Miami Marlins links, 6/26/18: Monday’s comeback, Smith’s big setback, 2018 draft summary

Monday’s comeback win

Already up 3-1 in the third inning, the Diamondbacks looked to be on the verge of breaking Monday’s game wide open. But Dan Straily buckled down from there and the Marlins spoiled Shelby Miller’s return from Tommy John surgery with a well-rounded offensive attack.

Sweet revenge after being swept in the desert when these teams previously met. Even better, star catcher J.T. Realmuto got a full night off.

This shouldn’t be too surprising considering how productive Miami’s bats have been throughout June.

KKKKKKaleb Smith’s rookie season cut short

Russell Lansford-USA TODAY Sports

The Marlins continue to discuss the best course of treatment, but either way, Caleb Smith will be sidelined several months with a severe lat strain. The injury occurred on Saturday afternoon in Colorado.

Acquired from the Yankees last November, he had exceeded expectations to emerge as a legitimate starter, racking up 88 strikeouts through 77 ¹⁄₃ innings.

Minor league scoreboard

Triple-A: Iowa 4, New Orleans 3 (36-40)

Double-A: Jacksonville 7 (30-43), Mississippi 2

Low-A: Kannapolis 1, Greensboro 7 (37-36)

Short Season A: Batavia 4 (5-5), State College 3

Gulf Coast League: GCL Cardinals 12, GCL Marlins 5 (3-4)

Dominican Summer League: DSL Marlins 5 (8-11), DSL Royals1 4

June 25 box scores courtesy of MiLB.com

New challenge for Jose Devers?

I take issue with the use of “phenom” here, but this season has certainly been a breakout for Devers. He’s batting .291/.331/.372 in 57 games with Greensboro—against much older competition—after coming over in the Giancarlo Stanton trade.

Health permitting, Devers seems destined for the major leagues. However, it’s still unclear whether he can develop enough physically to be an impactful player at the highest level.

The next wave

Feast your eyes on the fuuuuuuuuuuture!

Marlins Communications

Many of these 33 amateur deals had been reported previously, but now we have a mostly complete picture of the 2018 class.

It is, undisputedly, among the best Marlins draft hauls in recent memory. Relying heavily on prep players in the early rounds adds some risk and delays their potential major league arrivals. Most importantly, though, the quartet of Connor Scott, Osiris Johnson, Will Banfield and Tristan Pompey strengthen the farm system with plenty of high-upside talent that wasn’t thought to be attainable for a team with middle-of-the-pack draft position.

Major League Baseball awarded the Marlins a bonus pool of $8,658,400 to sign their picks from the first 10 rounds. They spent nearly half of that—$4,038,200—on Scott alone and $8,996,700 on those players combined, according to MLB.com’s draft tracker. After going way over slot to lock up Banfield, they saved on pitchers Cason Sherrod, Jake Walters and Tanner Andrews (all college seniors). MLB will tax the team at a 75 percent overage for outspending its pool; going over $9,091,320 would have meant forfeiting future picks.

Good luck in Korea!

Veteran first baseman/outfielder Scott Van Slyke is headed to the KBO. He had been batting .248/.354/.467 with eight home runs for Triple-A New Orleans, but wasn’t a candidate for a major league promotion anytime soon.

Rehabbing Garrett Cooper will receive increased playing time for the Baby Cakes in Van Slyke’s place.