Marlins Minor League Report: July 8-14

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 July 15.

Triple-A New Orleans Baby Cakes (2-2, 51-43 overall)

Coming out of the Triple-A All-Star break, the New Orleans Baby Cakes were limited to just four games this past week. Their offense was outstanding, recording seven runs or more in three of their four games.

The pitching staff was roughed up for the Baby Cakes, though. They surrendered 11 runs to begin the week, and then recovered by not allowing more than four runs in each of their remaining games.

Outstanding Player: Austin Dean

The fourth-round pick by the Marlins in 2012 couldn’t be stopped. Austin Dean hit 8-for-14 (.571 AVG) along with a double, two home runs, four RBIs and four walks. Dating back to July 5, Dean is hitting .555 AVG with three home runs and seven RBIs.

Still on the Marlins 40-man roster, Dean figures to get a few major league reps toward the end of the season is he can stay hot at the plate.

Double-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (3-2, 42-50 overall)

The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp were hit with some terrible weather conditions, but that didn’t stop them from having a successful week. They were rained out on two separate occasions, which made it difficult to rebound from their 0-2 start of the week.

Thankfully, the pitching staff rebounded. After surrendering a combined 10 runs through the first two games, the Jumbo Shrimp held their opponents to an average of just two runs during their final three games of the week.

Outstanding Player: Edward Cabrera

For the second consecutive week, Edward Cabrera has earned the title of most outstanding player for the Jumbo Shrimp. The No. 8 Marlins prospect per MLB Pipeline, he continued to shine on the mound.

In his start against the Mississippi Braves, Cabrera pitched six innings and allowed just one run on six hits. The 21-year-old has now produced back-to-back quality outings since his rough debut with the Jumbo Shrimp.

Taking into account his excellent performance in Jupiter, perhaps he’s a candidate for Marlins Minor League Pitcher of the Year?

High-A Jupiter Hammerheads (4-4, 33-55 overall)

Surprisingly, scoring runs wasn’t an issue for the Jupiter Hammerheads this past week. In the midst of disappointing seasons, outfielders Victor Victor Mesa and Tristan Pompey were on-base machines.

The Hammerheads pitching staff was extremely inconsistent, which led to their .500 record for the week. The staff allowed a combined 28 runs in their four worst outings, but just six runs in the other half of them.

Outstanding Player: Chris Vallimont

The 22-year-old was outstanding once again in his fourth start since being promoted to the Hammerheads. Chris Vallimont went 5 ²⁄₃ scoreless-innings and gave up just three hits. The fifth-round pick by the Marlins a season ago has now pitched a combined 12 ²⁄₃ scoreless innings and created a total of 19 strikeouts as well.

Vallimont’s 111 strikeouts in 2019 rank third among all Marlins minor leaguers.

Low-A Clinton LumberKings (5-1, 44-41 overall)

The Clinton LumberKings continued their current hot streak through this past week. Since July 2, the LumberKings own an impressive 10-2 record. Their offense deserves the majority of the credit for their performance this past week, as they recorded an average of 6.8 runs/game through their six games.

While the LumberKings pitching staff was impressive at times, they did surrender a combined 14 runs through half of their games.

Outstanding Player: Peyton Burdick

The third-round pick by the Marlins in this year’s draft has been outstanding since his promotion to the LumberKings. This past week especially, Peyton Burdick displayed exactly why the Marlins desired him in the early rounds of the draft. The 22-year-old hit 8-for-26 (.308 AVG) along with three doubles, two triples and six RBIs.

(Burdick will be a special guest on the Fish Stripes podcast this week! That episode will be released on Wednesday.)

Short Season A Batavia Muckdogs (4-3, 19-11 overall)

Both the offense and pitching staff were inconsistent at times as the Batavia Muckdogs came back down to Earth a bit. They averaged eight runs/game through their first four games of the week, but were limited to just five runs through their final three.

Recent graduations from Burdick, Evan Edwards and Remey Reed—among others—have come back to hurt.

Outstanding Player: Julio Frias

The 21-year-old pitched outstanding in his two starts this past week. Julio Frias pitched a combined 11 innings and gave up just a pair of runs. Frias has now held his opponents to just one run in five of his six starts this season.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see him promoted to the LumberKings alongside his former teammate Reed very shortly.