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Here’s the fourth part of our 165-part series on every player to appear with the Marlins.
Five pitchers and two hitters comprise today’s haul of Marlins on our season-long countdown. All players included in this article are part of the first tier: less than 20 PA/BF, and below replacement level.
609. Brett Sinkbeil
Brett Sinkbeil is a right handed pitcher from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Born on the day after Christmas in 1984, he was taken in the first round of the 2006 draft by Florida.
After joining the Marlins system, Sinkbeil was ranked as high as the number 68 prospect in baseball, according to Baseball America. It took him parts of five seasons, but he made his major league debut with Florida in September, 2010.
On September 15, in a 10-5 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, Sinkbeil entered with the bases loaded trailing 7-1, and promptly uncorked a wild pitch before getting Roy Halladay to ground out.
Far worse was his second appearance four days later in a 13-3 loss to the Chicago Cubs. Sinkbeil entered in the second inning trailing 2-0, walked the bases loaded, got a strikeout, then gave up a single, a double, and another walk before closing the inning with a lineout.
In total, Sinkbeil walked five and whiffed one in two innings of work, surrendering three runs on two hits. The Marlins released him just before the 2011 season.
608. Nate Field
Righty pitcher Nate Field out of Denver, Colorado originally signed a deal through free agency with the Montreal Expos in 1998. He never appeared with them at the major league level, instead debuting with the Kansas City Royals in 2002.
In parts of four seasons with Kansas City, Field was 3-4 with a 4.98 ERA in 74 contests. He racked up a 1.558 WHIP with 56 K’s in 77 2⁄3 innings. He made another 14 appearances with the Colorado Rockies in 2006.
Field’s age-31 season was spent mostly with the Marlins Triple-A affiliate, the Albuquerque Isotopes, where he went 6-6 with a 3.50 ERA in 44 appearances covering 46 1⁄3 innings. On April 29, he made his only major league appearance with the Marlins.
In that game, Field entered in the eighth trailing the Phillies by a 3-0 score, and surrendered three runs on three hits. He struck out two and walked a batter as well.
607. Jorge Guzmán
Righty flame-thrower Jorge Guzmán is a six-foot-one, 246 lb. native of Las Matas de Santa Cruz, Dominican Republic. In 2014, at the age of 18, he signed his first pro contract with the Houston Astros. Two years later, the Astros traded him to the New York Yankees for Brian McCann.
At the end of the 2017 campaign, the new Marlins ownership group engineered a trade that sent Giancarlo Stanton to the Yankees. In return, Miami got Jose Devers, Starlin Castro, and Guzmán.
Guzmán regularly hits 102 MPH on the radar gun, and has touched 104. Ranked fourth on the Marlins prospect list according to the MLB Pipeline soon after the deal, he worked his way up through the system to play for the Double-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp in 2019. He struck out 127 in 139 2⁄3 innings, allowing only 96 hits.
On August 6, Guzmán made his major league debut with Miami, pitching one inning of relief in an 8-7 win against the Baltimore Orioles. He allowed two solo home runs and walked a batter.
606. Jhan Mariñez
Right-handed pitcher Jhan Mariñez is a Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic native. He signed his first pro deal in April 2006 at the age of 17 with the Marlins.
Four seasons later, Mariñez made his big league debut with the Marlins, appearing in four games in July. The highlight was likely on July 19, when he earned the win in relief, striking out two in 1 1⁄3 innings in a 9-8 win over the Rockies.
Mariñez struck out three in 2 2⁄3 innings, walking three, allowing three hits, and two earned runs. He later made major league appearances with the Chicago White Sox, the Tampa Bay Rays, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Texas Rangers, and the Orioles.
605. Duane Below
Britton, Michigan native Duane Below was drafted int he 19th round of the 2006 draft by the Detroit Tigers. A left-handed pitcher, Below worked his way up through Detroit’s system to make his major league debut in 2011. In parts of two seasons with the club, he played in 41 games, striking out 43 in 75 1⁄3 innings.
A month into the 2013 campaign, the Marlins got the opportunity to claim Below off waivers from Detroit. In 13 starts for the New Orleans Zephyrs he went 5-5 with a 2.55 ERA. In May, Miami called him up to join the bullpen.
On May 21, Below relieved Jose Fernandez in a 1-1 tie against Philadelphia in the sixth inning, and ended up taking the loss by giving up three runs in an inning of work on four hits and a walk.
Miami released Below in August, and he later played minor league ball with the Tigers and the New York Mets.
604. Mike Gulan
Mike Gulan was a third baseman from Steubenville, Ohio. In 1992, the St. Louis Cardinals spent their second round pick on him out of Kent University. Five years later, he got to the big leagues with the Redbirds, appeared in five games, and went 0-for-9 with five strikeouts, a walk, and an RBI.
Gulan signed with the Marlins prior to the 1998 season, and played most of the next five season between Florida’s Double- and Triple-A affiliates. In 2001, four years after his last major league appearance, he got back into the show.
Gulan went 0-for-3 in his re-debut on September 7, and appeared in a total of six games for the Marlins. He drew two walks, struck out twice, scored a run, and went 0-for-6 from the plate. He wouldn’t make another major league appearance.
603. Terry McGriff
Fort Pierce native Terry McGriff is a right-handed catcher, Fred McGriff’s cousin, and Charles Johnson’s uncle. The Cincinnati Reds drafted him in the eighth round back in 1981.
McGriff played in four seasons for the Reds starting in 1987. In 77 games, he slashed .210/.287/.295 with three moonshots and 17 RBI. He also went 0-for-5 in four games for the Astros at the end of the 1990 campaign. He later signed minor league deals with the California Angels and the Toronto Blue Jays, but didn’t return to the majors.
Prior to the Marlins first regular season game, in December 1992, they signed McGriff through free agency. In 105 games for the Edmonton Trappers at the Triple-A level, he slashed .345/.426/.504. Late in the inaugural season, he joined the Marlins at baseball’s top level for three games. He went 0-for-7 with a walk and two strikeouts.
McGriff played in 42 more major league games in 1994, for the Cardinals.