Miami Marlins Prospects: 2024 Midseason Top 30 Update

This is not a year to remember for Miami, but it is one that may help turn a page to a new Marlins big league club. Players like Joe Mack and Javier Sanoja could give Miami some useful up-the-middle pieces before long.

Baseball America subscribers can see the full updated Marlins Top 30 here. Notable risers, fallers, new additions and injury updates are below.

Notable Risers

Joe Mack, C

Mack is having by far his best offensive season as a pro. He OPS’d over 1.000 in High-A before forcing a promotion to Double-A, where he is still showing off his newfound power.

Javier Sanoja, 2B/SS/OF

Miami challenged Sanoja with an aggressive Double-A placement to start the season, and then quickly promoted him to an even more aggressive Triple-A assignment, where he is one of the younger players in the league at age 21. Sanoja has not only survived, but thrived, walking over twice as much as he’s struck out while playing second base, shortstop and center field.

Notable Fallers

John Cruz, OF

Cruz came over to the Marlins in an offseason trade. Despite pummeling DSL and ACL pitching with the Yankees, Cruz’s time in a Marlins uniform has been disastrous. In his first taste of full-season ball, his strikeout rate has skyrocketed. He hit just .165 with one home run through his first 67 games.

Jacob Berry, 1B/OF

Berry went back to Double-A to start the season and has struggled even more, hitting below the Mendoza line with very little power through early July. Despite having the No. 6 overall pick next to his name, he looks to most evaluators like a non-prospect.

Notable New additions

11. Roddery Munoz, RHP

BA Grade/Risk: 40/Low

Track Record: Munoz spent six years toiling away in the Braves’ system before changing hands via waivers three times in a span of a few months. Miami has given him his first MLB opportunity, including the ability to start every fifth day in the bigs.

Scouting Report: Munoz has an exceptionally live arm, sitting mid 90s but routinely touching upper 90s with sink. Unfortunately, the fastball plays down and has a tough profile to generate swing-and-miss. He pairs it with an average slider, a below-average short cutter and a well below-average changeup. Everything in his arsenal is firm, and he lacks a true out pitch. Strikes come and go with Munoz.

The Future: Munoz probably isn’t well-rounded enough to ever be more than a No. 5 starter, but he’s ready now and already pretty close to that ceiling. There’s also the argument to convert him to a full-time reliever, where his sinker could start pushing triple digits and he can focus on his two main pitches.

Scouting Grades: Fastball: 60 | Slider: 50 | Cutter: 40 | Changeup: 30 | Control: 40

15. Keyner Benitez, LHP

BA Grade/Risk: 50/Extreme

Track Record: A $225,000 signing out of the Dominican Republic in 2022, Benitez has been pushed aggressively. He started the year in the ACL and was promoted again to Low-A after just three starts, where he’s one of the youngest starters in the league, having just turned 18.

Scouting Report: Benitez stands 6-foot-1 but is quite thin, with still plenty of room to fill out. His velocity has already started to come along, sitting low 90s but touching 94-95 when needed. Both his low-80s changeup and high-80s slurve show promise to be future average or better offerings. His command still comes and goes, especially on the offspeed offerings, but that’s not something unexpected for a freshly turned 18-year-old.

The Future: It’s not difficult to envision Benitez eventually sitting in the mid 90s with two solid secondaries and settling into a mid-rotation starter role. He’s still a ways away, but it’s clear that Miami is viewing him as one of their future potential building blocks.

Scouting Grades: Fastball: 50 | Slider: 50 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 45

17. Ryan Ignoffo, C

BA Grade/Risk: 45/High

Track Record: Ignoffo was a last-round pick last year out of Eastern Illinois. Miami has converted him to a catcher in pro ball. It’s gone okay defensively, while he’s absolutely exploded with the bat.

Scouting Report: Ignoffo has a prototypical short, squatty catcher’s body, and the arm to fit there. It’s a bit of a surprise he hadn’t been a primary catcher before. He still has some rough edges to clean up, but it’s an average arm for the position, and he shows some natural feel for blocking (although he can get lazy turning the glove over). Offensively, he makes a ton of solid contact and is incredibly tough to strike out. There isn’t a ton of top-end power here.

The Future: We don’t have a large sample, but Ignoffo has done nothing but hit in pro ball. If he continues to do so as he climbs levels, while progressing defensively behind the plate, he could develop into a catcher capable of at least splitting duties, if not more.

Scouting Grades: Hit: 55 | Power: 40 | Run: 40 | Field: 45 | Arm: 50

20. Eliazar Dishmey, RHP

BA Grade/Risk: 50/Extreme

Track Record: Dishmey was a low-cost signing out of the Dominican Republic in 2021. He’s been progressing about one level at a time throughout Miami’s system, making his Low-A debut in 2024. Dishmey has struck out double-digit batters per nine innings at every stop, and is one of the more exciting young arms in the organization.

Scouting Report: Dishmey has a loose, whippy arm that produces mid-to-upper-90s fastballs with ride and run. The fastball is enough to rely on, which is a good thing because he doesn’t have much in the way of secondaries. He’s currently a two-pitch guy. His slider is a soft, rolling breaker in the low 80s without much bite to it. Dishmey is more of a control over command type, looking to get ahead without spotting in specific quadrants.

The Future: Dishmey has a shot at starting if he can round out his arsenal, but the more likely outcome is a move to the bullpen, where his fastball can really play up. Regardless, he projects as a future big leaguer given the fastball, age and strikeout rate.

Scouting Grades: Fastball: 65 | Slider: 40 | Control: 45

21. Evan Fitterer, RHP

BA Grade/Risk: 45/High

Track Record: Fitterer was taken in the fifth round of the 2019 draft out of an Orange County high school and given an overslot $1.5 million signing bonus. Since then, he’s been a bit of a slow burn prospect, making subtle and incremental improvements every season. After a rocky 2023 from a strike-throwing perspective, Fitterer has cut it to manageable levels thus far in 2024, earning him a recent promotion to Triple-A, putting him on the doorstep of making his MLB debut.

Scouting Report: Fitterer has always been known for his fastball shape, which features natural cut and is tough to square up. This season, he’s also increased his usage of a two-seam fastball that mirrors his cutting four-seam but in the opposite direction. Both sit in the 92-96 mph range. His best secondary weapon is an above-average 79-83 mph curveball with deep, two-plane break. He also mixes in a mid-80s changeup that’s a bit inconsistent but can run away from lefties when it’s on. Fitterer generally throws a passable amount of strikes, but his command is not pinpoint and he can get himself into trouble when he tries to be too fine.

The Future: Fitterer has all of the ingredients to be a No. 4 starter, but it’s also intriguing to think about the possibility of shortening his arsenal to a cutter/curveball combo that can play versus either side in shorter relief stints. Regardless of his role, he should have a future in the Majors as a flexible arm that can be a starter, longman, medium leverage reliever, or multiple of the above.

Scouting Grades: Fastball: 55 | Curveball: 55 | Changeup: 45 | Control: 45

24. Josh Ekness, RHP

BA Grade/Risk: 45/Medium

Track Record: Ekness was a 12th-rounder out of Houston last year, and it’s easy to see the college walk rate and understand why he fell out of the top 10 rounds. However, it’s also easy to see why Miami took him and even gave him overslot money ($150,000), as he’s used his huge fastball to dominate pro competition thus far while keeping the walks in check.

Scouting Report: Everything about Ekness starts with the fastball. It’s 96-99 mph with riding life that can be tough to touch at the top of the zone. He has two offspeed pitches: A slider and a splitter. The slider is a mid-80s offering that plays better against righties. It’s inconsistent both in shape and depth, but Ekness will snap off a solid-average one when it’s right. The splitter sits around 90 mph and is firm with decent vertical depth, but Ekness has trouble commanding it. Ekness will never be a control/command specialist, but he has made strides in pro ball to live in the zone enough for his stuff to play.

The Future: The question that will determine Ekness’ ultimate ceiling is whether or not he throws enough strikes. He has the tools to be a future seventh or eighth inning type if he does.

Scouting Grades: Fastball: 70 | Slider: 50 | Splitter: 45 | Control: 40

30. Emmanuel Ramirez, RHP

BA Grade/Risk: 40/Low

Track Record: Ramirez is a prospect by technical definition. In reality, he’s a 29-year-old minor league veteran finally getting his first shot at the majors. He toiled in the San Diego system for seven seasons before bouncing around to the Braves, Yankees and then spent 2023 in the Mexican League. The Marlins signed him to a minor league deal in 2024 and have been rewarded with a major league contributor.

Scouting Report: Ramirez’s fastball is 92-96 but arrives with overhand ride from a low, uphill plane that results in lots of fly balls and popups. His go-to pitch is a mid-80s splitter that can be inconsistent in depth but will bottom out when he throws it right. He will also mix in a below-average, get-me-over curveball. Ramirez has been stellar in the strike-throwing department in his brief MLB stint, but his control/command is typically more fringe-average than anything.

The Future: Ramirez likely doesn’t have much more growth than what he is now—a 29-year-old low-leverage reliever. That does carry value in itself as a ready-now MLB contributor, though.

Scouting Grades: Fastball: 50 | Splitter: 55 | Curveball: 30 | Control: 45