Marlins Minor League Report: August 26-September 3

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 September 4.

Triple-A New Orleans Baby Cakes (4-4, 73-65 overall)

Unfortunately, the New Orleans Baby Cakes weren’t able to extend their season into the playoffs this season—they finished ten games behind the division-winning Round Rock Express.

During their final week of play as well, the Baby Cakes lineup recorded average results, producing 4.1 runs/game through their first seven games of the week. However, they handled the final game with style and scored a total of 10 runs.

Meanwhile, the New Orleans pitching staff wasn’t able to find any consistency this past week. Their staff held opposing lineups to an average of just 1.8 runs/game through five games, but was also charged for a combined 30 runs the rest of the way.

Disappointing Player: Nick Neidert

The No. 12 Marlins prospect per MLB Pipeline, Nick Neidert sustained a pair troubling performances. The 22-year-old was extremely wild with his pitches in his first start of the week. He allowed four walks over just 5 ¹⁄₃ innings pitched. Neidert’s second outing of the week went even worse, as he was chased from the game after he gave up six runs (five earned) on seven hits through 2 ¹⁄₃ innings pitched.

Clearly, this was a step back for a talented arm who worked at least six innings in each of his three previous starts. Rather than ending 2019 on a sour note, Neidert will continue to pitch with the Salt River Rafters in the Arizona Fall League.

Double-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (1-3, 66-71 overall)

Due to Hurricane Dorian, the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp had their season cut short by two games. The Jumbo Shrimp’s pitching staff certainly put their team in a position to succeed during the final week. They allowed only four total runs in their first two games. We cannot be as complimentary about the offense, which produced an average of 2.5 runs/game throughout the week.

Even if the weather cooperated, Jacksonville had been eliminated from playoff contention.

Outstanding Player: Edward Cabrera

Pipeline’s seventh-ranked Marlins prospect was virtually unhittable during his two condensed starts this past week. Cabrera allowed just a pair of hits and a solo home run and struck out a total of six batters to end off his impressive season. The 21-year-old had been dealing with an infection over the previous month, and the team was also being protective of his workload.

Expect to see Cabrera open up 2020 as the Jumbo Shrimp ace, potentially forcing his way to the big leagues by next summer’s end.

High-A Jupiter Hammerheads (1-3, 54-78 overall)

Just like with the Jumbo Shrimp, the Jupiter Hammerheads had their season shortened as well due to the effects of Dorian.

A consistent theme of their 2019 season, the offense struggled again last week. They recorded an average of just 2.8 runs/game this past week. The pitching staff gave up an average of four runs/game.

Outstanding Player: Will Stewart

The J.T. Realmuto trade acquisition finished his rollercoaster campaign on a high note. During Stewart’s final start of the season, he went seven innings and gave up just a pair of hits and a walk while setting down a season-high nine batters on strikes.

Stewart surrendered seven hits or more in eight of his 21 starts with the Hammerheads this season. His low fastball velocity made him vulnerable to being hit hard, though Jupiter’s poor team defense made things ever more difficult. It’ll be very interesting to see what improvements the 20th-round pick from 2015 will be able to make heading into next season.

Low-A Clinton LumberKings (7-1, 78-61 overall)

The Clinton LumberKings went on a pretty incredible run to cap off the regular season. Winning six straight to begin the week, they came up short of capturing the Midwest League Western division by just a single game. Regardless, a wild-card spot has been locked up and their recent performance should help their confidence heading into a playoff series against the Kane County Cougars on Wednesday night.

Outstanding Player: Peyton Burdick

The third-round selection by the Marlins in this year’s draft was a key performer during the LumberKings’ hot streak. Peyton Burdick hit just 7-for-28 (.250 AVG), but he did produce eight runs scored, two doubles, a triple, a home run and four RBI’s, including nearly hitting for the cycle. Burdick also provided value with his five base-on-balls.

The Wright State University product was a no-brainer selection as the left fielder on Fish Stripes’ 2019 All-Minor League team.

Short Season A Batavia Muckdogs (4-4, 41-35 overall)

One-upping the LumberKings, the Muckdogs were able to win their division by a single game. Their offense produced an impressive average of 5.4 runs/game through all eight of last week’s games. As for their pitching, the Muckdogs allowed five runs or more through half of their games, but stepped up when needed to clinch things up.

Outstanding Player: Edgar Martinez

Batavia had to win their regular season finale to advance, and Edgar Martinez handled the pressure with ease. The 22-year-old threw six scoreless innings and gave up just two hits and struck out six. This was also Martinez’s second scoreless outing of the week—earlier in the week, he recorded five innings and surrendered just four hits.

In his first season playing above rookie ball, the future is seemingly very bright for Martinez.