Marlins reassign trio of prospects to Minors camp

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The Marlins reassigned a trio of Top 30 prospects to Minor League camp on Saturday morning.

Right-hander Karson Milbrandt (Marlins No. 10 prospect) and outfielders Dillon Lewis (No. 11) and Fenwick Trimble (No. 20) as well as first baseman Nathan Martorella were part of the second wave of camp cuts.

Milbrandt picked up where he left off during a strong 2025, tossing two scoreless innings and allowing two hits with three strikeouts across two Grapefruit League outings in his first big league camp.

The 21-year-old earned High-A Beloit MVP by compiling a 3.26 ERA and an 11.8 K/9 in 19 starts before earning a promotion to Double-A Pensacola for two starts (1.69 ERA). He carried that over into the Arizona Fall League, where he produced a 15.5 K/9 rate and was named to the AFL Fall Stars Game.

"We were strategically judicious with his appearances and time in between his outings here in camp, with the long game of the season in mind with him," manager Clayton McCullough said. "But he impressed and showed very good poise in the outings that he got out there, and it's a good pitch mix with some uniqueness and some deception funk to what he does. So impressive showing by Karson."

Lewis, whom the Marlins acquired from the Yankees in the Ryan Weathers trade, went 2-for-11 with one double, one steal, three runs, two walks and four strikeouts in parts of six Grapefruit League games.

The 22-year-old split his 2025 between the Single-A and High-A levels, combining for a .237/.321/.445 slash line with 21 doubles, five triples, 22 homers and 79 RBIs in 122 games.

"He came as advertised," McCullough said. "It jumped out to me the first time I saw him in person, like the physicality, like how big of a man he is [at 6-foot-3, 205 pounds], and the way he can run, and the defensive acumen that we'd heard about. It certainly shows that he can stay in center field and play at a high rate at a premium spot. As he got some at-bats and settled into camp, some of the the exit velocities, the quality of contact that he's capable of, we saw some.

"We're really high on Dillon, someone who can impact on both sides of the ball, play an above-average defense in the outfield while providing some impact. It was just time for him to go down and start to get into a rhythm. Get some more regular playing time, get some regular at-bats as he gets ready for the Minor League season."

Trimble, the first member of the Marlins’ 2024 Draft class to reach Double-A last May, strained his hamstring his first week there and missed substantial time. In order to make up for the missed at-bats, he participated in the AFL.

Once unranked, the 23-year-old Trimble has surged in the system after a .774 combined OPS across three levels. He received just one plate appearance in Grapefruit League play due to a quad injury early in camp.

"He had an impressive season last year," McCullough said. "He controls the strike zone. He really performed well. He's really kind of just good at everything, and maybe not spectacular in one specific area, but can defend and control the zone. And physically, he's in a much better place than he was last year from a strength standpoint, so there's some more impact in there as well."

Miami made its first round of camp cuts on Tuesday, when the organization reassigned top prospect Thomas White and six others.

There are 61 players, including the eight participating in the World Baseball Classic, remaining at big league camp.