Ely Sussman’s Top 30 Marlins prospects: Tier 1

Prospects within the same tier are largely interchangeable—considering their ceiling, floor, injury risk, position, room for development, ability to adjust and intangibles, I expect them to have similar career value.

The ranking of these players and the notes below were last updated on August 14, 2022.

1) RHP Eury Pérez

From his first appearance in an official Minor League Baseball game, Pérez demonstrated uncommon strike-throwing ability for such an inexperienced and long-limbed pitcher. And the results were spectacular.

Although Pérez was my No. 1 overall prospect entering 2022, I wasn’t ready to award him his own tier. The question was how he’d hold up when pitching deep into games. That was an unknown while he played for Low-A Jupiter and High-A Beloit because the Marlins still had his “training wheels” on—no starts beyond the fifth inning or 80 total pitches.

Not only has the teenage phenom been stretching his limits, he’s been doing it following yet another promotion to Double-A Pensacola. The average opposing batter facing Pérez in the Southern League is more than five years his senior! Despite that, his strikeout rate and groundball rate are both higher than ever. He has bumped up his average fastball velocity into the high 90s, occasionally touching triple digits.

Everybody has taken notice of Pérez by now. He’s one of the headliners for the Futures Game. He belongs on the short list of most extraordinary prospects in Marlins history.

The floor for Pérez’s career could look something like Michael Pineda, if he gets derailed by severe, inconveniently timed injuries and doesn’t find enough consistency with his new slider to trust it in the majors. In a best-case scenario, I could see him becoming his generation’s Adam Wainwright.

Eury Pérez’s Fastball

Eury Pérez’s Curveball

Eury Pérez’s Changeup

Eury Pérez’s Slider