3 players who could be a spark for the Miami Marlins in September 

1B/OF Troy Johnston

Troy Johnston is the obvious choice for a September call up. He has been lights out all season and is the likely future Marlins 1B and has the stats to show it.  Johnston has been with the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp for a short stint and in his 26 games he has not disappointed. Johnston has had 120 plate appearances and has 5 home runs, 9 doubles, 1 triples, and has driven in 23 runs.  Johnston’s AAA slash line is equally impressive, sitting at .368/.433/.613 with an OPS of 1.047.  The Marlins could use that production up with the big club.  

Johnston has proven all season he belongs and needs a shot with the Marlins.  His season stats through August 26 between both AA and AAA have him hitting a combined .314 with 32 doubles, 23 home runs, and 106 RBI while swiping 18 bags.  His strikeout rate is also exactly where Marlins brass likes it as it happens only 20 % of the time in AAA and below 20% combined.  September is Johnston’s time and he needs to be one of the Marlins call ups.  

RHP Anthony Maldonado

The Marlins could use a good arm out of the pen and there is reason to believe that Anthony Maldonado could be the arm they need to be called up.  Maldonado has the consistent reliever for Jacsksonville this season and has the best reliever for the Jumbo Shirmp.  He has totaled 34.1 innings with a 2.10 ERA in 26 appearances.  Maldonado has a sub 1 WHIP and 54 strikeouts in those 34.1 innings which is impressive.  

The major drawback to Maldonado is that he has been injured multiple times and might not provide the help the Marlins need if he can't stay healthy.  The Puerto Rican team placed him on the roster in February for the WBC and he has been on the injured list during the AAA season two different times.  

Maldonado faced big league talent in his WBC appearance and had a scoreless inning with 2 strikeouts.  If he can stay healthy, Maldonado is a great fit to bolster the Miami Marlins pitching and could add the additional innings they need to get to October.  He has been lights out this month for AAA Jacksonville and has not allowed a run all month. The Marlins need that kind of consistency in their bullpen at the big league level.

SP Edward Cabrera 

This should be a no brainer.  Edward Cabrera was with the Marlins for most of the season so far and seems like he should be back.  The Marlins need pitching and Cabrera is a much better option than Weathers.  There is no doubt. The Marlins can use either a long relief pitcher or another starter to take control of the game and bring them down the stretch to make it to October.  

Cabrera is their guy and was their guy for much of the season.  Since being designated for assignment he has had 4 starts with the last one being August 23rd.  He has compiled a 2-1 record and a 2.31 ERA during that time and has averaged 6 innings per outing.   To top off his good start in AAA he has held hitters below a .200 average and has a WHIP of 1.11 and averaged 9 strikeouts per 9 innings.   He has been solid.  

The Marlins starter could bring back some of his big starts to end the year which would be a great option for the year and it would give him more big league experience.  Cabrera needs to extra innings of experience to stretch out his arm much like Eury Perez is doing.  They will need something to spark the pitching staff, and my vote is for Cabrera for a starter or Maldonado if they are looking for relief.  Frankly, they need both.