Miami Marlins: 3 Players that need to “Break-Out” for the Marlins in 2021

After finishing last season with a loss in the 2020 NLDS to the Braves, the Miami Marlins entered the offseason with a ton of momentum. Coming off a season in which the Marlins surprised everyone making the Postseason, Miami now appears set to make a lot of noise in 2021 as one of the most exciting young teams in baseball.

While most will argue that the Miami Marlins only made the 2020 MLB Postseason due to the shortened schedule, the Marlins had the pieces needed to win then, and guess what? They still have them now.

The Marlins display an impressive pitching staff headlined by Sandy Alcantara, as well as a sneaky-deep lineup capable of beating you in many ways. Combine those with a top farm-system with numerous prospects knocking on the door of the big leagues, and it’s clear why the Marlins can show that 2020 was no fluke.

There will however be a few dominoes that need to fall a certain way for this to happen.

The Miami Marlins will need some notable players to improve in 2021 to contend again.

The Marlins have the pieces needed to contend once again in 2021, but need to see a few notable players take the “next-step” to make that thought a reality.

Not only do these players need to show improvement to help the team’s success, but also for themselves as well. Whether they are top prospects debuting or major leaguers still getting adjusted, the threat of being traded or sent-down is always there.

Now there is no secret that contending teams will do anything to go win a World Series. We’ve seen top prospects and highly-touted younger players traded to help put a team “over-the-hump” in the past, and that could happen to these players if their performance is lacking per say.

With that being said, here are three players in particular for the Miami Marlins that need to put up big numbers during the 2021 season, partly for the Marlins’ success, but themselves as well.

2. Trevor Rogers – Miami Marlins SP

After a fairly disappointing 2020 season in which he made his MLB debut, Trevor Rogers is quickly emerging as a potential massive piece of the Miami Marlins future rotation.

As mentioned previously, the 23-year old LHP made his MLB debut during the 2020 MLB season. Rogers however struggled posting a 6.11 ERA through 7 starts, and showed numerous areas of potential improvement.

Rogers came to the MLB as a highly-touted pitching prospect within the Marlins system. Drafted out of high school in the 2017 MLB Draft, Rogers displayed a plus fastball and changeup with potential to make batters miss often. Rogers flashed those pitches often during the limited 2020 season giving Marlins’ fans reason to hope next season.

Now in 2021, Rogers has been one of the top pitchers in baseball so far during the 2021 season in nearly the same sample size which we saw from him a year ago.

Rogers has gone 3-1 with a 1.29 ERA through his first five starts while sporting an impressive 1.000 WHIP and an insane 12.2 K/9. Now while it is unlikely the young left-hander sustains those numbers throughout a 162-game season, especially nearly cutting his H/9 allowed in half from a year ago, it is impressive to see what he is doing so far.

Rogers will still need to improve on a few areas, including his 3.7 career BB/9, but the stuff is obviously there to be a special piece of the Marlins future rotation.

If Rogers continues to show this level of improvement, Miami has one of the better strikeout starting pitchers in baseball in the back-end of their rotation.

3. Lewin Diaz – Miami Marlins 1B

The Miami Marlins #5 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, the Miami Marlins need a big year from Lewin Diaz.

Diaz is regarded by some as the Marlins first baseman of the future, and is on-the-verge of scratching the big leagues full time.

Diaz, a career .268 hitter in the minor leagues, made his highly-anticipated MLB debut during the 2020 season, but didn’t necessarily have the most success. Only appearing in 14 games, Diaz went 6/39 from the plate while also driving in 3 runs, but struck-out in twelve of those at-bats.

The 24-year old first baseman didn’t necessarily “light-it-up” in spring training either, only hitting .227 in 22 at-bats. Diaz, because of this slow start, started this season in the minor leagues.

With MLB veteran Jesus Aguilar set at 1B for the Marlins currently, Diaz has the talent and potential to challenge Aguilar for playing time eventually. This year will be an important one because of this, not only for Diaz, but for the Marlins as well.

If Diaz struggles to take the next-step combined with Aguilar continuing to impress in the major leagues, Miami may opt-to prefer Aguilar long-term. If this is the case, Diaz could become a trade candidate for the Marlins to land an instant-impact star player.

The talent is obviously there for Diaz. Now knocking on the door of the big leagues full-time, it’s clear why 2021 is a massive season for Diaz and the Marlins both.

If Diaz develops and succeeds in the big-leagues, Miami has its first-baseman of the future.

If not, combined with continued success from Aguilar, you could possibly let the trade talks begin down in South Beach.

While the Marlins will still have a talented roster even if these three under-perform this season, break-out season’s from Lopez, Rogers, and Diaz could help put the Fish back in the Postseason once again. Not only would this benefit Miami this season, but could also help provide clarity of the future positional outlook of the Marlins for years to come.