Miami Marlins 2023 Draft picks for the 7th and 8th round an analysis

7th round - P Justin Storm

The Miami Marlins 7th round pick in the 2023 MLB draft is pitcher Justin Storm out of Southern Miss.  Storm fits the Marlins trend for pitchers this draft as he is a towering 6’7” and is a lefty reliever.  

Storm was the saves leader for his team and had 8 saves and compiled a 7-2 record.  His 2.36 ERA and 0.94 WHIP is impressive but still not his most impressive statistic.  In 164 at-bats over 45.2 innings storm struck out 72. 

Storm is a junior and again doesn’t have much experience outside of his junior year.  He pitched 14.2 innings his sophomore year and 9.2 his freshman year.   This could turn out to be a good thing if Storm keeps plowing down batters as he doesn’t have much wear on his shoulder and as such can be stretched further.   

This is another fit pick for Kim Ng and it could again be a very good one if his junior year is a sign of things to come.  The Marlins system could use some good relief pitchers as so many young pitchers have been promoted to the big leagues, and he could find himself as a quick mover if trends continue.

8th round - P Nick Maldonado

The Miami Marlins 8th round selection in the 2023 MLB draft is Nick Maldonado, a pitcher from Vanderbilt.  Maldonado is a different story than some of the other prospects as he played for 4 years from age 20-23 at Vanderbilt so there is a lot more to his resume.  

Maldonado is a 6’1” relief pitcher who again has not been overused and was the closer for Vandy this past year. Maldonado was used in some differing ways however as he at times pitched 3 or 4 innings in long relief to finish out the game.  That could translate very well to the Marlins farm system as a set up man or longer relief guy who can go 2-3 towards the end of the game if need be. 

Maldonado’s stats were very consistent and his senior year he was 1-1 with 8 saves, compiling a 1.45 ERA over 31 innings with an amazing 0.677 WHIP.  He also had his best year his senior year with strikeouts, averaging 11.6 per 9 innings.  It will be exciting to see how the Marlins use him moving forward.