Marlins Minor League Report: April 8-14

Each week, Fish Stripes will be recapping the past week’s performances throughout the Marlins minor league system. Highlighting the players who either had an outstanding week, or one they would like to put behind them.

All stats updated entering April 15.

Triple-A New Orleans Baby Cakes (2-4, 4-6 overall)

The New Orleans Baby Cakes sustained a rough week between losing four out of their six games, and having two of their games postponed due to unplayable weather conditions. Their pitching this past week was a big reason why they were only able to win two of their six games. In the four games they lost, their pitching surrendered a total of 25 runs.

Disappointing Player: Joe Gunkel

RHP Joe Gunkel was blown up by the Omaha Storm Chasers on April 14, making him this week’s most-disappointing player from the Baby Cakes. In his second start of the season, Gunkel was pulled from the game after just two innings and 58 pitches thrown, following the nine hits and seven runs that he surrendered.

Double-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (2-4, 4-6 overall)

The Jumbo Shrimp’s offense has woken up slightly from a week ago. But, they’re still relying too heavily on their pitching to win games for them. In each of their four losses, the offense failed to score four or more runs in each game. So while it’s very encouraging that their pitching has continued to perform effectively this past week, they desperately need their offense to start producing more runs.

Disappointing Player: John Silviano

John Silviano’s performance of 3-for-19 at the plate this past week was particularly costly coming from the heart of the batting order. The 24-year-old was moved around from the No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 spots. But unfortunately none of that sparked his bat in the five games that he played in this past week. The first-baseman is now hitting .121/.171/.212/.384 along with one home run, two RBI, two walks and 16 strikeouts in 33 at-bats this season.

High-A Jupiter Hammerheads (4-2, 5-5 overall)

The Jupiter Hammerheads only played in six games this past week due to their game on April 14 getting rained out. That delays their attempt to extend a three-game winning streak. During their streak, the Hammerheads have produced a total of 14 runs and have only surrendered two. The Hammerheads’ pitching was able to shut down their opponents at the plate this past week, which they were unable to do in the previous week, when they gave up 19 runs in four games.

Outstanding Players: Will Stewart, Edward Cabrera & Jordan Holloway

Normally only one player is chosen for this, but I just couldn’t choose just one player from this team for this section. Edward Cabrera (#8), Jordan Holloway (#13) and Will Stewart (#21), who are all ranked among the top-30 prospects in the Marlins minor league system according to MLB Pipeline, were equally outstanding. They combined for a record of 3-0 and zero runs earned, along with only surrendering three hits and four walks. The trio also combined to strikeout 24 batters and are the biggest reason for this current three-game win-streak.

(This week’s episode of Earning Their Stripes on the Fish Stripes podcast will feature an interview with Stewart! You can subscribe here.)

Low-A Clinton LumberKings (2-3, 4-5 overall)

The trend of having poor weather conditions affected the Clinton LumberKings as well. They had two out of their seven games postponed this past week. In the five games that were playable, the LumberKings struggled to keep their opponents from producing runs. Their pitching staff gave up a combined 27 runs, 48 hits and 33 walks over the five games played this past week.

Disappointing Player: Peyton Culbertson

A 2018 draft pick of the Marlins, Culbertson stood out among the pitchers on the LumberKings...and not in a positive way. Culbertson made his second start of the season against the Beloit Snappers on April 13. While the LumberKings still won the game, they found themselves in a hold thanks to Culbertson. The right-hander only pitched 3 and ²⁄₃ innings and surrendered four hits, five runs (three earned) and five walks.