All-Time Marlins Countdown: Chapter 32

Throughout the 2020-2021 offseason, Fish Stripes is going over all 630 Marlins to have appeared with the team.

We’ve already looked at 201 of them, but we still have a long way to go. Here’s the next six in order of ascending positive impact. These six all had between 75 and 249 plate appearances/batters faced, and finished below replacement level.

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429. Rosell Herrera

Rosell Herrera is a six-foot-three utility player from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. A switch-hitting right-handed-throwing shortstop by trade, Herrera signed his first professional deal with the Colorado Rockies in 2009, at the age of 16.

The 2013 season, spent by Herrera with the Asheville Tourists at the Single-A level, would see him rank in the SAL top 10 in many categories, including a .343 batting average, 162 total hits, and 243 bases, all placing him second in the circuit. In 2014, he was ranked as the number 86 prospect in baseball and the number three Rockies prospect, according to Baseball America.

Herrera played a total of eight seasons in the Rockies minor league system. After the 2017 season came to a close, he signed with the Cincinnati Reds through free agency. He made his major league debut for them that year, going two-for-13 in 11 games. After getting waived on June 2, the Kansas City Royals claimed him.

Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images

With Kansas City, Herrera played in 75 games, and slashed .238/.292/.325 while making appearances in center field, right field, second base, and third base. The Miami Marlins had the opportunity to claim him off waivers just after New Year’s, 2019.

For his season with the Marlins, Herrera split his time between their Triple-A affiliate, the New Orleans Baby Cakes, and the Marlins. For the Cakes, he hit .309 in 48 games, with five homers and 24 RBI.

Herrera appeared in 63 contests for Miami, going 21-for-105 from the plate for an even .200 average. He hit six doubles and two homers with 11 RBI, stealing four bases in five attempts. He struck out 27 times against 11 walks, scoring 10 runs in total. Defensively, he appeared everywhere except pitcher, catcher, and first base. He made one error in 46 outfield chances for a .978 fielding percentage, while logging a perfect 1.000 in 12 infield innings.

Herrera signed with the New York Yankees prior to 2020 Spring Training, but did not appear in a game. He was again granted free agency on November 2.

428. Jon Rauch

Jon Rauch is a six-foot-11 right-handed pitcher from Louisville, Kentucky. In 1999, the Chicago White Sox drafted him in the third round out of Morehead State University. He is currently the record holder for tallest player to appear in major league baseball.

Rauch was ranked as the number four overall prospect in MLB by Baseball America in 2001. He made his major league debut with Chicago in 2002, and over the next 11 seasons also played for the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals, the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Minnesota Twins, the Toronto Blue Jays, and the New York Mets. In 541 contests, including 11 starts, he was 42-38 with a 3.80 ERA, a 1.22 WHIP, and 460 strikeouts in 578 ¹⁄₃ innings. He led the National League in 2007 with 88 appearances.

Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images

Just before Spring Training in 2013, the Marlins signed Rauch through free agency. He would go on to pitch in 15 of Miami’s first 42 games of the year, games in which the Marlins went 2-13. He allowed 23 hits in 16 ²⁄₃ innings, striking out 15 and giving up seven walks. He put 66 percent of his 308 pitches over the plate, racking up a 7.56 ERA and a 1.80 WHIP. He got a sacrifice hit in his only plate appearance, and took five fielding chances without an error.

Miami released Rauch on May 22, and although he soon afterward signed on with the Baltimore Orioles, he never again made a major league appearance.

427. Chris Seddon

Chris Seddon is a six-foot-three left-handed pitcher from Northridge, California. In 2001, the Tampa Bay Rays took him in the fifth round of the draft.

Seddon spent six years in the Rays’ system until 2007. The Marlins claimed him off waivers from Tampa Bay on June 13. He joined Florida at the major league level for the month of September, and started in four of his seven appearances. Of his 304 pitches, he landed 63 percent in the strike zone.

Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images

In 17 ¹⁄₃ innings for the Marlins, Seddon allowed 19 runs, all but two of them earned. He allowed 29 hits and five walks, striking out 10 batters. He went 0-for-three from the plate for the team, with two sacrifice hits. As a defender, he assisted on five plays and didn’t make any errors.

After spending 2008 with the Marlins Triple-A club, the Albuquerque Isotopes, the Marlins granted Seddon’s free agency. He played another four seasons of affiliated ball, only getting back to the majors for 14 appearances in 2010 for the Seattle Mariners.

426. Eric Ludwick

Right-handed pitcher Eric Ludwick was taken in the second round of the 1993 draft by the New York Mets. A native of Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, Ludwick was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals prior to the 1996 season with Yudith Osorio and Erik Hiljus for Bernard Gilkey.

Between the Cardinals and the Oakland Athletics in 1996 and 1997, Ludwick pitched to an 8.63 ERA over 40 ²⁄₃ innings, striking out 33 but racking up an embarrassing 1.967 WHIP. After the latter season, the A’s traded Ludwick to the Marlins for Kurt Abbott.

Ludwick was called up to the Marlins proper on three occasions through the 1998 season. He pitched in 13 games for the club, striking out 27 in 32 ²⁄₃ innings. He gave up 31 runs (27 earned) on 46 hits and 17 walks. He threw 603 pitches for Florida, landing 59 percent over the plate. He put up a 7.44 ERA and a 1.929 WHIP through his short run with the Marlins. He went 0-for-seven from the plate and made one error in seven chances in the field. The Detroit Tigers took Ludwick in the minor league draft just after the season.

Ludwick only played in one more major league game, with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1999.

425. JB Shuck

JB Shuck is a seven-year MLB veteran for six major league teams. He was taken the sixth round of the 2008 draft out of The Ohio State University by the Houston Astros. A native of Westerville, Ohio, Shuck debuted with the Astros in 2011, going 22-for-81 in 37 appearances.

Shuck enjoyed his most prolific major league season with the Los Angeles Angels in 2013, when he hit .293/.331/.366 with 39 RBI in 129 games. He later appeared with the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago White Sox. After spending the 2017 campaign with the Rochester Red Wings in the Minnesota Twins system, the Marlins signed him through free agency.

Shuck’s season with the Marlins started off with a bang. On April 13, he went four-for-four with a triple in a 7-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. The rest of the season would see him go 21-for-126 with three doubles and four RBI. He drew 10 walks and struck out 22 times. He stole two bases and scored eight times. Defensively, he made 48 putouts and two assists in 231 ²⁄₃ innings, making one error.

The Marlins didn’t choose to pursue Shuck for a second year of service. Shuck inked a deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and went 10-for-47 in 27 contests at the major league level with the Bucs.

424. Jeff Locke

Jeff Locke is a six-foot left-handed pitcher from North Conway, New Hampshire. In 2006, the Atlanta Braves chose him in the second round of the draft. Three years later, the Braves sent Locke with Gorkys Hernandez and Charlie Morton to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Nate McLouth.

Locke joined the Pittsburgh Pirates with the parent club in 2011, and spent most of the next six seasons in their starting rotation. In 123 games, including 110 starts, he went 35-38 with a 4.41 ERA, a 1.41 WHIP, and 455 strikeouts in 664 ¹⁄₃ innings. In 2013, he made the National League All Star team, despite eventually leading the circuit with 84 walks.

Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images

Locke signed a contract with the Marlins through free agency following the 2016 season, and started the season in their high minors. On June 1, he was called up to fill a spot in their rotation for seven turns, seven games in which the Marlins would post an 0-7 record.

Locke went 0-5 with an 8.16 ERA, a 1.78 WHIP, and 26 whiffs in 32 innings. He allowed 30 runs, 29 earned, on 42 hits and 15 walks. Of his 574 pitches, he got 64 percent over the plate. He went 0-for-10 with nine strikeouts in his plate appearances, and made two defensive assists without an error.