All-Time Marlins Countdown: Chapter 68

With nothing else going on baseball-wise during the dead of winter, Fish Stripes has you covered.

This offseason, we’re taking a look back at each of the 630 players to take the field for a Marlins regular season game through their first 28 seasons. Today’s group falls in the 250-799 PA/BF bracket, and all finished or are currently below brWAR.

242. Brett Hayes

Right-handed catcher Brett Hayes played four seasons of major league ball for the Florida and Miami Marlins. A six-foot-one native of Pasadena, California, Hayes was chosen by the Marlins in the second round of the 2005 draft, out of the University of Nevada. In 167 games over three seasons for the Wolfpack, Hayes slashed .339/.402/.501, with 22 homers and 156 RBI.

After signing with the Marlins, Hayes worked his way up through their system until making his major league debut in 2009. Although highly drafted, he was never a ranked prospect through his rise through the minors. Although he appeared in 14 games in 2009 for the Marlins, he only collected a dozen plate appearances. He went three-for-11 in the short look, including a pinch-homer leading off the sixth on September 5 in a 9-5 win over the Washington Nationals.

The 2010 campaign would see Hayes join the Marlins for a total of 26 appearances between May 15 and the end of August. He was 16-for-77 from the dish with six doubles, a triple, and a pair of homers with six RBI. He drew six walks, scored six runs, and struck out 26 times.

Hayes enjoyed arguably his best major league campaign in 2011 with the Marlins, appearing in a career-high 64 contests and going 30-for-130 from the plate. He hit nine doubles and five home runs with 16 RBI, drawing 11 walks, scoring 19 runs, and whiffing 39 times. On June 5, he achieved his highest WPA of the season when he smacked a two-out grand slam in the sixth inning, tying the Milwaukee Brewers at five. The Marlins eventually lost, 6-5 in 11 innings.

In 2012, Hayes went 23-for-114 with six doubles and no home runs. He totaled three RBI and walked four times while fanning 49 times. None of those figures seem very good, however Hayes was successful at stealing one base in one attempt. It was the only attempt of his seven-season major league career.

Defensively, Hayes caught 26 percent of runners trying to steal over the course of his four seasons with the Marlins. Errorless through his first three campaigns with the team, He committed five in 278 behind the plate in 2012. Just after the close of the season, the Kansas City Royals claimed Hayes off waivers. He went on to appear in 32 contests for Kansas City and another 14 with the Cleveland Indians in 2015.

241. Nate Bump

Towanda, Pennsylvania native Nate Bump is a left-handed batting, right-handed throwing pitcher. In 1997, he was a 23rd round choice of the Boston Red Sox. After returning to Penn State and logging a 2.62 ERA, 11.43 K/9, and a 1.03 WHIP, the San Francisco Giants took him in the first round in 1998, 25th overall.

Bump opened 1999 as the Giants number four prospect, but ended up being packaged with Jason Grilli in a deal to the Marlins for Liván Hernández. Bump settled in with the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs, but had problems advancing past that level for four seasons. In 2003, he finally got to Triple-A with the Albuquerque Isotopes, and later in the year also made his major league debut.

Bump appeared 32 times out of the bullpen for the Marlins in his first season at the top. In 36 ¹⁄₃ innings, he allowed 19 earned runs on 34 hits and 20 walks. He struck out 17 in total, allowing his opponents to slash .248/.370/.387. Bump got 59 percent of his offerings over the plate, and allowed six of the eight runners he inherited to score.

Despite his struggles, Bump was 4-0 through that first season, with a 4.71 ERA and a 1.486 WHIP. In his best appearance of the year, he earned the win in a 5-4, 12 inning victory against the Atlanta Braves. Bump pitched the final two innings, allowing no baserunners. As for the postseason, Bump pitched three innings against the Chicago Cubs in two games of the National League Championship Series.

In 2004, Bump appeared in a career-high 50 games for the Marlins. he was 2-4 with a 5.01 ERA through 73 ²⁄₃ frames, with 44 whiffs and 32 walks issued. His WHIP actually increased to 1.602, while his strike-rate increased to 62 percent. Opposing hitters slashed .297/.370/.417. On July 26, he earned the only save of his career by pitching three scoreless frames against the Philadelphia Phillies in an 11-3 Marlins win.

Bump played a third season for the Marlins in 2005, putting up a career-best 1.447 WHIP and logging a “league average” WPA+ of 100. He was 0-3 with a 4.03 ERA, with 18 K’s in 38 frames. He plated 62 percent of his offerings, giving up a .289/.350/.423 slash line. After spending 2006 with the Marlins Triple-A club in Albuquerque, he was released following that season.

Bump never got back to the majors, playing in the minors over the next few years with the Giants, the Detroit Tigers, and the Phillies.

240. Jordan Yamamoto

Jordan Yamamoto is a six-foot-tall right-handed pitcher from Pearl City, Hawaii. A lefty-batter, the Milwaukee Brewers chose Yamamoto in the 12th round of the 2014 draft. By the time 2017 rolled around, Yamamoto went 9-4 with a 2.51 ERA in 18 starts for the High-A Carolina Mudcats, with a 1.090 WHIP and 113 whiffs in 111 innings. After that season, he was included in the Christian Yelich deal, and changed zip codes to Miami.

Yamamoto would split the 2018 season between three Marlins affiliates, and post a 6-1 record over 13 starts with a 1.83 ERA and 85 strikeouts in 68 ²⁄₃ innings. During that time, he only walked 14 batters and allowed two home runs, finishing with a sparkling 0.830 WHIP.

In 2019, Yamamoto made his major league debut and won his first four decisions. He didn’t allow a run in his first two starts, striking out a dozen Cardinals in a pair of wins and allowing five hits over 14 innings. Things didn’t stay easy for Yamamoto. Although he only allowed 54 hits in 78 ²⁄₃ innings when it was all said and done, he ended up posting a 4.46 ERA.

Yamamoto put 62 percent of his pitches in the strike zone through his first season, and held opponents to an anemic .191/.292/.355 slashline. At the plate, Yamamoto went one-for-21, and in the field, he made an error in 13 fielding chances. He finished the season with a 0.7 brWAR.

Yamamoto came by this position on our countdown due to his poor follow up in limited action in 2020. In 11 ¹⁄₃ innings, he allowed 23 earned runs on 27 hits and seven walks — a 3.000 WHIP and an 18.26 ERA. Despite his very curtailed playing time, he posted a minus-1.1 brWAR. Yamamoto remains on the Marlins 40-man roster.

239. Rob Stanifer

Rob Stanifer is a six-foot-three right-handed pitcher from Easley, South Carolina. In 1994, the Marlins chose him in the 12th round of the draft out of Anderson University.

Although Stanifer was an unheralded prospect, he nonetheless rose through the Marlins system in short order, making his major league debut for them in 1997. He pitched 36 times for Florida out of the bullpen, going 1-2 with a 4.60 ERA. He struck out 28 batters and walked 16, racking up a 1.316 WHIP. On August 1, Stanifer struck out a pair of Braves in a perfect 10th inning as the Marlins defeated Atlanta, 3-2 in 12 innings.

Stanifer returned for an encore performance with the Marlins in 1998, and came out of the bullpen 38 times. He pitched 48 frames in total, striking out 30, walking 22, and posting a 1.583 WHIP and a 5.63 ERA. Opponents put up a .277/.345/.410 slash, as Stanifer put 61 percent of his pitches between the wickets for a strike.

On September 26, Stanifer earned his highest WPA of the season despite only facing one batter. Coming into the top of the 13th inning with two outs and the bases loaded, he struck out Mark Lewis on three pitches. Alex Gonzalez hit a walkoff jack in the bottom half of the inning to give Stanifer the 1-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Marlins traded Stanifer to the Boston Red Sox early in 1999, but he only pitched 13 more innings at the big league level, for Boston in 2000. He later also played minor league ball for the Chicago Cubs, the Houston Astros, and the Montreal Expos.