Miami Marlins 2025 Season In Review | Organizational Superlatives, Takeaways and More!
Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Hello folks, good evening. It is October 1st, 2025. My name is Eric Weda. You can follow me on XT Twitter, Eric Weda. Uh doing Marlin stuff here as part of the Five Reasons Sports YouTube channel. Check it out. Uh like, comment, subscribe. Doing great work on the Dolphins, the Heat, the Marlins, the Panthers, you name it. If it’s South Florida Sports, uh they’ve got it over there at the Five Region Sports YouTube channel. But I did want to get into the Miami Marlins. And I know it is not Monday as the logo would suggest, but this is a I wanted to do a large kind of season in review uh type of show here where Yep. We have Daniel Barry. How you doing, brother? Uh it’s been a it’s been quite a season for the Marlins, finishing 79 and 83. They sent the Mets home packing on Sunday, sent him home sad, back up to New York to watch the uh very bad Jets get beaten by the not quite as bad, but you know, not great Miami Dolphins either, but you take the wins where you can get them. Uh but long story short, it has been just a tremendous season for the Marlins when you consider expectations. Uh this was a team that had won 62 games last year and expectations for this season were potentially even lower. I think that this was a team that was considered probably the worst in baseball. You had people saying that this was the worst lineup um in one of the worst lineups in MLB history coming into the season, which I mean I thought at the time was ridiculous. Um you know, I’ll take my victory lap and say that I was probably a little bit higher on this team than a lot of other people were. Um, and I can say that because I was uh, you know, and I’ll and you know, but the bottom line is right now what what Peter Bendix and company did in year two of this rebuild um, was absolutely phenomenal. And I do want to get into just some of the big overall developments of this season, some of the big moments. I mean, this team going from 16 games under 500 to sweeping the Yankees uh in late August to get back to 500, going 55 and 43 over their last uh 98 games this season. Uh, you know, I think that that what a lot of people lose in the midst of of this season here and and going 79 and 83 and missing the playoffs by just a handful of games is that you look at what the rotation was at the beginning of the season when it was starting out and it was Sandy. And your second starter was Robert Galispy and your third guy was Valente Beayoo. and Sandy through the first half of the season was statistically the worst pitcher in baseball. If you would have gotten second half Sandy, you know, over the course of the first half, you’re in the playoffs this year. Um, so I I don’t think you can overstate just how kind of just crazy um that kind of thing is when you cons when you consider the backdrop of what the season was supposed to be and what last year was. I mean, last year was just a a miserable uh march to the end of the year. You traded off all all your quote unquote stars and and to be very clear, Luis Arise is playing in the playoffs. Jazz is playing in the playoffs. They’re both great players. They’re both phenomenal players, but they weren’t helping the Marlins get to where they needed to go uh in 2025 and beyond. Um, and I think the the core mission of this season was to establish a core was to find players that you know you can identify as part of your foundation going forward in 2026 and beyond um to really build off of. And I think that when you look at the way this season played out um that’s been mission accomplished. And we’re going to talk about some of those guys because I want to get into some organizational superlatives and kind of, you know, uh, acknowledge some guys that I think had some really great years for this team and could be big parts uh, of the present and the future going forward here as we head into 2026. And I will talk a little bit about you know looking ahead and and and what this team needs to do. But I I just want to talk a little bit more about um you know some of the big things that happened for this team this season. You know number one I think the breakout of Kyle Sters when nobody saw that coming. Uh you know he here’s a guy who was just awful in 2024. There’s no no two ways about it. um after coming over in the Trevor Rogers trade uh the spring he struggled again. He was not there were a lot of people questioning why he was even on the opening day roster. Um and opening day he comes through gives you a game-winning hit and that was really just kind of the precursor for the rest of the season him being your best offensive player. Um and really one of the better hitters in the National League. I mean, he had an NPS over 900, had 25 homers, 73 runs batted in across uh 112 games this season. He was on pace to hit 30 homers, drive in 100 runs, and hit right around 300. Um, which is I mean, when you look at the Marlins lineup kind of down the stretch and at the end of the year, uh, that’s really what was kind of missing in the middle of the order was having that Kyle Sters kind of figure. Um, and then you look at some of the guys that you were able to find along the way. Um, Augustine Ramirez, who, you know, I know that people are going to kind of talk about the way that he finished the year and and the deficiencies at catcher, but I mean, this is still a guy that came up at, you know, 22 years old from Triple A. Granted, he hit 230, I know. Um, but he he gave you a 700 OPS, he gave you 21 homers, 16 steals. Um, and he was playing a a you know, a very challenging defensive position. I don’t think he’s going to be a catcher long term. I hope he’s not a catcher long term because I don’t I have the same doubts everyone else does that he can stick there. So, that’s not what I’m saying. But what I’m what I’m trying to get at there is I think that there’s a lot more to his ceiling with the bat as he is inevitably asked to do less in the field. Um so I think Augustine Ramirez is a guy that will eventually, you know, develop into a bat that is a core piece of your build and I think you can identify that. I think you can identify Jacob Marcy. Yeah, he tailed off at the end of the season, but again, I think you look at the approach and the way that he steps into the plate and and you know, that ties into organizationally. You know, everyone thinks of the Marlins and and Peter Bendix as these super analytical nerd guys, but then you kind of listen to them talk and you know, I think I think when I think the best teachers can make complicated uh concepts and make them digestible, make them easy to understand. And so, yeah, okay, zone swing percentage, zone contact percentage, those things, you know, they they’re really over complicating a very simple principle that I think that the Marlins have done a really good job of implementing. And I think that especially with younger players, this is more beneficial because you have these a chance to mold these guys uh while they’re younger. And it really comes down to taking pitches outside of the zone, swinging at pitches inside of the zone. It’s it’s just approach at the plate. And I think Jacob Marcy embodies that perfectly. Um and I think that he’s a guy that’s got really good five tool potential. um he had stolen something like 60 bags before he got called up um from Triple A and he stole another 15 16 bags after getting called up to the majors. Um the on base percentage was phenomenal. He’s a guy that I think is going to plug in as your one or two hitter next year along with Xavier Edwards who I think will have a bounceback season uh next year. I think that what you saw out of a guy like X was probably his floor. Um, and if and if his floor is going to be hitting 285, you know, and getting on base at a pretty decent clip and playing quite frankly gold glove caliber defense at second base, sure, take it 100% of the time. Uh, so you know, I think you’ve got a a a representative core now between guys like Ramirez and and Sters and Marcy and Edwards. Um, and then I think you’ve got pretty solid players around them that maybe they’re not guys that you would consider core pieces yet, but I mean Otto Lopez is a respectable major leaguer. Um, Herberto Hernandez. We’ll get into some of my superlatives because I’ve got a pretty interesting pick there. Um, but I think he, you know, you look at what he did this season, uh, hitting .266 with a 784 OPS, 10 homers in 87 games. He was a really consistent kind of presence in that Marlins order. Um, I think he’s a guy that’s a really solid kind of complimentary piece around your core. Uh, you know, Conor Norby had a really down year. Um, he probably at least amongst the position players, the most disappointing season out of everyone. Uh, and and Connor will tell you that himself to be fair. I mean, you know, especially with the Hammade injury, uh, never really got a chance to to be himself throughout the year. I think towards the end of the year, he played a little bit better. And I think if if you’re going into 2026 and you’re looking to you know place a you know you know if I’m if I’m if I’m looking at guys to see who’s going to be a breakout guy in 2026 I’ve kind of got my finger uh pointed at Conor Norby to be that guy for 2026 because I think you know number one I think he puts the work in to be better. Number two, I think this team and and the development staff kind of at this point, I mean, you you almost have to believe they understand what it takes to get guys better at this point because they’ve done it and you’ve seen it with guys coming up. You know, Herbert Dernandez comes up and hits. Uh Kyle Sters comes up and hits or not Kyle, Jacob Marzy comes up and hits. Augustine Ramirez comes up and he at least plays representatively well. Liam Hicks comes up from double A and you know he’s not tearing the cover off the ball but for a catcher he’s above average offensively. Um Graham Paulie made some adjustments midseason really started to play a lot better um before his season kind of got derailed again. Um, I think you just look at those those those strides in terms of consistency and then you take a guy like Norby who played better a lot better down the stretch. Um, and I think that he’s a guy that, you know, coming into 2026, if I’m looking at a guy that’s going to break out to the tune of maybe being like a 280 hitter with 20 homers and and swiping 15 to 20 bags, yeah, I’m looking at Conor Norby as somebody that can be that guy uh for this team. And if he does do that and you’ve got and and there’s more on the way here. It’s not just this is your core. Um and and Connor Norby is a guy that I think is on the fringe of your core. Uh but I think by the end of 2026, we will have him firmly entrenched in that conversation. Um but again, you’re also talking about a team that listen Griffin Conine is going to be in the conversation. I mean, the competition between him and Herabberto Hernandez for that last outfield spot is going to be really intense come spring training. Uh, and I think that that’s something that’s got to be really exciting for Marlins fans because you’re looking at a team that right now you’ve got more quantity and it’s not all and it’s not all bad, right? Um, but you’ve got you’ve got more more bodies than position than spaces on the roster right now. Um, you know, and that’s and that’s and the good thing about it is all these guys are young, so there’s more meat on the bones in terms of their development. Um, even some under the radar guys. I look at a guy like Javier Senoha who the numbers won’t jump off the page, but he played just about every position in the field. And again, like that was your youngest position player this year. You know, he started the season. He was I think he was like almost 22 when he started the year um on the roster. So, I think that there’s room to grow for even a guy like Java. Um and then that’s not to mention guys like Kemp Alddererman and Joe Mack um who are potentially knocking on the door. guys like Jacob Barry even who came along at the end of uh this year in the minor leagues I think in the position in the field right now you know you’re looking at heading into 2026 yeah you know you there’s some questions at the corner infield spots but between you know Troy Johnston who I hadn’t mentioned until this point but he can’t he’s another guy came up and hit pretty much just replicated his career numbers in the minors at the major league level. Uh I now small sample size theater, you don’t know how much of that stuff is going to translate into 2026, but you saw enough that you want to say, “Hey, well, let’s see if he can do it in 2026.” Um, so I think you know when you consider that your depth pieces going in the next year are going to look something a little bit more like Herberto Hernandez or Griffin Conine or Graham Paulie or Eric Wagaman or Javoa or you know any number of guys versus you know you had Jonah Ride on this roster at the beginning of the season. you had Derek Hill on this roster at the beginning of the season, and that’s no disrespect meant to those guys, but it’s it’s very much understood that they were kind of veteran band-aid solutions versus guys that you look at and can say, well, you know, this guy has some potential to be part of the long-term solution, you know, at any one position on the field like, you know, some of those other guys that I mentioned are. So, I’m, you know, I’m very bullish on the position players going into 2025 and I or going into 2026 because I think there were a lot of questions that were answered. I think that there’s a lot of uh hope on the horizon. Um, we didn’t even talk about Davidson Delos Santos. He had a down year in the minors, but I’m not ready to give up on the guy. I mean, he was 21 years old this season at Triple A, so there’s still a lot of developmental meat on the bone with him as well. and he’s got some of the best raw power in the organization. We’re going to talk a little bit more about a guy like Kemp Alderman who I think could force his way into that conversation to be, you know, into that third outfield conversation with Herberto Hernandez and and Griffin Conine. Um, but I want to get into the pitching staff because I think that that’s a a really positive development as well this year. And it it kind of shifted very quickly from one of your from one of the things that you’re looking at and you’re like, “Oh my god, could this get any worse?” to, “Hey, we’re in a really good spot here right now.” because you’ve got, you know, Sandy who, to his credit, I mean, listen, it was brutal for the first half of the season. It was I mean, I I mentioned it before, but statistically speaking, factually speaking, he was the worst starting pitcher in Major League Baseball um for the first half of the season. Second half of the season, all of a sudden, he started to look like Sandy. And that is the ultimate testament to his mental fortitude to go through those struggles for that long and to still just kind of tread water and you know keep the nose to the grindstoneone believe that it’s going to turn around. And eventually it did because I mean when you when when you have the talent that he does and you have the mentality that he does um that’s kind of just what tends to happen. and um eventually he did break through. Had a 334 year RA in the second half and you didn’t trade him. You know, credit to Peter Bendix, he held firm at the deadline. He said, “This is what the asking price is. I’m not going to panic and sell this guy at, you know, pennies on the dollar.” Uh and it it remains to be seen what happens with Sandy this off seasonason. I I am very cleareyed um to the idea that Sandy could be dealt this off season. Maybe some team makes the offer that they weren’t willing to make um in the in at the trade deadline and Peter Bendix pulls the trigger. He’s known to do things like that. I’m fully aware that that’s a possibility. I understand it. I’m cleareyed about it. Um, but at the same time, I think that they’re cleareyed and understanding of the fact that they’re pretty close to competing. Maybe not for a World Series championship, maybe not for a division title, but they are pretty close to com they they should be in the wild card conversation next year to the point where I mean if I were if I were making up odds to make the postseason, I would probably say that they are am, you know, even above teams like the the Cardinals, the Diamondbacks, and the Giants. all of whom finished, you know, either in similar spots in the standings or maybe slightly slightly higher. Uh, you know, I don’t think they’ll be favored over any of the current playoff teams in the field, but you look at this team and the foundation that they have and the pitching staff that they have and um, you know, some of what’s to come and it’s it’s very impressive. And just to get back to the staff here, I think Sandy bouncing back was probably your biggest development. Um, well, it might be your second biggest development because your your biggest development may have been Edward Cabrera finally living up to um kind of the potential that we all knew that he had. And that’s why he was one of the most maddening players um on the Marlins for the last two or three years was because he, you know, here’s this guy that that has arguably better stuff than Sandy, but he just can’t find the strike zone. And it’s just on and off kind of stop and start. you know, you’ll get a really dominant start and it’ll look like, oh man, here here comes this guy ready to turn the corner and then he’ll come out and he’ll walk six guys in his next in his next appearance and it’s okay well I guess we’re not there yet. And you know this kind this year kind of felt like the turning point for him where it was either going to be okay well you’re going to turn this corner or we’re going to turn the page and to his credit he buckled down and he turned the corner. You look at what he did from May 25th onwards, he had a he pitched to an 8-6 record with a 294 RA, you know, and that and it’s doubly compounded by the fact that he he had some really, you know, he had some injury scares throughout the season. You know, we talk about the elbow tightness after the All-Star break. You talk about the elbow spraining at the beginning of September and that always feels like a harbinger of uh Tommy John surgery, but he he ends up not needing the surgery. Uh and he’s able to give you a couple of of decent starts towards the end of the season. Uh just to kind of give you a good taste in your mouth here heading into 2026 for him coming off of what was his by far his best season. set by far had a career low walks per nine at about three. His previous career low was five. um you know pitched to a 353 RA over the entire course of the season and you look at you look at what he was able to do and and you know he’s now one of your guys that I think if if you were to take just everybody that’s on the roster right now and you were to lay out your top three starters I think what you rolled out against the Mets at the end of the season would be your playoff rotation it’d be Sandy it’d be Cabra it’d be Perez some combination of those three and that leads into Yuri Perez who um had a had a little bit of an up and down return from Tommy John surgery, but you know, I think a lot of that is influenced by a couple of really tough starts. Uh he had the one start in in New York where he gave up something like seven or eight runs in the first inning. Uh and if you were to just remove that from the equation, he was a lot better. uh you know, you look through June and July, he was pretty dominant uh to that point and he did have his his share of struggles, but you saw the glimpses, you saw the electric stuff with the fast ball, you saw the really good breaking stuff still from Yuri. Um, you know, and he’s and he’s still so young. You know, some of the things that you saw this year were maybe he was was getting a little frustrated with the umpires or, you know, he wasn’t he was chasing strikeouts maybe a little bit too much. I think as he matures as a pitcher, that’s stuff that he’s going to improve upon. Uh, you look at Ryan Weathers, who, you know, I’ll I’ll take the I’ll take the the loss on that one. Ryan Weathers was a guy that I thought was going to have his breakout season this year. Uh, and he really didn’t get the opportunity to. Um, you know, he pitched to an RA in the low threes when he was available this year. Uh, showed off some really, really improved stuff. I mean, to be going, you know, the fast ball ticking up to about 98 now on on the gun. Um, the the curve ball, the secondary stuff looked really sharp, really good. I think if you can get a full season of Ryan Weathers um next season, I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that he has his kind of Jesus Lazardoesque breakout year. Um, and just touching on that, I think very clearly Jesus Lazardo being dealt is your if there’s one Achilles heel to the Peter Bendix era so far, it has been that. Um, I’m just not a fan of Starling Cabba. I I know the glove is great, but I would just I personally I’d just rather have Jesus Cesardo at this point. I think that he got dealt um at the lowest point of his value. But I think Ryan Weathers could be kind of Jesus Cazardo light next season uh for this team in terms of taking on another prospect who had a really good pedigree who had great stuff who just hadn’t quite put it together um but kind of finds their way in Miami. And I think that it’s a very similar story and I think that the guys have very similar stuff. Uh, and then you know, you look at the five spot this year was mostly held down by Jansen Junk. And I think the the most positive thing you can take away from that is listen, at the beginning of the season, your depth in the in the rotation was Caucantrell, Robert Gillespie, Valente Beoo. Now you’re looking at Jansen Junk, Braxton Garrett, Max Meyer. are those guys for you next season. And I would take that three over the previous three by far if if guys have to go down. Um, and then that’s not to mention guys like Robbie Snelling, guys like Thomas White who are knocking on the door uh to come up at the major league level. Um, and you know, while we’re on that topic here, I do just want to touch on a little bit uh some organizational superlatives after getting through the after getting through the uh uh really the main portions of of the roster and kind of running through the position players and the starters. Uh the bullpen, we can talk about that. I I I think as I speak about um who I have as the Marlins best reliever this season, uh we’ll get to talk a little bit more about the bullpen, but I do want to spend a little bit more time just kind of giving flowers to the guys that I think were some of the best performers in the organization. And so I think it all starts at the top and that’s going to be your 2025 MVP for the Miami Marlins, uh Kyle Sters. And I think that that’s a pretty obvious selection. Um, you know, as I mentioned, he was the Marlins lone position player all start this season. Um, at points he was the hottest hitter in baseball for large swaths of the season. Uh, really showed off a lot of power from the left side. Uh, and and kind of just changed the overall vibe of the group. I mean, you know, that’s another thing that I think goes underappreciated with this team is you look at the last couple of years and and it was very clickish. You hear the stories about Miguel Rojos and Jazz Chisum and players only meetings and guys sleeping before games and, you know, you really get a sense that this this this group doesn’t have any of those issues whatsoever. All these guys are pulling in the same direction. All of these guys like each other. All these guys are growing together. And I think that that’s another uh underrated aspect of having a young team is as these guys kind of grow up in the major leagues and get these formative experiences as pros. Um they tend to to grow those bonds and I think that’s something that you definitely saw this year from this club. Uh, so Kyle Sters, I think far and away your MVP this season for the Miami Marlins. Uh, the next player that I do want to talk about is going to be your organiza your your Sai Young at the major league level. Um, and it was Edward Cabrera. There were a couple guys that that I could have selected here. Um, you know, I thought about I thought about Yuri. I thought about Ronnie Enriquez in this spot even because of the work that he did out of the bullpen. Um, but I but I had to give it to Edward Cabera. Um, you know, some of the adjustments that he made this season, I think leaning into that more of his curveball, which is one of the most unhitable pitches in baseball when he’s on uh and and just kind of get, you know, getting that grasp of control and really learning how to work a little bit deeper into games, too. uh because you had a a point there before he got the elbow strain where he was going six or seven innings consistently and and that really felt like kind of the next evolution of Edward Cabrera. Um as you you know cuz he had started to get consistent over five five and a third five and two/3 innings. But then he started to kind of hit this point where he was going six or seven innings pretty consistency pretty consistently and with regularity getting up to 100 105 pitches. Uh so I think that that was really kind of your next step for him and I think that that’s what you look for in 2026 is more bulk out of Cabrera. um you know, getting up to 180 200 innings um and and and being able to handle that kind of a workload uh for a frontline starter is is kind of the next step for Cabrera. Uh and that leads me into my reliever of the year, which is none other than Ronnie Henriquez. uh you know the dimminionive uh 59 reliever throws 9798 7-1 with a 222 erra uh just one of the more unbelievable stories for this team this year to go as a guy that was claimed off of waiverss from Minnesota uh to the Marlins most valuable reliever this season is just phenomenal stuff. And it’s again, it’s a story that Peter Bendix has made happen more than once. You talk about Otto Lopez and him being a waiver claim. You talk about Tyler Phillips coming on as another guy in the bullpen who was really solid for the Marlins this year. Um, just kind of being picked up out of nowhere. Uh, you talk about uh just some of these some of these acquisitions that they make. um from Peter Bendix. They just seem to have an eye for guys that that fit what they want and they know how to maximize those players. And that leads into a guy that I’m taking to be the rookie of the year for the Miami Marlins. And it’s not Augustine Ramirez, it’s Herabberto Hernandez. Um because when I I think when you take a look at it holistically, uh I I think that he just had a better overall season. Um, you know, the the the approach at the plate was a little bit better. Uh, he had some really clutch moments for for the Marlins. You know, in that last week of the season, being able to hit the game tying home run off of Sir Anthony Dominguez against Philadelphia or against uh Won in the in the ninth inning um of of that game. And you know, he hit 266 on the season, 784 OPS, 10 homers, 45 runs batted in 87 games, uh, and was just a really consistent piece of your lineup for, you know, a good chunk of the season. Yes, I could give some love to Jacob Marcy. I I just don’t think that he had the the amount of games. He didn’t have the the length of resume. Uh, you know, if he had played 60 70 games, we we would have been able to talk about Jacob Marcy there. and Augustine Ramirez. I just think that he kind of tailed off a little bit too much. But I think the fact that you’re talking about the Marlins having three rookies kind of in the caliber of Augustine Ramirez and Herabberto Hernandez and Jacob Marcy kind of highlights uh the optimism that’s surrounding this team heading into 2026. Um, and speaking of heading into 2026, I do want to highlight some of the minor league guys uh that I want to show some love to here. Uh, firstly, your minor league hitter of the year for the Marlins organization. I think it’s got to be none other than Kemp Alderman. Uh, he hit .285 over the course of the year, 22 homers, 22 steals. um had an OPS of about 782 in the Southern League in DA. And while that doesn’t sound all that impressive, just please consider that that that league is very pitcher friendly. And that was actually the fourth best OPS in in the entire league uh while he was down there. And then he gets called up to Triple A. Uh sets that place on fire in Jacksonville. Hits 307 1013 OPS, seven homers in 20 games. Um, I mean, just a meteoric rise for a guy like Alderman this season. And I think that he’s, like I said, I think he’s going to challenge for one of your outfield spots going into next season. Uh, he’s got arguably the best raw power in all of the miners. When you look at his exit velocities, um, you know, he regular he’s regularly hitting the ball 114, 11,5, 11,6 miles per hour. Um, and you know, he’s he’s probably one of your most he has a chance to be the the best success story out of any of the college hitters that you’ve selected over the last 10, 15, 20 years. Uh, I think that he’s a guy that as he matures in his approach at the plate, uh, is going to be a really has the potential to be a very special player for the Miami Marlins. uh your minor league pitcher of the year and and this one had some stiff competition. Ultimately, I’m going to give it to Robbie Snelling. Uh 251 RA between DA and Triple A this year. 136 innings pitched. Uh 157 strikeouts. Got called up to AAA after a really solid stint in DA. And what did he do there? He went 6 and2 with a 127 when he did get called up to AAA. Um he’s a guy that a lot of people were kind of down on after last season because he had a he had a you know a really rough year between you know the Padres’s organization and the Marlins organization. But you go back to what he did in 2023 when he went 11 and three with a 181 erra or in 2024 or yeah 2023 rather uh in the in the Padres’s organization and he kind of just turned back into that guy this year. um the just the stuff played up. He had one of the the highest whiff rates in all of minor league baseball on pitches inside the strike zone. So, it’s not even that he’s getting guys to swing at a bunch of junk. He’s it’s just he’s just beating guys inside of the strike zone. Um which bodess very well for for his long-term prospects, I think, at the major league level. and he’s going to be a guy that has the opportunity to start the year in the rotation next season. Uh when you consider just how close he was uh this year towards the end of the year to getting there and I think that he’s a guy that you have penciled in as one of your starters um come mid 2026 or even you know mid 2026 uh going into 2027 and beyond. Uh, I think the same thing could be said for a guy like Thomas White, who would of course be the runnerup. Uh, pitched to a 231 between double and triple AAA this year. Again, just comes down to a workload difference. Thomas White 87 innings pitched. Uh, Robbie Snelling 136 innings pitched. Um, but White arguably more impressive in his smaller sample size. uh between high A and DA this season, but and and even in Triple A uh really cuz he did finish the year at AAA and pitched very well uh at that level as well. Uh but another guy that’s going to be part of this core upcoming for the next three, four, five, six years. And this isn’t just me saying this, like this isn’t just I I need people to understand when I’m talking about these guys and like Robbie Snelling and and and and you know, uh Thomas White, I you know, there are some people that instinctively say, well, you know, every organization believes this about their about their guys. You know, um these are these are the top two left-handed pitching prospects in baseball right now. uh according to quite a few major outlets. So I mean when I when I say that the Marlins are flush with pitching talent, they are flush with pitching talent. Um you’re and and and you know and I do want to get into as well because we can talk about breakout performers as well. Uh and my breakout performer is going to be Will Shamberg. Shamberg acquired from Seattle in the David Phelps trade a few years back. Uh kind of a not David Phelp, Jesus Christ, David Phelps. I mean the JTH Sharwa trade. Um kind of a a an an unheralded prospect when the Marlins acquired him. He had really good numbers, really good uh strikeout stuff this year. Pitched to a 320 ERA. And you go back to because he really started the season kind of struggling, but down the stretch of the year um his last 16 appearances pitched to a 220 erra uh over 67 inning over 69 innings uh striking out 80 batters between high and double A kind of cementing himself as one of the next guys up. And you know there are just so many other pitchers I could have talked about here. I could have talked about Kener Bonitez. I could have talked about um Adam Lash Lashupka. I could have talked about Eleazar Dishme. I could have talked about Carson Milbrandt. I could have talked about Grant Shepardson, Nate Payne. The Marlins organization is flush with pitching. Flush. Um and and and again it’s just another reason to be bullish on this team moving forward because it’s not just oh well we have this really good crop of prospects. There’s not much coming after that. So we really hope these guys work out. It’s no we have this really good crop that we like and there’s more on the way and then after those guys there’s more on the way and then after those guys there’s more on the way. And that’s really kind of the Tampa Bay model that, you know, Miami and Peter Bendix are trying to uh emulate. And I think that that’s something that right now they’re kind of executing that blueprint to a te. Uh you look at the the breakout hitter uh of the year in the Marlins organization. That’s going to be Esme Valencia uh who was acquired in the Jesus Sanchez trade with the Astros. um only played 24 games in the Marlins organization, but it was a really impressive uh 24 games in the Marlins organization. Hit 327, three homers, uh 21 runs batted in. Uh six doubles, two triples, stole 14 bags, had an 877 OPS. Uh, the other thing that I find really impressive about this guy is number one, he’s still only 19 years old in in high A when a lot of guys at his age are still playing, you know, in like the the Dominican summer league. Um, so he’s a number one, he’s ahead of the curve. Number two, you look at the exit velocities on him and you know, you might think for a guy that’s like 5’9, 180 that that he wouldn’t have a lot of power. This is a guy that regularly hits the ball 105 110 miles per hour. Um really really well built. Uh has five tool potential as as an outfielder down the line. Of course, he’s still very young. There’s still a lot of room to go in his in his uh in his development path, but I think that he’s going to be a guy that starts at high A next year. And you know, it’s one of those things where you never know if a guy just hits at single A and then he hits at the next level and then he hits at the next level. You know, you have to let the prospects kind of set their their time frame. The the the time frame of the prospect is entirely up to the prospect. If he comes up and he dominates that high A and then he go sent up to double A in a month, month and a half, then he dominates that level. Then he gets sent up to Triple A, dominates that level in like a month, month and a half. You’re talking about a guy that, you know, if he’s starting at high A this year or next season, he might be on the verge of the call at the end of 2026 as a guy that you’re talking about being on the roster in 2027. So, we talk about these guys in Single and we’re like, yeah, but they’re like three, four years away. Well, maybe not. Maybe it’s more like one or two um if he continues to perform the way that he has. I mean, this is a guy that uh stole 60 bases, had really good exit velocity, so you know that the power is going to be there. Really solid glove in the field. Um, you know, this is this could be one of those trades where, you know, people look back at it in three, four, five years and they’re like, man, I can’t believe the Astros gave up that guy for Jesus Sanchez. Um, I think I think Esme Valencia has the potential to be um that kind of player and that kind of get for the Marlins uh in that Jesus Sanchez trade. Um, but I do just want to touch on one last thing here before we go. Uh, and and you know, kind of a look ahead into the off season and into 2026 and in terms of what the Marlins could be looking to add in. You know, I’ll preface this by saying I think there’s going to be a lot of pressure externally for the Marlins to spend money in ad um based on capturing the momentum and and kind of, you know, rolling it over. I think this year there’s a lot of momentum to be captured and a lot of good feeling to be rolled over in continuity um in bringing back your coaching staff and bringing back this core players into 2026. There’s a lot there that I think you you look at and you say, “Yeah, this this Marlins team I feel really good about. Um, if they even if they don’t add anybody, I think you get a lot of internal improvement. I think you have a lot of prospects that are close. Um, and I think you get better just kind of organically with this core as they grow and as they continue to improve. That being said, um I undoubtedly they’ll look at bullpen arms. I think they they could use another lefty in the bullpen. I think Kade Gibson was really good. I think between I think between Gibson, Henriquez, Fosche, Bender, uh and Phillips. I think that those guys are the core of your bullpen. We’ll see what they plan on doing with guys like Josh White in the minors who is absolutely ready to come up and contribute to a major league bullpen as early as next season. We’ll see what they do with Max Meyer when he decides to come back. I’ve always kind of been of the opinion that he when he comes back it’ll be as a as a reliever. Um but you know that still remains to be seen. So I think that they’ll look to add um bullpen help. Maybe they’ll look to add corner and field to help, although I I I doubt it. I think they’re comfortable with what they have there. Um, and really they’ll just look to capitalize on the momentum and and really develop the young players um that this team has. And I think that a lot of recent front offices for the Marlins have done a lot of lift service development. Uh, but I think that this has really been the first time that you can see genuine care and thought and planning put into development. And we’re not going to over or undercook these guys. We’re going to kind of let the process play out. And if a guy earns playing time, he earns playing time. If a guy doesn’t, he doesn’t. And I think that that’s one of the best organizational strategies you can have. I think and I’m I’m I’m just bullish on the Marlins heading into 2026. I think that this is a team that’s going to compete for a playoff spot in 2026 and is I I think they’re on the verge of opening up a window of contention here from 2026 and beyond in a way that I think is going to, you know, get people more excited for baseball in South Florida going forward here. I think we’re we’re about to enter a very fun five, six, sevenyear window here for the Miami Marlins. And I do hope that you guys will join me for that as we continue to progress on into the future here. Uh there will be more Marlins content in the offseason. Hopefully, you know, as moves are made, uh things happen. Rule five draft. Uh guys maybe get traded, maybe not. uh guys maybe get extended over this off seasonason. Uh so if if any of those things happen, we will see you there. Otherwise, I will be seeing you come spring training time. It has been a pleasure covering this Marlin season, one of the more fun ones uh in all of recent memories. So I will see you guys next time. Thanks so much for listening and we will see you again. Remember to like, comment, and subscribe on the video. And, you know, sub to the Five Reasons Sports Network. Uh, more work on the Dolphin side. We’ll be doing scouting the Fins every week here, as well as some Dolphins pregame, postgame, some prize picks content. Uh, and of course with NBA season upcoming. Be sure to stay tapped into Ethan and the guys on that, as well as the Panthers and the Hurricanes, uh, going on a great run this year. So, I’ll see you next time. It has been a very fun 2025 season. Thanks, guys.
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