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Earning Their Stripes Episode 3: Exclusive Interview with Marlins LHP Will Stewart

Ethan and Ian speak to Will Stewart about how he’s gone from 20th-round draft pick to impact starting pitching prospect, plus updates from across the Marlins farm system.

By Ely Sussman, Ethan Budowsky, and Ian Smith
Photo by Tony Capobianco/Fish on the Farm

Marlins left-hander Will Stewart joins Ethan and Ian for an interview about all aspects of his career (0:36), including what it means for him to be part of such a talented High-A Jupiter pitching staff (3:44), why the changeup is effective for him (5:05), reliving his no-hit bid from last week (6:14), describing some of his teammates (7:33), explaining the origin of his unique delivery (13:00), and reminiscing about growing up in small town Alabama (16:26).

The 21-year-old arrived from the Phillies organization in February as part of the J.T. Realmuto trade. Minimum 100 innings pitched, Stewart’s 1.98 earned run average since the start of the 2018 season ranks sixth-best in Minor League Baseball. His pitch mix includes a low-90s fastball, slider and changeup.

The pod continues with news and updates from around the Marlins farm system (24:05) and highlights from top performers in Ethan’s “Things We Love To See” segment (36:34). Shout out Monte Harrison, Jordan Milbrath and Chris Vallimont.

Enjoy Episode 3 of ETS!

Excerpt about Stewart’s changeup:

“The changeup’s always been one of the hardest pitches in baseball to hit because it looks so much like a fastball, but mine, I feel like, is a little bit different because I can go both ways with it. There’s one where it will run away from a righty and then there’s one where it will run away from a lefty. I don’t normally do it on purpose; sometimes, it just happens.”

Excerpt about his pitching influences growing up:

“I really, really, really loved watching guys like [Greg] Maddux...people like that that were absolute surgeons, that didn’t have to throw hard, that didn’t have to blow up the gun. Not saying they couldn’t, but didn’t have to—all they had to do was put their pitch where they wanted to. Those are the people that I modeled myself after.”

And here is that delivery in action last Friday night:

The Fish Stripes podcast is home to Miami Marlins shows Fish Bites, Earning Their Stripes and A-Ball with Erik Oas. All new episodes are posted to FishStripes.com/podcasts. You can also find them on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Megaphone, PlayerFM or wherever you normally get your pods from.

Follow Fish Stripes (@fishstripes), Ethan (@GatorBait_Ethan) and Ian (@FlaSmitty) on Twitter.

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