Fish On First is publishing Miami Marlins minor league summaries throughout the 2025 season, covering the progress of FOF Top 30 prospects and lesser-known players in the organization who are worth monitoring. Each full-season MiLB affiliate has its own section below, with the two Dominican Summer League affiliates combined into a single section.
Player stats are up to date entering July 4.
Triple-A Jacksonville
On June 26, the Miami Marlins purchased the contract of right-handed pitcher Morgan McSweeney, who was playing independent ball with the Staten Island FerryHawks. In his first start back in the affiliated minor leagues, he gave the Jumbo Shrimp 6 ⅔ innings of shutout ball, allowing four hits, one walk and striking out four on 94 pitches (56 strikes).
McSweeney makes his next start on Friday night.
Jakob Marsee finished the month of June with some of his best career numbers, slashing .308/.396/.648/.1.045 with seven home runs and 15 RBI. He is now slashing .245/.379/.440/.819 with 11 home runs, 29 RBI and 39 stolen bases through 78 games played. Marsee was acquired in the Luis Arraez trade in 2024.
After struggling for about a month, Joe Mack has now hit five home runs within his last seven games. He is slashing .273/.354/.459/.812 with 10 home runs and 34 RBI. Mack, along with Thomas White, will be heading to the Futures Game in Atlanta next weekend.
Prior to the series opener against the Minnesota Twins, the Marlins claimed right-handed reliever Nick Nastrini off waivers from the Chicago White Sox and optioned him to Jacksonville.
Nastrini was still regarded as a White Sox top 30 prospect at the time of the move. He reached the major league level last season, but struggled. A return to AAA has not helped him—in 20 appearances (six starts) this season, he has a 7.51 ERA, 7.05 FIP, 9.74 K/9 and 7.92 BB/9 through 44 ⅓ innings pitched. His control will need to improve a lot before being considered for a call-up to Miami.
Nastrini’s Jumbo Shrimp debut will likely come against his former teammates as Jacksonville is hosting the Charlotte Knights this weekend.
Double-A Pensacola
Recently promoted Thomas White in his most recent start, working five shutout innings. He allowed only two hits, one walk and struck out five. Through two starts with Pensacola, he has only allowed one earned run and struck out nine.
Robby Snelling is the reigning Southern League Pitcher of the Week after going seven shutout innings in his June 25 start, allowing only two hits and striking out seven.
For an encore, Snelling logged five quality innings on Thursday. On the season, he has a 3.61 ERA, 2.84 FIP, 10.58 K/9 and 2.74 BB/9 through 72 ⅓ innings pitched. His promotion to AAA should arrive soon.
Kemp Alderman continues to impress, slashing .275/.329/.428/.756 with nine home runs, 34 RBI, 14 stolen bases and a 123 wRC+.
The recently promoted Michael Snyder was the Marlins’ 10th-round back this past year. He has only played eight games in AA thus far, but already has a 167 wRC+. Most of his defensive work since joining the Wahoos has been at third base.
High-A Beloit
The Marlins misfired on their third-round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. Although 23-year-old Brock Vradenburg still has time on his side, it is difficult to map out a potential career turnaround.
Vradenburg is among the largest position players in Miami’s farm system, listed at 6’6″, 230 pounds. He blasted 13 home runs as a junior at Michigan State to juice his prospect stock; in 208 MiLB games since then, he has only 11 long balls, including none this season. Limited to first base defensively, that deficiency simply isn’t acceptable.
Vradenburg was actually among Beloit’s best bats early in the 2025 season. He has trended the wrong way since mid-May.
It’s been a gradual developmental process for infielder Jesús Hernández. Signed out of Guanare Viejo, Venezuela in January 2021, he finally got bumped up to the High-A level four and a half years later.
Hernández boasts a .313/.522/.438 slash line through five games. Shortly before the promotion, he began dabbling in left field, and he’s continuing to see some action there as a member of the Sky Carp.
Low-A Jupiter
For the first time in his professional career, PJ Morlando has been able to string together multiple full weeks of availability. The 2024 top draft pick made his return to the Hammerheads on June 19. In 10 games since, he has slashed .226/.444/.323 with walks drawn in nine of those games.
Maximizing his game reps is clearly the main objective for Morlando during the second half of the season. It would be especially valuable for him to see more left-handed pitching—Morlando still doesn’t having any hits off lefties as a minor leaguer.
Fellow 2024 draftee Jake Faherty is settling in as Jupiter’s closer after his own IL stint. The combined line from his last six outings: 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 10 K (3 SV).
Lack of control is still a red flag for Faherty, but he has elite fastball velocity and top-of-the-scale spin rates on his pitches. He topped out at 100 mph in April and has dialed it up as high as 99 since being reinstated. Health permitting, expect to see him in Beloit before season’s end.
Keyner Benitez is back in Jupiter’s rotation after a surprising demotion to the complex league last month. In 11 total appearances across the two levels this season, the 19-year-old has posted a 2.83 ERA, 3.53 FIP and .237 BAA in 41 ⅓ innings pitched.
FCL Marlins
After a solid start, the FCL squad fizzled amidst some roster movement. However, since June 14, the squad has been able to ride solid pitching to an even 7-7 record. The team is 18-21 entering their Fourth of July doubleheader. On the year, the FCL Marlins own a 4.18 ERA and have struck out 379 batters, second on the circuit.
A huge contributor on the mound for the FCL Marlins has been Nate Payne. The Marlins’ 18th-round pick last season out of the high school ranks, Payne had a lowly 2.03 ERA and 2.43 FIP prior to Friday’s abbreviated start. He’s struck out 44 and walked just 14.
While Payne isn’t overpowering velocity-wise sitting around 92-93 mph, he has a staple curveball in the 74-76 range that sets him apart. Despite his average present size, Payne gets on top of the pitch well, giving him the ability to change eye levels and get some ugly swings from FCL hitters.
After returning from a slowed start in late May, Yoffry Solano had a fantastic June, especially within the last two weeks of the month. In 37 June ABs, Solano hit .351/.415/.405. He struck out just six times and walked three times. Solano didn’t hit for a ton of power, but his ability to work counts and find holes from both sides of the plate led to great numbers. Solano will need to develop the ability to find a bit more launch and gaps as he grows in order to even out an unsustainable .375 BABIP. That said, June was a great confidence-builder for the 20-year-old.
Checking in with top prospect Fabian López, he’s in a 5-for-32 skid. Hits have come sporadically for the 2023 signee, who is repeating the FCL. Recently, López has seen an increase in strikeouts. In June, he had a 21/2 K/BB. Swing decisions, particularly early in counts will need to improve. Additionally, the 6’, 165-pound switch-hitter has had extreme struggles at shortstop, already committing 12 errors on the year. A move to a different infield position, likely second base, would seemingly make a lot of sense for López’s development.
DSL Marlins/DSL Miami
Due to immature bodies, unpredictable tropical winds and other variables, game power is rare to see in the Dominican Summer League. None of that is stopping this year’s Marlins affiliates. DSL Marlins has hit a league-leading 26 home runs. DSL Miami is fourth on the circuit with 18. They have already exceeded their combined total from the 2024 campaign. The DSL season runs through mid-August. In addition, both teams continue to run. DSL Miami paces the league in steals with 100. DSL Marlins has 58.
With this combination, it is unsurprising that both teams are putting up runs in bunches. The DSL Marlins scored 29 in a single game this past week while holding their opponent scoreless for one of the most lopsided victories in modern MiLB history.
In the league lead with seven home runs is Diwarys Encarnación. A 19-year-old infielder, Encarnación has projectile size and newly pronounced strength. After hitting just a single home run last season, he’s already put out seven in 2025. Turning gap power into over-the-fence power this early in his career is of course encouraging. Encarnación is also avoiding whiffs, having struck out just 10 times while recording 11 walks. He’s slashing .318/.412/.612.
“Undoubtedly very impressive the type of season Diwarys has put together. Credit to him and his offseason routine as well as our (player development) staff really getting him a lot stronger. He’s ticked up in a lot of areas and rightfully so has turned himself into one of our better position players in the DSL,” director of international scouting David Hernandez told us. “He’ll turn 20 soon, but he’s performed his way into a promotion and has significantly improved in batted ball data as well as plate discipline from one year to the next.”
A defensive home for Encarnación still hasn’t been settled as he’s once again spent time at shortstop, third base, first base and all three outfield spots this year. Encarnación has the speed and range to stick on the infield and if his power persists as he grows through levels, he will be a great asset at either short or third. The biggest question right now is an inaccurate throwing arm, but there is time to get that under control.
With two less homers than Encarnación is Anthony Abreu. Signed out of this past class for a lucrative $550k, Abreu’s pitch recognition ability that he was lauded for in scouting reports has shown up in droves. He’s slashing .254/.438/.552 in his first 21 career games. Of his 17 hits, nine have gone for extra bases.
Abreu has spent most of his time at shortstop, but has also already dabbled at other infield positions including third base. Limited speed and range would seem to suggest Abreu will be another international prospect that will move off shortstop and maybe off of the infield entirely eventually. That said, his already-advanced plate presence should carry him to a pretty high floor.
“If you want to talk about upside picks, Abreu is the one. Even though his swing-and-miss rates on (fastballs) is way too high, his combination of plate discipline and power makes him a potential monster offensive contributor,” Hernandez said. “He’s a bit maxed out already physically and might profile out of the dirt, but should continue to get more explosive in time to generate real offensive impact.”
One more offensive standout has been catcher Almen Tolentino. Back in the DSL after being limited to just 20 games last season, Tolentino is putting on a show through his first 21 contests in 2025. Tolentino is slashing .356/.467/.658. His 1.125 OPS is seventh circuit-wide. He’s already hit four home runs and recorded four triples.
“Super athletic and charismatic kid with big-time work ethic,” former director of international operations Adrian Lorenzo told us. “Love that swing!”
Defensively, Tolentino, who is 6’1”, 160, has some learning to do behind the plate, but his background may allot him at least an extended look there before possibly being moved off into the diamond.
“Probably most natural at 3B/2B, but really like the athleticism and actions behind the plate,” Lorenzo said.
Tolentino is 18. With sustained success, he will place himself in prime position for a stateside call later on this season, either at the end of the DSL schedule or amidst FCL promotions.
Next Up (July 4-6)
Triple-A Jacksonville vs. Charlotte
Double-A Pensacola at Biloxi
High-A Beloit at Wisconsin
Low-A Jupiter vs. Palm Beach
Interested in learning more about the Miami Marlins’ top prospects? Check out our comprehensive top prospects list that includes up-to-date stats, articles and videos about every prospect, scouting reports, and more!