Is Snelling the Marlins' next great development story? Here's what to expect

In 2021, Robby Snelling was a two-sport standout, committed to play both football and baseball at the University of Arizona. In 2022, he was the 39th overall pick in the Draft by the Padres. In 2023, he was a phenom. In 2024, he was a pitcher struggling to get outs. In 2026, he’s a big leaguer.

The Marlins have summoned their No. 2 prospect to The Show after an exemplary run at Triple-A. He'll make his Major League debut Friday night against the Nationals at loanDepot Park. In 18 career starts for Jacksonville (over parts of three years), Snelling posted a 1.46 ERA and ran a 26 percent K-BB percentage, tops among all pitchers with at least 90 innings at the level since ‘24.

The 22-year-old ranks second in the Minor Leagues with 210 strikeouts since the start of 2025. He has emerged into the quintessential high school pitching development success story: overwhelm batters at the lower levels, overcome failure and then blossom. That trajectory may not have taken place without the events of the past two years.

When the Marlins dealt closer Tanner Scott to the Padres at the 2024 Trade Deadline, Snelling was the headlining return. Then San Diego’s No. 2 prospect, he was coming off being named the organization's Pitcher of the Year, which skyrocketed him up to No. 36 overall on MLB Pipeline's Top 100 list. But through 16 starts for Double-A San Antonio, he posted a 6.01 ERA while allowing 90 hits over 73 1/3 innings. Most troubling, his stuff had backed up after dominating the lower levels of the Minors in ‘23.

But the Marlins had been here before. They turned fellow southpaws Jesús Luzardo and Ryan Weathers into reliable rotation pieces after their careers got off to inauspicious starts with other organizations. They developed Edward Cabrera, Max Meyer and Eury Pérez. Getting a talent like Snelling -- who now ranks as MLB's No. 32 overall prospect and the No. 5 LHP prospect -- was a no-brainer.

The Marlins’ pitching development group helped Snelling reclaim fastball velocity after it had dipped into the 90-92 mph range during his ill-fated ‘24 campaign. He is back to sitting 93-95, topping out at 96.8 in April.

But it’s not solely the radar gun that makes the pitch so effective. In Snelling’s final start for Jacksonville, his four-seamer averaged 19 inches of induced vertical break, the measurement that tracks a pitch's “rising” effect for the batter. At the Major League level, just eight southpaws have averaged that mark or higher thus far in 2026 and only Cade Povich (Orioles) is a full-time starter.

Snelling’s other primary weapon is his breaking ball, which Triple-A Statcast data has classified as a curveball. While it generates around MLB average spin rates, it too has undergone a velocity renaissance since he entered the Miami system. Now around 82-84 mph, the shape can sometimes blend into a slider or sweeper, but he’s confident throwing it to batters on either side of the dish.

Of Snelling's 44 strikeouts this season (tied for second in the Minors), 24 have come on the fastball, 17 on the curveball and three on the changeup, a fast-developing third offering that sits in between his two primary pitches in terms of velocity. He allowed just 11 hits in six starts for the Jumbo Shrimp and just one -- an infield chopper -- came off his cambio.

Triple-A batters have been helpless against his pitch mix this season, slashing a combined .116/.236/.221 with a 40 percent strikeout rate, the second-highest mark in all of the Minors among qualified pitchers entering play Thursday.

An attribute you won’t find on a scouting grade sheet: at 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds, Snelling consistently finishes his delivery in a way that enables him to defend his position. Utilizing that four-star linebacker background, he won a Minor League Gold Glove in 2025.

Ultimately, what can Marlins fans expect from Snelling? The short answer is competitiveness. The 2025 Triple-A National Championship is Exhibit A. Just three days after striking out eight batters across five innings while throwing 106 pitches in the International League Championship Series, Snelling wanted the ball in a save opportunity to cap off the year. It may not have gone his way, but the fire was evident.

Combine that tenacity with a revamped repertoire and the Marlins are banking that the next step for Snelling is to become the latest prospect development success story in South Florida.