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Peyton Burdick

Marlins Select Jonathan Davis, Transfer Johnny Cueto To 60-Day IL

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The Marlins have selected the contract of outfielder Jonathan Davis, per Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald. Fellow outfielder Peyton Burdick was optioned in a corresponding move while right-hander Johnny Cueto was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man.

Davis, 31, was acquired from the Tigers in a trade just yesterday and will immediately jump onto Miami’s roster. After signing a minor league deal with the Tigers this winter, he had hit .258/.336/.516 in 141 Triple-A appearances before the deal, launching five home runs and stealing five bases.

He has appeared in the five previous major league seasons as a part-time player, getting into 171 contests over those five campaigns. He’s hit just .185/.291/.245 in that time but swiped 18 bags and his defense has been worth eight Outs Above Average.

The Marlins have been dealing with some challenges in their outfield of late, with each of Jazz Chisholm Jr., Avisaíl García and Jesús Sánchez are on the injured list. They’ve also gotten some tepid offensive production from players like Garrett Hampson as well as Burdick, who is slashing just .182/.270/.333 through 37 plate appearances so far this year. He has a far better .293/.381/.636 in Triple-A this year but hasn’t been able to translate it to the big leagues. He’ll now head back to the farm for some more work down there.

As for Cueto, 37, he was placed on the injured list with right biceps tightness after lasting just one inning in his first start of the year. He has recently been playing catch, per McPherson, but has yet to begin a rehab assignment. He’ll now be officially ineligible to return until 60 days from that initial IL placement, which was April 4. That means he can’t return prior to June 3 but that didn’t seem to be a likely outcome anyhow. Once he’s healthy, he’ll need a few weeks to ramp back up to a full starter’s workload, essentially redoing his Spring Training.

It’s certainly not the ideal outcome that the Marlins had hoped for when signing Cueto to a one-year, $8.5MM deal this winter, though their rotation is in decent shape without him. They recently called up top prospect Eury Pérez to join Sandy Alcantara, Jesús Luzardo, Edward Cabrera and Braxton Garrett. That keeps them in good form for the time being, but Cueto’s absence will mean they have one less depth option on hand. The Marlins have a $10.5MM club option for 2024 with a $2.5MM buyout, making it a net $8 decision.

Marlins Designate Johan Quezada, Select Devin Smeltzer

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The Marlins announced a handful of roster moves Wednesday, designating righty Johan Quezada for assignment and selecting the contract of lefty Devin Smeltzer (who’d cleared outright waivers earlier today) in his place. Miami also placed first baseman Garrett Cooper on the injured list due to an inner ear infection and recalled outfielder Peyton Burdick from Triple-A.

The Quezada/Smeltzer swap is a swift reversal of the Marlins’ transaction earlier this week, wherein Smeltzer was designated for assignment and Quezada was selected from Triple-A. Quezada was tagged for three runs and issued five walks in just two-thirds of an inning during his lone appearance before the DFA. Smeltzer, meanwhile, would’ve had the right to reject that outright assignment, but the promise of an immediate call back to the big leagues surely made it easy for him to accept and remain with the organization.

The 27-year-old Smeltzer posted a 6.75 ERA in 12 innings with the Marlins prior to his DFA, though the bulk of that damage came in one mop-up relief outing. He’s tossed seven innings of one-run ball prior to his initial removal from the 40-man roster and carries an overall 4.20 ERA in 152 career innings at the MLB level, most of which came with the Twins. He’s never missed many bats (career 16.4% strikeout rate) but has good command (6.4% walk rate) and has worked as both a starter and reliever in his career.

Cooper, 32, got out to a productive start but has slumped of late. He’s still hitting a respectable .272/.306/.413 on the season, but that’s a ways off the quietly strong .274/.350/.444 he’s turned in over the past four seasons. Cooper’s production at the plate would surely garner more attention if he were able to stay in the lineup with a greater degree of regularity, but trips to the injured list are nothing new for him. Just dating back to the 2021 season, he’s missed time due to a broken finger, a concussion, an elbow sprain, a lumbar strain and a wrist injury. Since 2019, he’s played in just 61.6% of the Marlins’ total games.

Burdick made his big league debut last year but struggled, batting .207/.284/.380 in his first 102 big league plate appearances. The 26-year-old is on a blistering hot streak in Triple-A Jacksonville, however, hitting .293/.381/.636 overall and an even gaudier .365/.429/.810 with eight homers over his past 15 games. For a Marlins club that could badly use some more offensive production — particularly in right field, where Avisail Garcia has again struggled — it’s worth finding out if he can carry any of that over to the big league level.

The Marlins Are Still Facing Questions In Their Outfield

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The Marlins came into 2023 with a fairly unsettled outfield mix, despite not making any external additions. The club planned to move Jazz Chisholm Jr. off second base in order to take over the center field job that they had been trying to fill for years. Veterans Jorge Soler and Avisaíl García were both coming off disappointing seasons, while a batch of younger player were still looking to establish themselves at the major league level.

Almost one month into the season, the Fish are swimming at a decent pace so far. They are currently 12-12, though with a -37 run differential that suggests they might be a bit lucky to be at that level. Then again, it’s still early and they’ve had a challenging schedule, with all of their games coming against teams that came into the season as surefire contenders or borderline ones (Seven against the Mets, three each against the Twins, Phillies, Diamondbacks, Giants and Guardians, two against Atlanta).

How are their outfielders faring so far? Let’s take a quick look at each one.

Jazz Chisholm Jr.

Chisholm hit .254/.325/.535 in 60 games last year for a wRC+ of 139 before a stress fracture in his back put him on the shelf. He perhaps could have returned late in the year, but the club was out of contention and shut him down, at which point Chisholm underwent surgery on a torn meniscus that he had been playing through.

Whether it’s due to the long layoff, the injuries or the position change, he hasn’t gotten into a groove at the plate yet this year. He’s currently hitting .218/.269/.391 for a wRC+ of 81. He’s struck out in 38.3% of his plate appearances thus far, a jump of more than 10 percentage points from his 27.4% rate last year.

As for that position change, the early reviews are mixed. Defensive Runs Saved has him at -1 so far, with Ultimate Zone Rating at -1.1. On the other hand, Outs Above Average has him at roughly par, 56th percentile. His outfielder jump is in the 84th percentile and his sprint speed is in the 92nd. Some growing pains were surely to be expected since he’s never played the position before, so hopefully these numbers will all trend in a positive direction over time.

Jorge Soler

Soler is perhaps the most mercurial player in the league, having spent the past few years oscillating between being one of the most feared sluggers on the planet and looking lost at the plate. Last year, his first with the Marlins, was a downswing. He struck out in 29.4% of his plate appearances and hit just .207/.295/.400 for a wRC+ of 98, missing significant time due to back spasms. He could have opted out of his contract but chose not to, likely a wise decision with that platform.

Here in 2023, he’s back on another one of his patented heaters. He’s hit five home runs already and has dropped his strikeout rate to a more manageable 23.6%. His .253/.337/.544 line amounts to a 137 wRC+. He’s largely served as the designated hitter but has been given five starts in right.

The torrid stretch for Soler is good for the Marlins in the short-term, but the long-term may be different. Soler has another opt-out opportunity after this season and would likely take it if he can maintain anything close to this pace, as he’d be walking away from just one year and $9MM.

Avisaíl García

García has a similarly inconsistent track record to Soler, posting above-average wRC+ figures in 2017, 2019 and 2021 but dipping below average in the following year each time. Last year was an especially low ebb, as his 28.7% strikeout rate and 4.5% walk rates were both career worsts, as was his 66 wRC+ from his .224/.266/.317 batting line.

Now that we’re in an odd-numbered year, García is scheduled for a bounceback but has actually gotten worse in the early going so far. He’s slashing just .161/.200/.274 for a wRC+ of 30. The .211 batting average on balls in play is due for some regression, but he’s also been punched out 32.8% of the time while drawing walks at just a 3.0% clip. The Marlins desperately need him to turn things around, as his contract pays him $12MM per year through 2025, with a $12MM club option for 2026 that has a hefty $5MM buyout. Barry Jackson and Craig Mish of the Miami Herald reported yesterday that the club haven’t considered releasing him, but a benching is on the table.

Bryan De La Cruz

De La Cruz came into this year with 574 plate appearances. His 24.9% strikeout rate and 6.4% walk rate were both a little worse than average, but he had 18 home runs and a .269/.318/.430 line for a 108 wRC+. He’s a little bit ahead of that pace this year, currently hitting .295/.341/.436 for a 114 wRC+ with fairly similar strikeout and walk rates.

He won’t maintain a .396 batting average on balls in play all year, but he is making solid contact. His average exit velocity is in the 88th percentile of MLB hitters, and his hard-hit rate sits in the 80th percentile. Even without elite plate discipline, he can still be a useful hitter with that kind of bat. The right-hander hitter actually has reverse splits, both in his career and so far this season, which would seem to lessen the likelihood of him ending up in the short side of a platoon.

Jesús Sánchez

The hot start of De La Cruz seems to have cut into the playing time of Sánchez, as he’s been given only 36 plate appearances in 16 games. He’s hit just .172/.333/.241 in that time, which isn’t doing much to get him in the lineup more.

A left-handed hitter, he has traditional platoon splits for his career. He’s hit .226/.310/.440 against righties for a 108 wRC+, but he has a dismal .195/.230/.323 against southpaws for a 49 wRC+. He could seemingly serve as a useful platoon lefty bat but probably won’t get a chance as long as De La Cruz continues to seem like a viable lineup regular. He’s out of options and can’t be sent to the minors without first being exposed to waivers, which might keep him on the bench until an injury opens a spot for him. Per Jackson and Mish, Sanchez is at risk of losing his roster spot, though the club won’t make a decision on that front until Joey Wendle is back from the injured list.

Peyton Burdick

Burdick got to make his major league debut last year and hit .207/.284/.380 for a wRC+ of 91 in 102 plate appearances. He’s been in Triple-A this year and utterly mashing. Through 20 games, he has a line of .309/.385/.654 and a 157 wRC+. He has a 37.4% strikeout rate and won’t sustain a .436 batting average on balls in play, but he’s already hit eight home runs and stolen four bases.

Jerar Encarnación

Encarnación also got a brief major league debut last year, stepping to the plate 81 times but hitting just .182/.210/.338. Like Burdick, he’s also having an excellent start to his 2023 in Triple-A. He has a current batting line of .292/.378/.472 for a wRC+ of 119. However, it’s bolstered by a huge .529 batting average on balls in play and comes despite a 42.7% strikeout rate. His 12.2% walk rate is encouraging but there’s surely some regression coming here.

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It’s hard to glean definitive judgment from one month’s worth of data, but there are some trends and takeaways in the Miami outfield with nearly 15% of the season in the books. Chisholm’s defense in center has been at least passable thus far, so he’s likely to continue on in that role. De La Cruz could hit his way into an everyday role in left field, but right field looks like a continued problem unless Garcia can correct what’s now more than a full season’s worth of struggles. Sanchez’s grip on a roster spot appears tenuous, but while the primary alternatives in Triple-A (Burdick, Encarnacion) have flashy batting lines, their lack of contact calls into question whether they’d be improvements. It’s easy enough to see the outfield again being a point of focus at the trade deadline, whether the Marlins are looking to add a veteran bat to stay in the Wild Card race or looking to acquire a controllable outfielder as part of another selling effort.

Marlins To Select Peyton Burdick, Option Jesus Sanchez

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The Marlins plan to select outfielder Peyton Burdick onto the major league roster before tomorrow afternoon’s contest with the Cubs, reports Craig Mish of SportsGrid (Twitter links). Outfielder Jesús Sánchez will be optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville in a corresponding transaction, Mish adds. Miami already has a vacancy on the 40-man roster, as Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald points out (on Twitter).

Burdick was the Marlins’ third-round pick in 2019 coming out of Wright State University. The right-handed hitter draws praise from evaluators for his strength and raw power that is at least plus (a 60 on the 20-80 scale), although that’s been paired with a fair amount of swing-and-miss. There’s no question he’s performed since entering the professional ranks, though, as Burdick has hit at a well above-average rate at every minor league stop.

He tore up Low-A to close out his draft year, then was bumped to Double-A in 2021 on the heels of the 2020 minor league cancellation. He hit 23 homers there to earn a late-season bump to Jacksonville, where he’s spent the entire 2022 campaign. Burdick, whom Baseball America recently named the #8 prospect in the Miami farm system, owns a .229/.344/.430 line with 14 homers in 385 plate appearances with the Jumbo Shrimp. He’s striking out at a slightly elevated 25.7% clip, but he’s also hitting for power and walking at a robust enough rate (13%) to compensate for the relatively low batting average.

Burdick has played all three outfield spots in Jacksonville, with the majority of his time (328 innings) coming in center field. BA suggests his average speed makes him a cleaner fit in a corner at the MLB level, and Sánchez’s corresponding demotion likely opens up left field playing time for Burdick. Miami placed right fielder Avisaíl García on the injured list yesterday, leaving that corner primarily to Bryan De La Cruz of late with rookie JJ Bleday manning center field.

Manager Don Mattingly has continued to give Sánchez continued run in left field, but the recent results have been subpar. A former top prospect, the 24-year-old Sánchez looked as if he were beginning to make good on that status early in the season. Through the end of April, he carried a .282/.346/.493 line across 78 plate appearances. That came with alarming strikeout and walk numbers that hinted at some forthcoming regression, but one would’ve been hard-pressed to envision the lefty-hitting outfielder’s performance crashing as hard as it has.

Since the calendar flipped to May, Sánchez is hitting only .181/.247/.354. He’s been plagued by a woeful .206 batting average on balls in play over that stretch, but he’s also become increasingly pull-happy — particularly on ground-balls. Opposing teams have responded by shifting against Sánchez in nearly all of his trips, and he’s not managed to find his footing. Over the past month, he owns a .176/.291/.279 line through 79 plate appearances.

Marlins general manager Kim Ng and her staff have evidently decided it time for Sánchez to try to reset in Triple-A. It’ll be his first minor league action of the season. If he spends more than 20 days in the minors, he’ll exhaust his third and final option year. That’d mean the Fish have to permanently carry him on the active roster (or injured list) from the start of the 2023 season if they don’t want to designate him for assignment and make him available to other teams.

Marlins Notes: Benintendi, Berti, Contreras, Anderson, Sanchez

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Adam Duvall, whom the Marlins signed to a one-year, $5MM deal on February 9, has slotted in as Miami’s primary right fielder this season. Evidently, the front office also discussed the possibility of filling that position via a trade for then-Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi. In early February (presumably before signing Duvall), the Marlins discussed a potential three-team deal, also involving Boston and the Padres, that would’ve sent Benintendi to Miami, report Barry Jackson and Craig Mish of the Miami Herald. Utilityman Jon Berti would have gone to San Diego had that deal been finalized, per Jackson and Mish, but the Marlins eventually backed out of the arrangement. Benintendi, whom the Red Sox wound up trading to the Royals instead, has hit a solid .284/.342/.412 in Kansas City. Duvall, on the other hand, is off to a poor .207/.254/.410 start. Given those respective performances, it’s easy to conclude in retrospect the Marlins should’ve pushed harder for Benintendi, although it’s impossible to malign the front office without knowing precisely who else the club would’ve had to part with to push those talks over the finish line.

More out of Miami:

  • Jackson and Mish also shed some light on another set of Marlins offseason trade discussions: their previously-reported pursuit of Cubs catcher Willson Contreras. Any deal sending Contreras to Miami likely would’ve sent Jorge Alfaro the other way, with prospects Peyton Burdick and Zach McCambley among the other players who might’ve gone to Chicago. Ultimately, the Cubs held onto Contreras, who has a .245/.341/.435 line for the current NL Central leaders.
  • Turning to players who are on the roster, Jackson and Mish report that injured third baseman Brian Anderson looks likely to avoid surgery. Placed on the injured list late last month because of a left shoulder subluxation, Anderson has progressed to taking on range of motion drills and could return before the end of June. One of Miami’s best players between 2018-20, Anderson has come out of the gates a little slower in 2021, hitting .250/.316/.371 over his first 136 plate appearances.
  • Miami has been without prized righty Sixto Sánchez all season on account of shoulder problems. Sánchez’s throwing program was shut down last week after he suffered a setback, although general manager Kim Ng tells reporters (including Mish) that issue was unrelated to Sánchez’s initial inflammation. Rather, the flamethrowing 22-year-old is now suffering from bursitis. It’s still not clear when the Marlins can expect Sánchez back, a disappointing development after he began his MLB career with 39 innings of 3.46 ERA/4.18 SIERA ball in 2020.

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