Things We Love to See: July 18, 2018

After yesterday’s big introduction, it’s time to settle in and really look at how a lot of these guys are doing on the farm. Expect the journal going forward to be a lot more casual, and a little more box scores-based.

July 18, 2018 box scores

Even on the slowest sports day of the year there was still a lot of exciting action from the Marlins minor league system last night. Every team except the Marlins and Greensboro Grasshoppers was in action, and some of the bigger names in the system had solid performances. The most exciting box score may have come from the GCL Marlins, where some of their rookies shined.

System’s Top Performance: Osiris Johnson, DH (GCL Marlins)—Johnson had the best day of his pro career so far and one of the more exciting games I’ve seen from a prospect this season. Osiris went 4-for-6 with a double, a home run, 3 runs scored and 3 runs batted in. This is a great thing to see from such a young kid in pro action, and he’s now got his average above .260 on the year. We absolutely LOVE to see it.

New Orleans Baby Cakes (AAA)

Magneuris Sierra, CF—1-5 with 1 R and an RBI. His struggles at the plate continue, and his average is now down below .260.

Top Performer: Tomás Telis, C—3-3 1 walk (BB) and 1 R. This one will make my boy Alex really happy. Telis is a farm hand that goes back and forth between AAA and the MLB to provide catching depth in the system.

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (AA)

Monte Harrison, CF—2-4 1 RBI 2 K. It’s always nice to see Harrison pick up a couple hits, but when he counteracts that with a double strikeout game it’s not great. Still a nice night for him at the plate, earning him yesterday’s top performance in Jacksonville.

Isan Diaz, 2B—1-4 2 K. The line from Isan yesterday is not nearly as exciting as the news we received this morning. According to Joe Frisaro (@JoeFrisaro on Twitter), the Marlins have promoted Diaz from AA to AAA, a huge step in his progression.

Diaz was slashing .245/.365/.418 with 10 HR and 42 RBI, and was walking at almost a 15% clip. This move puts him on the same path that Brian Anderson was on in 2017, where a good month or so in AAA could see him come up to the big league squad as a September call-up. From there, he’ll have an opportunity to prove he belongs in the Show permanently.

His success makes it a great day for the Marlins organization as a whole. Congrats to Isan.

Photo by The Florida Times-Union

Nick Neidert, SP—Neidert didn’t have one of his cleanest lines but he went 7 IP allowing 4 ER (2 HR) and added 6 K on top of that. He put his team in a good position to try and take the game, but an 8th inning explosion from Pensacola after Neidert was pulled sealed Jacksonville’s fate. Still a good outing and definitely a thing we love to see from Neidert.

Jupiter Hammerheads (High-A)

James Nelson, 3B—Walked and came around to score in a pitch hit appearance.

Top Performer: Riley Mahan, 2B—The Marlins #17 overall prospect had a nice night at the plate going 2-5 with a 2B and 2 RBI.

Batavia Muckdogs (Rookie Ball)

Brayan Hernandez, CF—1-4 BB and an RBI.

DSL Marlins (Dominican Summer League)

Ynmanol Marinez, DH—1-4 3B 1 RBI 1 K. Marinez’s average on the year sits at .252.

Top Performer: Adonis Giron, RF—2-3 2B 1 R 2 RBI 1 K. Giron’s average is up to .261 on the season.

GCL Marlins (Gulf Coast League)

This is where a lot of Wednesday’s exciting action came from, and the rookies from this year’s draft class gave us a lot of things we love to see. We already saw what Osiris Johnson did, but let’s look at how the other Marlins’ top picks performed in the GCL.

Connor Scott, CF—1-6 1 RBI 1 K. While the line might not seem like the greatest it was good to see Scott get a hit after a long hitless streak. All it takes is one to get me excited right now, but if he can start stringing hits together things could get very exciting. Good to see Connor back in the hit column yesterday.

Will Banfield, C—2-4 (both doubles) 1 R 1 RBI 1 BB 1 K. Busy line for Banfield on the day and really good to see him put a multi-hit game together. His average is up above .230, and the most important thing for him going forward in his development will be to continue stringing hits together. Nice day for Will.