Marlins fall/winter update, Nov. 5-11

A regular Monday feature here at Fish Stripes over the next few months, we’ll do a roundup of storylines, stats and highlights from Marlins players who are staying active this offseason. That includes the top prospects showcasing their skills in the Arizona Fall League, but think internationally, too—the organization has several hispanic players getting extra reps in their home countries.

All the weekly updates will be contained in this thread.

Stats updated through Sunday’s games.

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Japan All-Star Tour

Competing in arguably the biggest games of his life, J.T. Realmuto has stepped up.

The tour got underway Thursday with an exhibition between the MLB All-Stars and the Yomiuri Giants. Starting at catcher, Realmuto went 2-for-4 with a double and a home run.

The following night, the major leaguers kicked off a six-game All-Star Series against Samurai Japan. Halfway through, J.T. is demonstrating why he won the NL Silver Slugger this past season: .375/.444/1.250, 2 HR, 4 RBI.

Let’s put this in context:

• Realmuto has homered in three straight games; he’s never done that during his entire MLB career
• All three are opposite-field homers; he’s gone deep to the opposite field four times in 540 MLB games

It’s not a stretch to say that this small sample size brilliance further elevates his trade value heading towards the Winter Meetings.

Arizona Fall League

The Marlins are being represented in the AFL by seven players, including four who are ranked among the organization’s Top 30 prospects, per MLB Pipeline. They’re rostered on the Salt River Rafters (2-3 record last week, 15-11 record overall).

2B/SS Bryson Brigman: .283/.358/.283 in 16 G

RHP Tommy Eveld: 7.2 IP, 9.39 ERA, 6 K

OF Monte Harrison: .308/.403/.369 in 17 G

RHP Kyle Keller: 10.2 IP, 3.38 ERA, 13 K

OF/DH Brian Miller: .236/.328/.273 in 21 G

RHP Chad Smith: 8.0 IP, 6.75 ERA, 3 K

RHP Jordan Yamamoto: 21.0 IP, 2.57 ERA, 21 K

Salt River Rafters stats via MiLB.com

No way to sugarcoat this one: it was a poor week of performance for Marlins prospects in the desert.

The brightest of bright spots in October, Jordan Yamamoto, had his roughest game in the AFL so far. He faced 22 batters, recording just one strikeout.

Thankfully, Monte Harrison and Bryson Brigman joined forces on a 10th-inning walk-off single to bail him out.

The Rafters still lead the East division and can clinch a berth in the AFL Championship Game with three wins in their final four games. There’s also individual pressure, specifically on right-hander Kyle Keller. It will be difficult for the Marlins to squeeze him onto their 40-man roster. Finishing strong could make him a target of other teams in December’s Rule 5 draft, expediting his journey to the major leagues.

(Also, congrats to Tommy Eveld on tying the knot!)

Dominican Winter League

Reinforcements are on the way for Toros del Este. On Instagram, left-hander Jarlin García indicated that he’s preparing to join their roster nearing one month into the season. Jarlin the Marlin had a very uneven summer in the majors (4.91 ERA, 6.37 FIP in 6.0 IP), striking out less than 15 percent of batters faced.

He’ll once again be teammates with Magneuris Sierra, who has faded into a bench role with the Toros. Still no extra-base hits through 15 appearances (.250/.289/.250), and perhaps more discouraging, the speedy outfielder is three weeks removed from his most recent stolen base.

On the other hand, DWL rookie Samuel Castro comfortably leads the squad with a 1.063 OPS. Castro has set a new career high for most professional games played in a calendar year (71) as he makes the case for the Fish to promote him to High-A Jupiter in 2019.

Venezuelan Winter League

Voces de Marca host Daniel Álvarez Montes reports that veteran infielder Miguel Rojas is joining Tiburones de La Guaira next week, hoping to debut on Nov. 21. Rojas has slashed .258/.310/.301 in 276 career games with the Tiburones. He used to spend the entire winter season in his native Venezuela, but dialed that back after establishing a steady MLB role. The 29-year-old keeps his offseason home in South Florida these days and will fly down from there.

Jorgan Cavanerio has been in La Guaira since Opening Day, though without much usage—eight innings pitched in nine relief appearances. Still zero walks (36 batters faced)!

A Rule 5 draft acquisition last year, Elieser Hernández will enter the Águilas del Zulia starting rotation this coming week to build up his workload. Several minor injuries limited him to a total of 86 ¹⁄₃ innings in the organization in 2018.

Photo by AVS Photo Report