Marlins Minor League Report: April 22-28

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 29.

Triple-A New Orleans Baby Cakes (4-2, 13-10 overall)

The New Orleans Baby Cakes have picked up exactly where they left off from last week. They’re now 9-4 over the last two weeks, and now sit just a game back of first place in their division. The Baby Cakes have been sensational for the majority of the season so far, and they continued that trend this past week as well. Their offense was able to produce 41 runs over their six games, which averages out to 6.8 runs/game. Along with the great pitching the Baby Cakes have received over this stretch, they never go down quietly.

Outstanding Players: Austin Dean & Zac Gallen

It has been impossible to pick just one player for this section each week with the way the Baby Cakes have been performing. So again this week there are two players that are getting highlighted for this section. Zac Gallen—the No. 18 prospect in the Marlins minor league system according to MLB Pipeline—and Austin Dean are this week’s most outstanding players for the Baby Cakes.

Gallen has been the best pitcher throughout the Marlins minor league system so far this season. In two starts this past week, he was victorious in both starts and only gave up a combined nine hits, two runs and four walks. The 23-year-old also combined for 13 strikeouts through his combined 14 ²⁄₃ innings of work.

Dean is also highlighted in this section for his outstanding performance after he was sent down from the Miami Marlins on April 20. He hasn’t let the demotion affect his performance on the field, and he displayed that this past week. The left fielder played in all six games and hit 11-for-23 along with four doubles, two home runs, five RBI as well as four walks.

I’ll also mention that pitcher Hector Noesí and Monte Harrison are honorable mentions for their performances this past week. (The next episode of “Earning Their Stripes” features an exclusive interview with Harrison! Please subscribe to the Fish Stripes podcast on your preferred podcast platform to get it before anybody else.)

Double-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (5-2, 10-14 overall)

Finally the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp have figured out how to win some games. After back-to-back disappointing weeks, this team has a lot of positives coming out of this past week. Not only is this team just four games under .500, they were also able to snap their eight-game losing streak as well.

The Jumbo Shrimp’s offense started to show some life this week.

However, the credit for their current five-game win streak should go to their pitching staff. Following their horrendous performance last week that resulted in surrendering an average of 5.7 runs/game, their staff settled that down to 4.0 runs/game this past week.

Outstanding Player: Robert Dugger

RHP Robert Dugger, their No. 22 prospect, was the most outstanding pitcher from the Jumbo Shrimp for his performance this past week. The 23-year-old came away with a win and a loss in his two outings this past week. During those starts, he pitched a combined 12 innings and only surrendered five hits, three runs, four walks along with recording 13 strikeouts.

High-A Jupiter Hammerheads (0-7, 7-16 overall)

It goes without saying that the Jupiter Hammerheads had a very disappointing week. They’re currently on a 10-game losing streak. Their offense was only able to produce a total of 10 runs through seven games. The highly touted pitching staff didn’t give them a lot of opportunities to win games either, as they surrendered an average of 6.4 runs/game.

Disappointing Player: Lazaro Alonso

First baseman Lazaro Alonso is this week’s most disappointing player for the Hammerheads. The entire Hammerheads lineup deserves this title, but Alonso standouts out the most from it. The 24-year-old played in six games this past week and while he did hit a home run, he then failed to record a single hit in his remaining games, racking up seven strikeouts.

Low-A Clinton LumberKings (3-4, 12-10 overall)

The Clinton LumberKings didn’t have an outstanding week like they did in the week before, battling some irregular weather conditions, but they definitely performed better than their record indicates. While they did lose four out of their seven games, only one loss had a margin of more than two runs. The LumberKings’ offense wasn’t as consistent as they were last week, but they were still able to produce four or more runs in four of their seven games.

Outstanding Player: Alberto Guerrero

While one “Guerrero” is grabbing all the attention at the major league level, here’s another who fans should keep their eyes on. RHP Alberto Guerrero was the best pitcher on the LumberKings staff this past week. In his start against the Quad Cities River Bandits, he recorded the win after he went five innings and surrendered just a pair of hits and a run. While also recording eight strikeouts in his second start of the season. In Guerrero’s last nine innings of work, he has only given up three hits, one run and four walks, along with generating 10 strikeouts.