Marlins links, 9/24/18: Richards pitches great in winning effort, Realmuto’s breakout, prospect breakdown

Marlins beat Reds in final home game

As of late, Trevor Richards hasn’t been effective, but he delivered one of his best starts yesterday as the Marlins beat the Reds 6-0. Richards’ final line—7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 9 K—was made possible by an effective changeup. He punched out eight batters with his trademark pitch.

Marlins backup catcher Chad Wallach provided the Marlins with a three-run lead on his first career home run.

Lewis Brinson and Magneuris Sierra combined to go 4-for-7 with two RBIs.

Silver lining to the season

The Marlins wrap up 2018 with plenty of roster deficiencies, but J.T. Realmuto isn’t one of them. Ty Bradley of MLB Trade Rumors notes that his emergence into “the premier backstop in the game” is a positive development, regardless of how the front office approaches this offseason.

With contract extension negotiations upcoming, Realmuto is either a long-term building block or a juicy asset to be flipped for several impactful young players.

Updated top 10 prospects

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Writing from a fantasy perspective, Marc Hulet released his updated top Marlins prospects rankings on RotoGraphs. Sandy Alcántara is the headliner. Alcántara is joined by four other pitchers at the top, followed by outfielder and 2018 draftee Tristan Pompey:

The brother of Dalton Pompey, who has some serious makeup concerns, Tristan may have suffered from that reputation as well as his own as people have questioned his work ethic/drive at times. The talent is undeniable, though, if the maturity is there. He has the potential to hit for average, will take a walk and has the speed to nab bases.

Hulet remains skeptical of Monte Harrison’s strikeout potential and kept him off the list.

New Fish Bites episode

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Our own Aram Leighton sat down with Adam McInturff of 2080 Baseball to discuss the Marlins prospects and his assessment of their minor league system.

They focused on top draft picks Connor Scott, Osiris Johnson, and Will Banfield, each of whom McInturff got to evaluate up close this past summer. They also revisit the club’s decision to trade Christian Yelich, who’s most likely the NL MVP.

Sandy vs. Strasburg, Take 2

Sandy Alcántara and Stephen Strasburg face off again in a rematch of last week’s game. Sandy was the losing pitcher on record as he struggled with his control and walked six batters. Strasburg continued his dominance of the Marlins as he struck out 11 batters on the way to a win.

This marks the beginning of the Fish’s final road trip of 2018. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m.