of this five-game season opening set, three-games-to-two with 1,385 in attendance at Shrine on Airline.

Cakes starter Ben Meyer struck out eight in just 4 1/3 innings, but also surrendered four earned runs on two homers, a fourth-inning two-run shot from Jake Tucker and a fifth-inning two-run homer from Myles Straw. After a pitching change to reliever Jarlin Garcia, Jack Mayfield continued the homer happy contest with a shot to left-center to give the Express a 5-0 lead.

But the Baby Cakes did not go down quietly at that point. Jon Berti and Isan Diaz connected on solo shots in the sixth, and Yadiel Rivera added a solo shot in the seventh to narrow the lead to two. Harold Ramirez scampered home on a wild pitch in the eighth, but New Orleans got no closer.

Nobody in the New Orleans lineup collected more than one hit, but eight of them got exactly one. Only Isaac Galloway did not hit safely in the game, and saw his average dip to .158 on the season.

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 5, Jackson Generals 1

Double-A Southern League

The Jumbo Shrimp claimed their five-game season-opening series against the Generals with a 5-1 victory. 1,529 were on hand at The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville on Monday night.

Cody Poteet was on point in his first start of the season. He pitched six shutout innings with as many whiffs, allowing only three hits and a pair of walks. Jeff Kinley followed with a perfect seventh. Brett Graves pitched a scoreless eighth, and Dylan Lee surrendered a ninth inning homer to Jamie Westbrook for the only blemish against the Shrimp on the scoreboard.

Joe Dunand got on base in each of his four plate appearances, with a two doubles, a walk, and an HBP. Anfernee Seymour, Brian Miller, and Bryson Brigman each also collected a pair of hits in the win.

The Crustaceans took a second inning lead on a Seymour RBI-single, a two-run Brian Miller triple, and a Riley Smith wild pitch that scored Miller. Dunand added an RBI-double in the fourth for a 5-0 lead.

Jupiter Hammerheads 6, Florida Fire Frogs 7, 10 innings

Advanced-A Florida State League

Hammerheads starter Taylor Braley turned in a Quality Start, striking out five over six innings and allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits and a walk. He put 48-of-72 offerings over the plate with 213 in the house at Osceola County Stadium.

Vincenzo Aiello walked two in his inning of relief in the seventh, but also struck out the side and kept the Frogs scoreless. Lukas Schiraldi also walked a pair in the eighth, but kept Florida off the board. Chad Smith, who collected 12 saves in 16 opportunities for Jupiter last season, took the loss by surrendering three runs (two earned) in 1 2/3 innings. He walked three and gave up two hits while also striking out three Frogs.

Jupiter outhit Florida nine-to-seven. Jose Devers, Cameron Baranek, and Jeff Nelson led the Sharks with a pair of hits each. Baranek also stole three bases, while Nick Fortes and Devers also swiped a bag in the effort. Victor Victor Mesa collected his first safe base hit since his arrival stateside, going one-for-five with an RBI and a run to raise his average to….. .059. Isael Soto and Fortes got in on the fun with a hit each.

Clinton LumberKings 5, Quad Cities River Bandits 6, 10 Innings

Single-A Midwest League

Michael Donadio provided most of the offense for Clinton, accounting for four RBI on a double and a home run. Unfortunately, the LumberKings came up short in the extra inning affair with 602 present at Ashford University Field.

Manuel Rodriguez started for Clinton, and allowed two unearned runs on three hits and a walk, while striking out four over five innings. Alberto Guerrero came on in relief, and surrendered three runs on seven hits and three walks in only three innings. C.J. Carter took the loss, allowing an unearned run in the top of the 10th.

Jerar Encarnacion went one-for-four with a walk, a run, and an RBI, dropping his average to .500 for the season with nine hits in 18 at bats. Christopher Torres, Marcos Rivera, and Ricardo Cespedes also hit safely in the game.

More from Marlins Prospects

• Miami Marlins: Checking in on prospects from the 2022 Arizona Fall League
• Miami Marlins: How top 2022 MLB Draft picks performed this season
• What’s wrong with Kahlil Watson?
• Miami Marlins: Farm System rankings part 2
• Miami Marlins: Farm System rankings part 1

Today’s Games

The Jumbo Shrimp will take the day off before opening a five-game road series against the Pensacola Blue Wahoos starting on Wednesday. The other three top Miami Marlins affiliates will be in action.

6PM: Edward Cabrera will make his second start of the season for the 1-4 Hammerheads against the Fire Frogs.

7:30PM: Clinton will play their second game of a four-game set against Quad Cities. They have not announced a starter as of the time I wrote this, around 10PM last night.

7:38PM: The Iowa Cubs will host the Baby Cakes in the first game of a three-game series. Elieser Hernandez will make his first start of the season as New Orleans experiments with a six-man rotation.

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