Marlins Minor League Report: April 29-May 5

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 May 6.

Triple-A New Orleans Baby Cakes (3-4, 16-14 overall)

The New Orleans Baby Cakes have come back down to Earth. This past week started off very well for the Baby Cakes as they won their first two games and only gave up a single run. However, their pitching staff failed them in the remainder of the games. The Baby Cakes’ pitching staff has surrendered 34 runs over their last five games. Which has been a complete opposite from how their pitching has performed so far this season.

Outstanding Player: Harold Ramírez

Disappointing Player: Dustin Beggs

Normally, there isn’t both a disappointing and an outstanding player named for the same affiliate, but here’s an exception to that rule. Outfielder Harold Ramírez has been one of the hottest players in all of baseball over the last season and a half, especially this past week. The 24-year-old hit 10-for-22 along with three doubles, and a pair of home runs and 2 RBI.

Along with his performance last season, it’s very confusing as to why the Blue Jays organization took him off their 40-man roster. But their loss is our gain.

Now to Dustin Beggs...In his start against the Memphis Redbirds, the 25-year-old went 5 ²⁄₃ innings and gave up 11 hits, seven runs (two home runs), one walk along with his trio of strikeouts. This makes it back-to-back starts where Beggs has surrendered double-digits hits and five or more runs. Something to monitor over his next few starts as the Marlins could consider a demotion to Jacksonville.

Double-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (0-6, 10-20 overall)

The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp are back to their losing ways again. Following their 5-2 record from a week ago, the Jumbo Shrimp spent this whole week on losing streak. The blame for this losing-streak should all go towards the Jumbo Shrimp’s offense. They were held to zero runs in three of their six games, and only combined to score three runs in total through six games.

Disappointing Player: Joe Dunand

Photo by @twigpics/Instagram

The No. 23 prospect in the Marlins minor league system according to MLB Pipeline, Joe Dunand is this week’s disappointing player for the Jumbo Shrimp. The cleanup hitter for the Jumbo Shrimp hit 2-for-17 with a pair of walks and eight strikeouts. While he was just one of the many players who struggled to produce offensively for this team lately, it is a frustrating step back for somebody who thought he had turned a corner, as explained in a recent interview with broadcaster Roger Hoover.

High-A Jupiter Hammerheads (2-3, 9-19 overall)

Thankfully, the Jupiter Hammerheads showed some improvements this past week. While their losing-streak did reach 11 games, they were able to finally put an end to it. However, the Hammerheads are still not playing their best baseball as of yet. Their pitching and hitting were a lot better this past week, but they still have a ways to go (4.6 runs/game allowed vs. 3.0 runs/game scored).

Disappointing Player: Riley Mahan

Second baseman Riley Mahan is this week’s disappointing player from the Hammerheads. The 23-year-old went 2-for-15 in the four games he appeared in this past week. Mahan currently bats in the No. 3 spot in the Hammerheads lineup, which could change if his hitting woes continue. So far this season, Mahan has hit three doubles, two home runs, nine RBI, 10 walks and is slashing .202/.290/.319/.609 along with 36 strikeouts in 26 games played.

Low-A Clinton LumberKings (3-3, 15-13 overall)

The Clinton LumberKings carried the success that they had in April into this past week. Their offense was significantly more consistent, averaging 5.5 runs/game. They scored more than four runs in four of their six games.

As for their pitching, the LumberKings pitching staff was the reason for two of their three losses this past week. In those two losses, their pitching staff gave up a total of 16 runs. However, their staff put the team in a position to win in most instances, as they surrendered an average of just 2.3 runs/game.

Outstanding Player: Sean Reynolds

First baseman Sean Reynolds was absolutely outstanding this past week for the LumberKings. The fourth-round draft pick from 2016 was a massive reason as to why his team was able to average 5.5 runs/game this past week. In the six games Reynolds played in, the 21-year-old hit 5-for-19 with a double, three home runs, nine RBI and four walks.

Reynolds performance this past week has now boosted his slashing line up to .198/.330/.417/.747, after he started the season in a miserable 2-for-37 funk.