JUPITER, Fla. -- Top 100 prospect Robby Snelling will start the Marlins' Grapefruit League opener on Saturday against the Mets in Port St. Lucie. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. ET and can be streamed on MLB.TV.
Snelling, who is the Marlins' reigning Minor League Pitcher of the Year, is scheduled to pitch one inning.
"Guys that are lined up that day, just felt [like a] great opportunity right out of the chute," manager Clayton McCullough said. "Robby's lined up that day, and give him a chance to kind of just get the ball the first day for us. Excited to see. He's excited to go out there, and they all are to start moving and transitioning beyond the offseason, the pregame-type preparations, and go compete against somebody else."
The 22-year-old Snelling (MLB Pipeline's No. 39 overall prospect) is a non-roster invitee for the second straight Marlins big league camp. He aims for better results than last spring, when he tossed a scoreless inning on seven pitches in his debut before walking four batters, permitting two hits and allowing two runs while recording just two outs in his other appearance.
"Just super excited," Snelling said. "Clayton told me a couple days ago, but it was kind of nonchalant, so I wasn't sure. He was like, 'Hey, you're throwing on Saturday, and then [I] opened my phone up and my face was on the phone saying I'm starting,' so that was pretty awesome. Just super excited. That's what I do: starting pitcher. So it's nice not having to come out of the bullpen and worry about time management and being able to kind of do my own thing on my own time. So just be ready by first pitch."