Marlins Top 10 Pipeline Prospects: Who Will Impact the Majors First?

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This offseason, the Marlins have done a lot to address their immediate needs at the major league level.

Beneath that level, however, most of the work they’ve done has come over the past two seasons, the first two of the Sherman/Jeter Marlins ownership group.

Most of the Marlins top prospects have been additions under the new regime, including trade acquisitions, shrewd draft choices, the international free agent market, and the rule 5 draft. Whatever Miami may be lacking at the major league level, you can be sure that need is being addressed at multiple levels of their minor league affiliate feeder system.

RHP Sixto Sanchez, San Cristobal, DR

Still just 21, the six-foot Sixto Sanchez ranks as the number 22 prospect in all of baseball. With three offerings ranked at above-average or better, including a 75-grade fastball, Sanchez may impact the Marlins as soon as this season.

Gained from the Philadelphia Phillies in the deal for J.T. Realmuto (along with Will Stewart and Jorge Alfaro), Sanchez posted a 2.53 ERA with the Double-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp in 2019. Over 18 starts, he struck out 97 while walking only 19 in 103 innings of work for a 1.029 WHIP.

RF J.J. Bleday, Danville, PA

22-year-old J.J. Bleday was Miami’s most recent first-round pick, chosen fourth overall in the 2019 draft out of Vanderbilt University. In 65 games as a junior, Bleday led the NCAA with 26 home runs and with 182 total bases. A .350/.464/.717 slash line with 69 RBI wasn’t bad either.

Bleday, a left-handed hitter and the Pipeline number 29 overall prospect, lacks speed, but the rest of his skillset rates as above-average or higher. After joining the Jupiter Hammerheads at the High-A level post-draft, he hit .257/.311/.379 with three homers and 19 RBI in 38 games. With a little polish, Bleday can reasonably be expected to reach the Marlins at the parent level sometime in 2021.

OF Jesus Sanchez, Higuey, DR

Jesus Sanchez not that one, or that one, is the third such named player to be a part of the Marlins organization. A six-foot-three, 230 lb. 22-year-old, Sanchez joined the Marlins from the Tampa Bay Rays organization along with Ryne Stanek for Nick Anderson and Trevor Richards in July last season.

Sanchez, who bats left and throws right, has topped double digit homers in each of his last three minor league seasons. In 17 post-trade games for the Triple-A New Orleans Baby Cakes, he was 16-for-65 with four home runs, along with nine walks versus 15 strikeouts.

Ranked as the MLB Pipeline’s number 51 overall prospect, and now with a little triple-A experience under his belt, it’s possible that Sanchez could make the roster out of Spring Training.

MESA, ARIZONA – FEBRUARY 26: Jazz Chisholm #82. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images) /

SS Jazz Chisholm, Nassau, Bahamas

The Marlins gained lefty-hitting, righty-fielding Jazz Chisholm from the Arizona Diamondbacks last season in return for potential future ace Zac Gallen, himself trade bounty from the Marcell Ozuna deal. A five-foot-11 shortstop, Chisholm is regarded as the number 54 prospect in all of baseball.

Over the past two minor league seasons, Chisholm has totaled 46 home runs between the Diamondbacks’ and the Marlins’ systems. Since joining the Jumbo Shrimp, he’s gone 23-for-81 with nine extra base hits, including three homers. He’s also a threat on the basepaths, with a 49-for-61 success rate in swiping a free bag.

Chisholm has a career .940 fielding percentage at the six, so clearly work is needed. Since joining the Marlins, however, he’s played 188 error-free innings at the position. He is projected to have major league impact sometime in 2021, likely out of Spring Training.

CF Monte Harrison, Lee’s Summit, MO

Monte Harrison was part of the trade bounty gained for then-future National League MVP Christian Yelich from the Milwaukee Brewers in the January, 2018 deal. He joined the organization along with Lewis Brinson, Jordan Yamamoto, and Isan Diaz.

A six-foot-three, 220 lb. three sport star out of Lee’s Summit West HS, Harrison has undeniable explosion off the bat. According to MLB Pipeline, 20 percent of balls in play at the double-A level were over 105 MPH, three times that of the MLB average.

Ranked 83rd on the overall MLB Prospect list, Harrison’s glaring weakness is a propensity to strike out. He led all of the minors in 2018 with 215 whiffs but has worked hard to address the shortcoming. He will compete for an Opening Day roster spot with the Marlins in 2020 Spring Training.

RHP Edward Cabrera, Santiago, DR

Edward Cabrera is a six-foot-four 21-year-old starter who has completed four seasons in the Marlins system. In 2019, between Jacksonville and Jupiter, he compiled a 9-4 record over 19 starts, with 116 K’s in only 96 2/3 innings. He did this while holding his walk-rate to 2.9/9, with 31 free passes issued.

The number 99 overall prospect in baseball, Cabrera has a fastball that lives from 93 to 97, although it has touched three digits on the gun. Sometimes at higher velocities, he sacrifices some accuracy. Better pitch location and a true curveball could help his development. Cabrera could make an appearance in Miami over the 2020 season, but it’s likelier he competes for a rotation spot in 2021.

MIAMI, FL – MARCH 29: A general view of the new Marlins logo on the scoreboard at Marlins Park prior to the game between the Miami Marlins and the Colorado Rockies at Marlins Park on March 29, 2019 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /

LHP Braxton Garrett, Foley, AL

Braxton Garrett was Miami’s first round pick in 2016, coming off the board with the seventh overall selection. He didn’t make a professional appearance until the next season, and pitched to a 2.93 ERA over four starts with the Single-A Greensboro Grasshoppers before needing an extended stay on the injured list for Tommy John Surgery.

In 2019, Garrett finally got a chance to show his stuff. He was 6-6 with a 3.34 ERA with the Hammerheads. In 105 innings over 20 starts, he collected 118 strikeouts and posted a 1.229 WHIP, walking 37. He’s still going to need a full season at the Double-A level with the Shrimp, where he was blasted in his only career start last season. He should be in the mix for a roster spot out of 2021 Spring Training.

LHP Trevor Rogers, Carlsbad, NM

Fellow lefty Trevor Rogers could form a formidable 1-2 punch with Garrett. Miami’s first round pick, 13th overall in 2017, Rogers stands six-foot-six with a plus-fastball leading a four-pitch mix.

In 18 starts last season with Jupiter, Rogers was 5-8 with a 2.53 ERA. In 110 1/3 innings of work, he struck out 122 batters while walking only 24 for a near-elite 1.097 WHIP. Perhaps a small step ahead of Garrett in terms of development, Rogers profiles as a possible number two or three starter. He’ll join Garrett with the Jumbo Shrimp in 2020 and also get a chance to latch on with the parent club in 2021.

OF Kameron Misner, Poplar Bluff, MO

Birthday boy Kameron Misner turns 22-years-old today. Miami’s Competitive Balance pick in 2019, Misner came off the board 35th overall.

Despite what could be considered as a “down” year for Misner, he slashed .286/.440/.481 in 57 contests for the Tigers, with 10 homers and 20 stolen bases in 21 attempts. After an eight-game look with the Rookie-level GCL Marlins in the Gulf Coast League, Misner went on to appear in 34 games for the Clinton LumberKings at the Single-A level.

For the Kings, left-handed hitting and throwing Misner hit .276/.380/.373 and stole eight bases without getting caught. With accelerated development a possibility, Misner will not join the Marlins until at least 2022.

SS/2B Jose Devers, Samana, DR

Jose Devers joined the Marlins system in the Giancarlo Stanton New York Yankees deal. Miami also got fellow prospect Jorge Guzman and two seasons’ worth of Starlin Castro.

Slowed by shoulder fatigue to end the 2018 campaign, Devers missed three months of the 2019 season to combat a forearm strain. Despite spending time at GCL and with the LumberKings, the balance of Devers’ season was in Jupiter. He hit a healthy .325, but drew only eight walks and hit only four extra base hits over 33 games with the Hammerheads.

Devers is one of the better contact hitters in the system, and should look forward to challenging for a spot on the parent roster sometime in late-2021.