No. 2 prospect Snelling flexes strikeout-stuff in debut with 3-pitch K

MIAMI -- Marlins left-hander Robby Snelling tossed five innings in a 3-2 loss to the Nationals on Friday night at loanDepot park in his highly anticipated Major League debut.

The Marlins’ No. 2 prospect (No. 32 overall per MLB Pipeline) allowed three runs -- all in the first inning -- on five hits and four walks, striking out two in an 86-pitch, 54-strike outing.

The 22-year-old's Major League career began in impressive fashion, as he struck out 2025 All-Star James Wood on three straight curveballs. But Washington, which entered the series opener with the fourth-most runs scored in the Majors, racked up three runs with two outs.

Curtis Mead followed Wood with a double on a center-cut curveball before Snelling fanned Brady House on a 97.2 mph four-seamer. CJ Abrams then ambushed Snelling’s first-pitch curveball for an RBI single and Jacob Young turned around a 95.9 mph four-seamer for a two-run homer to left.

Snelling bounced back with a scoreless second, working around a leadoff walk and a bunt hit by inducing a 6-4-3 double play, then an unassisted groundout to first. In the third, Snelling issued a pair of two-out walks but avoided damage.

The first perfect inning of Snelling’s career came in the fourth on just five pitches. To cap his outing, Snelling once again pulled an escape act in the fifth inning. He walked a batter and permitted a single to put runners on the corners. With the infield in, Snelling got Abrams to ground into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.

With his start, Snelling became the fifth prep pitcher from the 2022 MLB Draft to debut, and the fifth Miami farmhand to do so this week.

After being acquired in the July 2024 blockbuster trade with the Padres, Snelling quickly regained his status as one of the sport’s most promising arms. In 18 career starts for Triple-A Jacksonville over parts of three seasons, he posted a 1.46 ERA and ran a 26 percent K/BB percentage -- tops among all pitchers with at least 90 innings since ’24. His 210 strikeouts ranked second in the Minor Leagues since the start of 2025.

Guiding Snelling, the organization’s 2025 Minor League Pitcher of the Year, were two familiar faces: assistant pitching coach Rob Marcello and catcher Joe Mack (Marlins No. 4 prospect, No. 52 prospect). Marcello, the Padres’ director of pitching before Snelling was dealt, called pitches on Friday -- as he did last season as Triple-A Jacksonville’s pitching coach. Mack, who debuted on Monday, was often Snelling’s batterymate at Double-A Pensacola and Jacksonville.