Marlins top prospects Robby Snelling and Joe Mack are not too far away from breaking into the big leagues. They showed why on Friday for Triple-A Jacksonville.
COMPLETE MARLINS PROSPECT COVERAGE
Snelling, the left-handed starter who is Miami's No. 2 prospect and the No. 34 prospect in baseball, turned in yet another dominant outing, with nine strikeouts through six scoreless innings in Jacksonville's 4-1 win over Charlotte. Mack, the Marlins' No. 5 prospect and No. 56 in MLB, went 2-for-4 and belted his second homer of the season.
Snelling was sensational at Triple-A last year, posting a 1.27 ERA over 11 starts and 63 2/3 innings. And this year has been more of the same for the 2022 first-round Draft pick, who has a 1.89 ERA through four starts. That includes 31 strikeouts and only nine hits over 19 innings. Batters have a scant .138 average against Snelling, who has given up just two hits in each of his past two starts and has strung together a 14-inning scoreless streak.
Coming off a 12-strikeout performance last week, Snelling showed better control Friday as he issued just one walk. That's more like what we've come to expect from the 22-year-old lefty with 55-grade control and a clear improvement from his first three starts, which included eight walks in 13 innings.
Snelling is a main reason why Jacksonville has a 2.93 team ERA through 19 games this year. Mack's work behind the plate has played a role in that, too.
The athletic catcher is a plus defender with 60-grade arm strength, and speaking of strength, his second homer of the year was an absolute no-doubter in the eighth inning. Mack, who had an .813 OPS and 21 homers in 112 Minor League games last year, has gotten off to a slow start this year. He's batting .204 with a .717 OPS through 14 games. But he is showing good plate discipline as he has nearly as many walks (11) as strikeouts (12), leading to a .350 on-base percentage.
Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said during Spring Training that Mack is "very close" to making it to the bigs. Snelling's continued greatness at the highest level of the Minors shows that he's knocking on the door as well. It's only a matter of time before both ends of this battery are making an impact in Miami.