Marlins Prospects Likely To Debut in 2021

The Miami Marlins are next on our Players Likely to Debut series. We covered the AL East last week and the Marlins kick off our focus on the NL East.

AL East: Red Sox — Yankees — Orioles — Blue Jays — Rays

Below, you will find a list of three prospects from the respective organization. Each prospect will have a number score next to their name — this number will represent the estimated amount of time we anticipate that player seeing at the big-league level. Players that have already made their big-league debut will not be included on this list.

BREAKDOWN OF TIME ON ROSTER SCORES:

1 — September call-ups / guys that are likely to see less than 20-25 games on the roster

2 — 1/4 of the season (roughly 40 games on roster)

3 — 1/2 of the season (roughly 80 games on roster)

4 — 3/4 of the season (roughly 120 games on roster)

5 — Full season on the MLB roster

Miami Marlins

Position — Name (Time on Roster Score)

RHP-Edward Cabrera (3)

Cabrera is another young arm in a very deep Marlins system. He tore up the Marlins’ 2019 system with 116K in 96.2 IP between High-A and Double-A. He was in the Marlins summer camp in 2020 but was shutdown due to a back injury. He has flashed a plus fastball and a slider. If he continues to work on his changeup as a plus pitch, he has the ceiling to be a number two starter. A lot of the writers on the staff are fans of this electric arm.

Some more live BP from this morning

JJ Bleday / Edward Cabrera. Round ✌🏻

Cabrera faced Bleday, Monte Harrison and Jerar Encarnacion each twice.

He was untouchable. #Marlins pic.twitter.com/iT4Y0wu1M6

— Ian Smith (@FlaSmitty) February 24, 2020

OF-Jerar Encarnación (1)

Encarnación has a massive presence in the outfield. Standing at 6-5, 239lb, Encarnación has raw power and a swing that covers a lot of the plate that generates hard contact. Like Cabrera, he moved quickly through the minors in 2019 and earned a spot on the 40-man roster this winter. He posses an arm in the outfield, getting 19 assists between two levels in 2019. A fast start in Double-A could earn him a September call up.

9th inning. 3-run bomb to break the tie.

Jerar Encarnacion reps the Marlins farm system. #MarlinsST pic.twitter.com/uG2xolOHAX

— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) February 25, 2020

OF-JJ Bleday (2)
The 2019 4th pick overall was in alternate camp in 2020. He handled his first assignment in High-A well, putting up a wRC+ of 107. With the combination of a quick bat, raw power, speed, and the ability to hit the ball to all fields, the lefty bad should be making an appearance by the end of the summer.

JJ Bleday abusing the first pitch he sees from Braxton Garrett #Marlins pic.twitter.com/8npXK7JOmg

— Ian Smith (@FlaSmitty) February 23, 2020

Notable

Infielder Jose Devers, who came over in the Stanton deal, is a name to look out for as he should be starting the season in Double-A. Griffin Conine, son of former Marlin, Jeff Conine, who came over in a trade from Toronto in August, is another outfield who makes hard contact and could also see him make a rise through the system in 2021.

Photo Credit: Miami Herald

Big League Debut: Tommy Edman, Peter Lambert and Jordan Yamamoto

Tommy Edman- The Cardinals selected Edman in the sixth round of the 2016 draft out of Stanford where he majored in math and computational science. He was a starter all three years on campus in Palo Alto and was even the Cardinal number three hitter despite his 5’10” 180 pound frame. The switch-hitter does a little bit of everything and fits the archetype of a pesky yet productive middle infielder.

Defensively Edman is widely viewed as a better long term fit at second base, but I disagree and think there’s enough defensive ability here to stick as a primary shortstop. The hands are soft, and he has enough arm and range be an average or close to average defender there. For Triple-A Memphis he has played primarily at second base because of the presence of Edmundo Sosa . He has also spent some time at third and also started playing some centerfield to diversify the portfolio. He’s a high IQ player that gets the most out of his tools.

Offensively, Edman has the type of profile that often exceeds expectations. What I mean by that is Edman’s ability to hit for a high average while also controlling the strike zone from both sides of the plate. Since entering pro ball Edman owns a career .286/.353/.415 line with a career 85% success rate on the base paths, including a 30-for-35 season last year between Double-A Springfield and Triple-A Memphis. Power is his biggest deficiency but he’s already hit a single season high seven homers in his 49 game stint with Memphis this year. The introduction of the Major League ball in Triple-A certainly helps, but Edman did also add 10-15 pounds of muscle this spring. Players of this ilk, above average to plus hit tools with strong plate skills, contact ability and above average speed are the ones that often exceed scouting reports and Edman is in an organization that has a strong track record of extracting the most out of college bats. Jedd Gyorko going on the injured list created an opportunity for the 24 year old infielder. Edman is currently hitting .305/.356/.513 for Memphis with nine stolen bases and seven homers. He’s played himself into position to be added in 20 team dynasty leagues because of his well-rounded profile and high floor. Lance Brozdowski ranked Edman 25th on the St. Louis Cardinals top 30 list.

Peter Lambert- Throw out the numbers when judging Rockies pitching prospects, especially guys pitching in Albuquerque. According to statcorner.com with 100 being neutral, the park factor for homers is 122 for left-handed hitters and 143 for righties, which are insane numbers. For comparisons sake Coors Field checks in at 119 and 117. So his home park in Albuquerque is more hitter friendly than Coors by a considerable margin. Ralph ranked Lambert fifth in the Colorado system, and broke down his arsenal as follows; “Lambert mixes a fastball in the 92-94 range with sink and run, a tumbling changeup pairs well with his fastball generating most of the whiffs I saw in Hartford. His curveball has nice 12-6 break, and he lands it for strikes, lots he’ll steal on the outside corner to lefties. His repertoire is completed by an average slider with some two-plane break. His complete control and command of his arsenal led Lambert to earn better reviews than perhaps his numbers would indicate. In the handful of Lambert starts I witnessed this season he showed the ability to locate all of his pitches for strikes, showing the ability to pitch backwards off his curveball and changeup.” He repeats his delivery well, with plus command/control that pushes the stuff up a grade. He’s not all that dissimilar to what Kyle Freeland can offer from a fantasy perspective.

Jordan Yamamoto- The Brewers drafted Yamamoto out of St. Louis High School in Honolulu. He came over to the Marlins in the Christian Yelich deal along with outfielders Lewis Brinson, Monte Harrison and 2B Isan Diaz. He pitched well as soon as he entered the Marlins organization despite a battle with shoulder soreness that limited to just under 70 innings pitched in 2018. There were some stints in 2018 when Yamamoto’s fastball velocity dipped into the high-80s, but 2019 reports on his fastball have it back in the low-90s and he averaged 90.8 mph during his big league debut. Yamamoto gets by on the strength of his secondary offerings. His curveball is his best pitch and it grades out as plus. He commands it to both sides of the plate and its his primary swing and miss pitch against righties. He also throws an above average slider, and a change. His fastball is his only offering with a below average grade, but he also throws a cutter with good run. His overall below average stuff plays due to his above average to plus command, and the deception with the long arm action and a cross body delivery. He projects as a back end starter long term but definitely a play in almost any home matchup. Noted Marlins super-fan Eddy Almaguer ranked Yamamoto eighth on his Marlins top 30 list.