Marlins: JJ Bleday named one of top 10 outfield prospects for 2020

Marlins outfielder JJ Bleday was named one of the top minor league baseball prospects for the upcoming season by Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com.

Miami Marlins fans should be excited when they read about all these prospects being recognized by MLB.com and MLB Pipeline as being some of the best in all of minor league baseball. In one of the more recent stories write on prospects across baseball’s landscape JJ Bleday has been ranked as one of the top 10 OF prospects for 2020 by Jonathan Mayo.

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“If you’re looking for potential Rookie of the Year candidates, the top 10 outfield list might be the place to start,” Mayo writes.“Two years ago, the list included the Braves’ Ronald Acuña Jr., who won National League Rookie of the Year honors, Nationals phenom Juan Soto, who was runner-up to Acuña, and the Angels’ Shohei Ohtani, the AL Rookie of the Year.”

Bleday, who was the fourth pick in the 2019 MLB Draft may still be two seasons away before he sets foot on the surface at Marlins Park, but he is proving to be a player who could someday become the face of this organization. And the college player from Vanderbilt has shown no signs of slowing down since leading the Commodores to an NCAA title last summer.

The No. 2 prospect in the organization is ranked as the eighth-best outfield prospect in baseball by Mayo with an arrival time in the Majors of 2021. By then, the Marlins will hopefully have improved enough to move up the ladder in the National League East and the front office will sort out a crowded outfield that was once an area of concern in the organization.

The front office made it a point to concentrate on adding pitchers to the staff once the new ownership group led by Derek Jeter bought the team. Last season, it was a role reversal as the need for hitters at each level of the minors became evident. The first thought was to focus on younger arms that take time to develop.

Now, the Marlins focus has been on older hitters with more experience so they move through the feeder system faster. But the front office is in no rush to get Bleday to the Majors and will monitor his progress this season, starting a High-A Jupiter and possibly a move to Jacksonville, the team’s Double-A affiliate at some point this summer.