An analysis of how the top Miami Marlins are performing

The Miami Marlins have a highly rated farm system. In fact we recently wrote about it here and here. Let’s analyze The Fish’s top prospects. The prospects that I’ll be analyzing are: #1 SP Max Meyer, #5 OF Peyton Burdick, #2 SP Edward Cabrera, #6 OF JJ Bleday and #3 SS Kahlil Watson. How are they doing?

The Miami Marlins have a top 5 farm system.

Let’s start with Meyer. The 23 year old elite RHP pitching prospect has a 1.72 ERA/2.04 FIP in 31.1 AAA innings with 11.20 K/9 and 2.59 BB/9. It’s pretty clear that he’s ready for a promotion. There’s really nothing in his profile that suggests that his production is a fluke, and the only question is when he will show up on the Major League team. Meyer could give the Miami Marlins the best rotation in the game.

Next up is 24 year old RHP prospect Edward Cabrera. Cabrera is also currently in AAA and has so far produced a 2.00 ERA/3.37 FIP with 8.00 K/9 and 5.00 BB/9. It seems that Cabrera is going in the right direction, but clearly needs more seasoning. Cabrera will get another shot at the Majors after a disappointing performance last season (5.81 ERA/6.63 FIP). Cabrera had an elite 14.73 K/9 in 2021 in AAA, but with 5.83 BB/9. He also had a 3.68 ERA/3.91 FIP. I think that Cabrera needs more AAA work.

Bleday is another prospect in AAA, the 24 year old left handed hitter is hitting .233/.378/.456 in 129 PA. As we can see the average isn’t particularly good, but his OBP shows very good plate discipline. This is proven by his elite16.5% BB%. Fangraphs gives JJ a 55/55 in raw power, so the home runs are likely to increase quite a bit. Bleday’s K% has been steadily staying at around 24.5%. Bleday needs more time, but the future continues to be pretty bright for the young slugger.

Another elite OF prospect is 25 year old right handed hitter Peyton Burdick, who is currently hitting .230/.364/.470 in 121 AAA PA’s. Burdick has a 14.9 BB% and clearly has the necessary plate discipline to make it in the Majors. Burdick is rated by Fangraphs as having elite 70/70 raw power, so once his power and contact improve he could be an important asset to the Miami Marlins OF.

Kahlil Watson is the final prospect that i wanted to take a look at. The 19 year old right handed hitter is still in single A. Watson is hitting .260/.308/.521 in 104 PA with an abysmal 41.3 K%. Watson clearly has a lot of work to do, and I am a bit worried about how he’s been playing so far this season. That said, he’s very young and promising so it’s too early to make any serious negative evaluations. The power is clearly there for example.

The Miami Marlins have an elite farm system and it’s exciting to speculate on when these players are going to be called up. The pitching prospects especially stand out and Meyer may be weeks away from a call-up. It’s definitely a rewarding time to be a Miami Marlins fan.