Hours after the Miami Marlins defeated the Boston Red Sox, Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase reported that Fish On First #11 prospect Maximo Acosta is on his way to Miami to join the team. No corresponding move has been made and the club has yet to make the move official.
Acosta, 22, was one of three players acquired in the December trade that sent Jake Burger to the Texas Rangers. At the time of the trade, he was coming off a season in Double-A where he slashed .288/.353/.425/.777 with 11 home runs, 58 RBI, 26 stolen bases and a 118 wRC+.
In very limited spring training action, Acosta slashed .273/.429/.545/.974 in six Grapefruit League games while looking comfortable at shortstop. There was talk of him potentially making the Opening Day roster, but he was ultimately optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville. The Marlins middle infield has had stability with Otto Lopez at shortstop, Xavier Edwards at second base and Javier Sanoja serving as the backup at both positions, so Acosta has remained in Jacksonville ever since.
Through 106 AAA games played, he has slashed .232/.319/.376/.695 with 12 home runs and 49 RBI, 28 stolen bases and a 91 wRC+. After posting a .594 OPS from March 28 through May 31, his performance has come much closer to what was initially expected, slashing .244/.317/.472/.789 with 10 home runs and 32 RBI.
There is still a concern about Acosta’s increased strikeout rate, which has nearly doubled from 13.4% last year to 26.3% this year. That’s due to the combination of a reduced contact rate and taking a lot of pitches in the zone.
Although a right-handed batter, Acosta has once again done his best work against righties—slashing .238/.329/.400/.729 in 359 plate appearances—while posting a terrible .529 OPS against left-handers. The Marlins usually seek platoon advantages as much as possible, so it’ll be interesting to see how they use somebody with reverse splits like this.
Defensively, Acosta has played all but five games at shortstop this season. His ability there gives him a high floor at the major league level.
Graham Pauley is the top candidate to be placed on the injured list to make room for Acosta. He was unavailable to play Sunday due to right side tightness, according to MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola. Pauley had been serving as Miami’s starting third baseman over the past month.
The Marlins welcome the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday with first pitch at 6:40 pm.