Miami Marlins News: RHP David Hess Acquired from Tampa Bay

The Miami Marlins quietly made their second trade of the month on Saturday as they added a potential depth piece to their system.

After making arguably the first major trade of the 2021 MLB trade season earlier this week sending OF Corey Dickerson and RP Adam Cimber to Toronto, the Marlins are at it again. As mentioned previously, this move obviously didn’t garner the same amount of attention as previous, but could provide an impact going forward.

Miami Marlins acquire RHP David Hess.

The Marlins made a move on Saturday to acquire RHP David Hess from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for minor league RHP Justin Sterner and cash.

Hess, a 27-year old right-hander from Pembroke Pines, FL, was originally a 5th Round pick out of Tennessee Tech by the Baltimore Orioles in the 2014 MLB Draft. Reaching the big leagues with Baltimore in 2018, Hess appeared in 47 games (33 starts) between 2018 and 2020 posting a combined 5.86 ERA with 69 BB’s and 143 K’s.

After being granted free agency back in November of 2020, Hess signed with the Rays in December where he has been pitching down in Triple-A with the Durham Bulls so far this season. Across 13 appearances (11 as a reliever), Hess posted a 5-1 record with a 2.81 ERA across 32 IP with 5 BB’s and 37 K’s.

While it is unknown which role Hess will play going forward for the Marlins, he is a pitcher that has both starting and relief experience. Under team control for multiple years, the 27-year old right-hander could be a player to watch going forward, should he begin to carve a definitive role on the Marlins pitching staff.

Hess claims the final open spot on the 40-man roster, and should be available for Miami going forward. As mentioned before, it’s currently unknown what role he plays for the remainder of the season, but a pitcher with the experience and versatility of Hess could make the right-hander a player to keep an eye on going forward.