The Miami Marlins actually have another breakout hitter

While the season has been a disaster for the Miami Marlins, there are positive player news. One positive is that starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo has been nominated for the prestigious Roberto Clemente award. There's also some positives coming from the farm system. An interesting breakout player this season is first baseman Jonah Bride.

Jonah Bride has broken out with the Miami Marlins this season.

One good thing about Peter Bendix is that he clearly knows what he's doing when it comes to minor trades. On February 7, 2024, the Miami Marlins bought Jonah Bride from the Oakland Athletics. It went unnoticed. There was no reason for anyone to care, as the 28 year old didn't do anything remotely special in his career up to that point.

Jonah Bride spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons with the Oakland Athletics. In that time, his production can at best be described as "underwhelming". He batted .192/.296/.232, with a home run and 13 RBI in 98 games and 250 AB. He was worth -0.2 WAR for that production. It's hard to see why anyone would care about acquiring him right?

Peter Bendix saw something in Bride that none of us did. He's now rewarded us this season, as he's batted a much better .263/.352/.419 with 7 home runs and 28 RBI in 59 games and 186 AB. That's not necessarily MVP production, but that OBP is really really good. He has great plate discipline and even some power in his bat. His EV is not particularly impressive at 86.2, but he clearly gets on base and puts the ball in play.

Another big positive about Bride is that he's under arbitration control for the foreseeable future. Can he improve on that? Realistically probably not, but if he's a 20 home run bat with a good OBP and a .260-.270 batting average, that's actually a pretty good situation. He's under control through the 2028 season by the way.

I'm excited to see what Jonah Bride will do over the course of a full season next year for the Miami Marlins. The Fish found a great bargain!