Marlins Minor League Report: June 17-23

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

All stats updated entering June 24.

Triple-A New Orleans Baby Cakes (4-2, 42-34 overall)

The New Orleans Baby Cakes were forced once again to lean on their offense to the lead the way for them this past week. The Baby Cakes pitching staff surrendered an average of 5.3 runs per game. To be fair, their best pitcher, Zac Gallen, was just promoted to the big league club.

Their bats produced five or more runs in four of their six games. Their 10 runs against the Albuquerque Isotopes was the first time that they’ve scored double digits since May 26.

Outstanding Player: Isan Díaz

The No. 6 Marlins prospect per MLB Pipeline played in only four games this past week due to a nagging knee injury, but Díaz made the most of the time that he was on the field. The 23-year-old went 4-for-11 for a .364 average along with a pair of solo home runs.

Díaz has an opportunity to take sole possession of the home run lead among PCL second basemen in the coming days.

Honorable Mention: Lewis Brinson

Brinson hasn’t lived up the hype at the major league level as of yet, but this past week was a little bit of a different story for the 25-year-old. He recorded a double, a triple, a home run and six RBIs.

While Brinson went just 5-for-21 for a .238 average along with 12 strikeouts, his overall minor league slash line of .291/.378/.535/.912 suggests that he could be in line for a trip back to beautiful Miami. Strikeouts remain a concern, though.

Double-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (2-2, 31-42 overall)

The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp were limited to just four games this past week because of the Southern League All-Star break. Both their offense and pitching staff came out of the break flat, dropping the first pair of games.

However, the Jumbo Shrimp’s pitching staff dominated the week’s final two games, surrendering a total of just three runs in that time frame. That kind of performance should provide an excellent boost for the Jumbo Shrimp, who are looking for better overall results in the second half of the season.

Outstanding Player: Cody Poteet

Poteet pitched seven amazing innings of one-hit baseball and recorded a season-high 11 strikeouts against the Pensacola Blue Wahoos.

Poteet has now put together three straight impressive outings, which could result in a promotion to the Baby Cakes very shortly.

High-A Jupiter Hammerheads (4-2, 25-43 overall)

Despite being rained out multiple times coming out of the All-Star break, the Jupiter Hammerheads were very impressive on the field when Mother Nature cooperated., That hasn’t been said much about this team so far this season.

The Hammerheads’ pitching staff was outstanding in four of their six games, limiting opponents to an average of just 2.8 runs per game. Along with the quality pitching, they also got an average of 5.2 runs per game from their offense over the same span.

Outstanding Player: Jerar Encarnación

Newly dubbed a Top 30 prospect in our updated Marlins midseason list and scorching hot entering the break, Encarnación is beginning the second half of the season exactly where he left off, only this time, it’s following his promotion to the Hammerheads.

In his four games with the Hammerheads, Encarnación went 6-for-18 for a .333 average along with a double, two home runs, and three RBI. Hopefully, these numbers continue for him during the rest of the season as it has been his breakout year.

Low-A Clinton LumberKings (1-3, 34-39 overall)

Following the All-Star break (and the departures of All-Stars Encarnación, Chris Vallimont and Humberto Mejía), the Clinton LumberKings saw their overall losing skid reach a total of seven games before finally putting a stop to it. Their offense was nowhere to be found in the week’s first three games, producing a total of just five runs during that time frame. However, their pitching staff was able to secure their final game of the week against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers on Sunday.

Disappointing Player: Will Banfield

The top catching prospect in the organization was one of the major causes of the offensive outage the LumberKings sustained this past week. Banfield went an embarrassing 1-for-17 for a .059 average along with four strikeouts. His OPS for the season has dipped below .600 for the first time since mid-May.

Plate discipline remains the biggest problem for the 19-year-old and is something he desperately needs to improve on before he can be promoted to a higher level.

Short Season A Batavia Muckdogs (5-2, 7-3 overall)

The Batavia Muckdogs had a very successful first full week of action. In all seven games, their pitching was extremely efficient. The staff held their opponents to three runs or fewer in four of their seven contests, and didn’t allow more than five runs in any of their games, either.

Outstanding Player: Remey Reed

For the second straight week, Remey Reed was the best-player on the Muckdogs. In his start, the 24-year-old once again pitched five scoreless innings. He also recorded nine strikeouts.

If Reed can stay healthy this season, he should be able to shoot up the organizational ladder. It shouldn’t surprise anyone to see Reed pitching with the LumberKings or even the Hammerheads before the season ends.