What’s wrong with Kahlil Watson?

Neil Raymond

MIAMI, FL - MARCH 27: A general view of the new Marlins logo in the outfield during 2019 Workout Day at Marlins Park on March 27, 2019 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)

The recently released lists of the top 100 prospects and the top farm systems had a glaring omission: Miami Marlins SS prospect Kahlil Watson wasn’t on the top 100 prospects list and was mentioned on the top farm systems list as underperforming this season, so what happened? We already mentioned some issues earlier, but let’s dive deeper into this situation.

Kahlil Watson is no longer a top prospect for the Miami Marlins.

Kahlil Watson was rising up the top 100 prospect lists and it seemed that he was the Miami Marlins SS of the future. He grabbed headlines this summer by seemingly threatening to shoot an umpire for a called strikeout call against him. Yes you read that correctly. Now he did it by pointing a bat at him as if it was a gun, and some could see it as no big deal, but with the amount of gun related violence in the country, it’s certainly not a topic to be used in such a way. At best it made Kahlil look immature and socially unaware, at worst it showed a dangerous streak.

Putting aside Kahlil Watson’s maturity, there’s also the question of his performance on the field. He batted .394/.524/.606 in 9 games and 42 PA in 2021 at the CPX level, and then .273/.500/.727 at the same level in 5 games and 18 PA earlier this season. He was promoted to single A and batted .226/.290/.374 in 69 games and 243 PA.

The first issue that Kahlil Watson clearly has is his 36.9% strikeout rate that is a major issue. The 7.5% BB% isn’t much promising either. The strikeouts are clearly his biggest problem at the moment. He needs to get more patient and stop swinging at everything. It’s possible that at 19 he also feels overwhelmed. A big thing thatI also noticed is that he has a 43.3% GB% that dramatically increased from his 14.3% number from earlier.

The Miami Marlins need to work with Kahlil Watson on his patience at the plate and his maturity. A successful plan can lead to him rising up the prospect rankings on e again and living up to the lofty potential that was once placed on his shoulders.

Neil Raymond

Neil Raymond has been a lifelong Miami Marlins fan, with the 2003 playoff run being one of his favorite childhood memories. Neil has been called a "walking encyclopedia" for his knowledge of MLB statistics and the sport's history. He follows every game and actually invented his own statistic for player value on his side project BaseballAnalyzed.com. Writing for Fansided's Marlin Maniac since 2022, he also loves Fantasy Baseball and as such is an FSWA member. Neil also loves to travel, read and follow "Futbol" teams: Germany, Argentina, Greece, Inter Miami, Bayern Munich and NYC FC.