McQueen High graduate Robby Snelling is back where he was in 2024, only a lot closer to the big leagues.
The Reno native is a consensus top-100 prospect in baseball, with those lists filtering out in recent days. Snelling also was a top-100 prospect entering the 2024 season before losing velocity off his fastball and being traded from San Diego to Miami that summer, which led to Snelling being dropped from pre-2025 top-prospect lists.
A left-handed pitcher, Snelling reestablished his top-end pedigree last season, going 9-7 with a 2.51 ERA in 25 starts between Double-A and Triple-A. In 11 Triple-A starts, Snelling went 6-2 with a 1.27 ERA, striking out 81 batters in 63.2 innings while helping the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp win the Triple-A national title. The former first-round draft pick turned 22 last month and could make his major-league debut in 2026, with the Marlins trading starters Edward Cabrera and Ryan Weathers this offseason with Snelling and fellow top prospect Thomas White appearing ready for their debuts.
Here is where the national publications ranked Snelling among baseball’s top prospects with the writeups coming from those publications.
MLB Pipeline — No. 39: After dipping into the low 90s for much of 2024, Snelling worked at 93-96 mph and touched 100 last season, with his fastball standing out more with its carry and command than its life. He throws two versions of an 82-85 mph slider, with his sweeper a solid offering that’s much more effective than his gyro. His changeup can fool hitters with fade at times and tumble at others, but it’s too firm in the upper 80s and can get mashed when he doesn’t locate it well. Snelling exudes a football mentality on the mound with a strong 6-foot-3 frame and an aggressive mindset. With his stuff and confidence restored in 2025, he resumed pounding the strike zone. He lacks an overwhelming arsenal but comes with a high floor and can become a mid-rotation starter if he continues to command his pitches well.
The Athletic — No. 63: Snelling was on my top-100 list going into 2024, then dropped off when he lost several miles an hour off his fastball that summer, which included (and probably precipitated) his trade from San Diego to Miami that July. The Marlins did well here as Snelling got his fastball back, sitting 94-95 in Triple A last year with a plus slider and average changeup, throwing strikes across the board, so he projects as a mid-rotation starter with a chance to be even better. The four-seamer gets some swing and miss because it’s a high-spin fastball that has some ride at the top of the zone, and on the rare occasions he’s allowed to work deep into games he holds his velocity. The changeup is his worst pitch for now, although he showed no platoon split in the minors last year. He’s a premium athlete who was also a quarterback and linebacker in high school, moving well on the mound and repeating his delivery. He could be someone’s No. 5 starter right now, with a realistic ceiling of a No. 3 and a chance he becomes even more if his command continues to improve and he develops the changeup more.
ESPN — No. 47: Snelling was the No. 39 pick out of the 2022 draft by the Padres and was somewhat underwhelming in early pro ball, as his pitch shapes and command weren’t as effective against pro hitters. He was looking like a potential No. 5 starter or long reliever when he was dealt to the Marlins at the 2024 deadline in the Tanner Scott deal, then his velo jumped 2.4 mph on average in 2025. This took a fringy fastball with solid shape and made it an above-average to plus pitch while also helping his slider and curveball by at least a full tick. After that, he didn’t need to nibble as he had above-average big league stuff and his command held on through the velo spike. Now the rosiest projections from draft time look reasonable and Snelling falls in the middle of a nice run of lefty starters who are close to sticking in the big leagues for good, behind Jump and Messick (they have better off-speed stuff) but ahead of Connelly Early (Snelling has a better fastball and command), Liam Doyle (relief risk and lack of pro performance), and Connor Prielipp (best stuff but lowest innings/health of the group).
Snelling also ranked 41st in Baseball America’s preseason prospect rankings while FanGraphs listed him 50th on its end-of-2025 rankings (they have not published their preseason list). Below is MLB.com’s overview of Snelling’s prospect status.
Earlier this offseason, Snelling said a trip to an Atlanta baseball lab last winter helped him regain his stuff and confidence under the tutelage of Sean McLaughlin, who works at Maven in Atlanta.
“I was like, ‘All right, obviously what I did last offseason wasn’t working for me,’ so I needed a little more help than what I could get in specific areas in California and Reno,” Snelling said. “I went down to Sean, tried it out, clicked with him right away. Great guy. Young mind. He’s fresh out of baseball, so he knows the struggles that players are going through right now and different things that we might face that he could have faced.”
Snelling said he was disappointed to not get the call to the big leagues last season based on his performance, but that could come this season with Snelling expected to battle for a spot on the Marlins’ opening-day roster in spring training, with pitchers and catchers reporting the second week of February.
“Growing up as a kid playing baseball, that’s what every kid wants to do and every kid dreams about it,” Snelling said of reaching the big leagues. “I think that no matter how much you think about it and how much I dream about it and try to imagine what it’s gonna be like, I think it’s going to blow it away. I don’t think there’s gonna be anything you can think or try and compare to that is really going to be similar or close to how I actually feel when I get up there. Hopefully it’s soon. I’m not trying to jump the gun on it or anything. I’ll just continue hoping for it and working towards it.”