Earning Their Stripes Episode 37: 2021 Marlins MLB Draft Super Preview

After a quick update on the Marlins’ thriving 2020 MLB Draft class, Spencer Morris, Hector Rodriguez and Ely Sussman look forward to the 2021 event that begins on Sunday! This episode touches on everything from the top overall prospects to sleeper candidates that the organization could target in the later rounds.

Enjoy Episode 37!

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In 2020, the draft was shortened to five rounds. The Marlins used all of their picks on pitchers. The five players who remain with the organization—RHP Max Meyer, LHP Dax Fulton, RHP Kyle Nicolas, RHP Zach McCambley and LHP Jake Eder—enter Thursday with a combined 3.25 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 307 K (29.7 K%) in 249.1 IP through the first half of this minor league season (fifth-round pick Kyle Hurt was traded to the Dodgers in February). McCambley leads all Marlins farmhands in innings pitched while Eder ranks first in strikeouts. Both of them are current rotation mates with Meyer at Double-A Pensacola—health permitting, they can be expected to reach the majors in 2022.

This upcoming draft will include 20 rounds and 21 total Marlins selections, including the 16th overall pick, followed by No. 31, No. 52, No. 88, No. 118, No. 149, No. 179, etc. The Fish have a total bonus pool of $9,949,800 (they can spend up to $10,447,290 on signing bonuses for players in the first 10 rounds without forfeiting future picks). Their first-rounder has a slot value of $3,745,500.

The draft begins Sunday at 7 p.m. ET and continues through Tuesday.

Marlins director of amateur scouting DJ Svihlik mentioned last week that “six to seven” of the top draft-eligible prospects are simply “too good” to be fall to them at No. 16. His department’s focus has been on the other prospects. Svihlik also praised this class’ second-tier of college hitters who should be available in rounds two, three and four.

Individual players mentioned during this episode include Matt McLain, Sam Bachman, Harry Ford, Will Taylor, Will Bednar, Peyton Stovall, Adrian Del Castillo, Colson Montgomery, Trey Sweeney, Alex Binelas, Connor Norby, Matheu Nelson and Spencer Schwellenbach.

Check out all of Hector’s draft prospect profiles here. Find more draft analysis from Spencer on Diamond Dreams. Ian Smith of Prospects Live was here with us in spirit! He is a must-follow for all things draft-related (@FlaSmitty on Twitter).

Follow Spencer (@ProspectSpencer), Hector (@Hector_Baseball), Fish Stripes (@fishstripes) and Ely (@RealEly) on Twitter. Full coverage here at FishStripes.com.

Fish Stripes is ranked by Feedspot as the world’s No. 2 Miami Marlins podcast (trailing only the pod that’s produced by the franchise itself). Our programs include The Offishial Show, Big Fish Small Pod, Marlins Barbecue and Earning Their Stripes. All new episodes are posted to FishStripes.com/podcasts. You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Podbean, Megaphone or wherever you normally get your pods from.