Miami Marlins: Why OF JJ Bleday is the Marlins “must-see” prospect in 2021

It is no secret that the Miami Marlins have one of the top farm systems in all of baseball. Rated as the No. 4 farm system according to MLB Pipeline, the Marlins display numerous top prospects with the potential to contribute at the big league level during the 2021 season, while also having four players ranked among MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospects overall.

With the 2021 minor league baseball season set to begin, momentum continues to build for Miami Marlins top prospects. There is however one Marlins top prospect in particular that will be “must-see” during the 2021 season.

Not only will this prospect most likely dominate the minor leagues, but if he gets the call to the big leagues, he could potentially step-in and make an immediate impact.

OF JJ Bleday is the Miami Marlins “must-see” prospect in 2021.

The Marlins drafted JJ Bleday with the 4th overall pick in the First Round of the 2019 MLB Draft. Coming out of Vanderbilt, Bleday was coming off a season in which he led the Commodores to a national championship, while also leading the nation in HRs (27) and total bases (192). Bleday also sported an impressive .326 batting average and 1.003 OPS combined during his three seasons in Nashville.

Bleday started his professional career with the Miami Marlins during 2019 with the Jupiter Hammerheads, the Class-A Advanced affiliate of the Marlins. While he only hit .257 with 3 HRs, 19 RBIs, and an .690 OPS in 38 games at Jupiter, the talent and potential was obviously evident as to just how good Bleday could be.

Now obviously Bleday didn’t get a normal minor league season in 2020, but he impressed at the Marlins alternate training site flashing his advanced hitting abilities, strong defense, and plus arm.

Bleday enters the 2021 season as the Miami Marlins No. 2 prospect, as well as the No. 16 prospect in baseball according to MLB Pipeline. The highly-touted OF will begin the minor league season in Double-A with the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, and could see the call up to Triple-A or the big leagues early on depending on how he starts the season.

Nevertheless, Bleday could 100% factor in the Miami Marlins big league plans in 2021. If the Marlins outfielders begin to struggle in the major leagues, combined with success from Bleday, the Marlins top position-player prospect could get the call.

If he does indeed get the call, we should expect Bleday to be “must-see” from day one in Miami, and begin to show everyone why the Marlins young prospects will allow them to be a force to contend with for years to come.