Best Marlins prospect performances through 10 weeks of 2022 MiLB season

Fish Stripes will be starting off every new week of the Minor League Baseball season by posting updated leaderboards for Marlins MiLB players. I have selected a handful of key categories for hitting and pitching prospects. Players who have an asterisk* next to their names are among my Marlins Top 30 prospects.

The threshold to qualify for the leaderboards is determined by the number of weeks we are into the regular season multiplied by 10 plate appearances/batters faced.

Hitting Leaders (min. 100 PA)

• Weighted Runs Created Plus—Kyler Castillo (160 wRC+), Paul McIntosh (151), Zach Zubia (149), Jerar Encarnación* (139), Charles Leblanc* (129), JD Orr (129)
• Home Runs—Encarnación* (13 HR), JJ Bleday* (13), Lewin Díaz* (12), Lorenzo Quintana (10), Leblanc* (8), Griffin Conine* (8), Peyton Burdick* (8), Cody Morissette* (8)
• Batting Average on Balls in Play—González (.443 BABIP), Conine* (.419), Encarnación* (.401), Cameron Barstad (.400), Leblanc* (.390)
• Stolen Bases—Nasim Nuñez* (26 SB), Orr (19), Victor Victor Mesa (14), Ray-Patrick Didder (15), José Salas* (11), Dalvy Rosario (11)
• Strikeout Rate—Nick Fortes* (14.2 K%), Davis Bradshaw (14.4%), Cobie Fletcher-Vance (14.7%), Mesa (14.9%), Castillo (16.2%)

Who’s Hot?

Bryson Brigman (Jacksonville) has been magnificent in his last two series, slashing .404/.420/.723 with eight extra-base hits while playing all 12 games. That has bumped up his isolated power to .154, which would be a career high for him. The Jumbo Shrimp are using him primarily at second base.

Paul McIntosh (Pensacola) has an even more absurd .429/.568/.893 slash line over those two weeks, helped by a ton of walks. If you haven’t already been taking him seriously as a prospect, what are you waiting for?!

It is obviously too soon for Dominican Summer League players to qualify for my leaderboards, so a separate shoutout to OF Antony Peguero, OF Toby Simmons, 1B Julio Henriquez, INF Marco Vargas and OF Robert Pérez for getting off to hot starts at the plate.

Who’s Not?

It’s been a brutal month-plus for Tanner Allen (Beloit). Good contact skills and looks comfortable in the box against fellow lefties, but he is not doing any damage whatsoever. The right fielder is slashing .138/.205/.188 over his last five series without any homers or multi-hit games. The lack of results is concerning for an early-round draft pick who just turned 24, making him older than most of his High-A competition.

Pitching Leaders (min. 100 BF)

• Earned Run Average—Yeuris Jimenez (1.03 ERA), Robert Garcia (1.61), Pat Monteverde (2.40), Andrew Nardi (2.48), Justin Evans (2.52)
• Innings Pitched—Bryan Hoeing* (65.1 IP), Matthew Kent (56.1), Luis Palacios (55.0), Zach King (52.0), Jeff Lindgren (51.2)
• Batting Average on Balls in Play—Eli Villalobos (.118 BABIP), Garcia (.188), Jimenez (.193), Chris Mokma (.197), Braxton Garrett (.218)
• Strikeout Rate—Josh Simpson* (42.2 K%), Jeff Brigham (38.1%), Jefry Yan (37.9%), Nardi (37.7%), Anthony Maldonado (35.9%)
• Walk Rate—Palacios (1.4 BB%), Tyler Mitzel (2.5%), Matt Givin (3.8%), Kent (4.4%), Tyler Eckberg (4.8%)

Who’s Hot?

Only four total runs allowed by Pat Monteverde (Beloit) over his last four starts. He’s been trusted with going deep the third time through opposing lineups each time. He carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning on Wednesday. His changeup is more consistent than typical High-A arms which contributes to his effectiveness against right-handed batters.

Monteverde throws a lot of competitive pitches—even when missing exact targets, he’s hanging around the edges.

Friend of the podcast Sean Reynolds (Beloit) has been practically unhittable over the last month or so (9.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 17 K). His fastball velocity has ticked up in what is his first season as a full-time pitcher.

Who’s Not?

No doubt that Dax Fulton (Beloit) has been victimized by some rotten luck in 2022. The gap between his 2.86 FIP and 5.48 ERA is among the largest for a minor league starter.

However, Fulton has yielded uncharacteristically loud contact recently. There were only five total extra-base hits against him through eight starts, but then he allowed eight in his last two outings, including the only homers of his season (one of those in a left-on-left matchup).