JUPITER, Fla. -- Marlins top prospect Thomas White sustained a Grade 1 right oblique strain and will be out three to four weeks, preventing him from appearing in another Spring Training game.
According to manager Clayton McCullough, White initially felt the discomfort during Thursday’s Grapefruit League debut against the Blue Jays but didn’t think much of it. In that 28-pitch outing, he allowed a two-run double to Kazuma Okamoto, issued one walk and struck out one batter in the fourth inning. His maximum velocity was 96.8 mph.
MLB Pipeline’s scouting report says that White generally operates with a 94-97 mph fastball that touches 99 mph.
“The next day, kind of the area where he was feeling it, it just presented those symptoms, and that was the diagnosis,” McCullough said.
The 21-year-old White, who ranks as MLB Pipeline’s No. 17 overall prospect and its top lefty pitching prospect, entered big league camp for the first time as a non-roster invitee. Last season, he pitched at three levels: High-A Beloit, Double-A Pensacola and Triple-A Jacksonville, where he helped the Jumbo Shrimp capture the Triple-A National Championship. White was projected to begin 2026 with Jacksonville.
“It's easy to forget just how young he is,” McCullough said. “His talent and performance has -- and rightly so -- got him to a position where he's very close to impacting our team here. It's his first Major League camp, and he's gotten so much exposure and so much hype around him. He's a great kid. He's handled everything very well, good head on his shoulders. [It’s] unfortunate that he's just going to miss some development time here in the early part of the season.
“If there's any silver lining to it, at least it's now, and there's still a lot of season left. Watching him just go about [his business], and he was very excited and open to try to soak up and gain as much as he could from his peers that are here that have kind of have done what he's striving to go do. He'll still get a chance to hang around guys. The most important thing right now is for us just to get him healthy and back throwing.”
With Triple-A Jacksonville’s Opening Day slated for March 27, White might be ready in time. Or he may need rehab starts before joining Jacksonville.
“It's probably way too early to maybe have an answer on what that build-up [is] and where that will take place,” McCullough said. “We'll just have to see how he responds, and then as he gets back on the mound, how the build-up goes, and those will be determined later on.”
This marks consecutive days the Marlins have announced an injury to one of their top prospects. Shortstop Aiva Arquette (MLB Pipeline’s No. 47 overall prospect) recently underwent core muscle surgery. He was not at big league camp.