The Miami Marlins today announced that they have acquired outfield prospect Brayan Hernandez and right-handed pitching prospects Pablo Lopez, Brandon Miller, and Lukas Schiraldi from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for right-handed pitcher David Phelps. The announcement was made by Marlins' President of Baseball Operations Michael Hill.
Hernandez, 19, is a 6-foot-2, 175-pound center fielder signed as an International free agent by Seattle on July 27, 2014. A native of Rio Chico Arriba, Venezuela, he is rated the No. 6 prospect in Seattle's system by MLB.com. Hernandez has spent most of this year with Short-Season A Everett, batting .252 (26x103) with two doubles, four triples, two home runs, 15 RBI, and four steals in 28 games.
He earned Dominican Summer League All-Star honors in 2016 after batting .278 (37x133) with six doubles, two triples, five home runs, 15 RBI, and 12 steals in 31 games. He did not commit an error in 30 games in center field. He was transferred to the AZL Mariners in mid-July and opened his time there with a hit in 18 of his first 19 games, including a 12-game hitting streak to begin the assignment. He finished his time in Arizona batting .285 (37x130) with eight doubles, two triples, a home run, 19 RBI, and nine steals in 33 games.
Miller, 22, is a 6-foot-4, 210-pound starter and rated the No. 12 prospect in the Mariners system by MLB.com. He has gone 9-4 with a 3.65 ERA (101.0 ip/41 er) in 18 starts this season at Single-A Clinton in the Midwest League, striking out 94 batters with walking just 23 (2.0 per 9.0 innings).
The Stevens, PA native was Seattle's sixth-round selection in the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of Division II Millersville University (PA), where he was a finalist for the Brett Tomko Award (top D-2 pitcher) in his junior year (2016), as well as the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Atlantic Region Pitcher of the Year. He was a Northwest League All-Star in his professional debut with Single-A Everett last year after going 4-2 with a 2.72 ERA (56.1/17) in 14 games (13 starts), striking out 51 batters while walking just seven.
Lopez, 21, is a 6-foot-3, 196-pound native of Cabimas, Venezuela and rated the No. 22 prospect in Seattle's system. He is 5-8 with a 5.04 ERA (100.0/56) in 19 games (18 starts) at Single-A Modesto this year. He entered 2017 with a 16-3, 2.48 career record in 41 games (28 starts) in three seasons. He was signed by Seattle as an International free agent on July 4, 2012 and made his debut in the Venezuelan Summer League in 2013, going 7-1, 2.57 in 12 starts. He missed 2014 due to injury, but went 9-2, 2.44 combined in 29 games (16 starts) over the last two years in the AZL (2015) and at Single-A in the Midwest League (2016).
Schiraldi is a 6-foot-6, 210-pound reliever who has gone 2-1 with three saves and a 4.58 ERA (37.1/19) in 28 relief appearances for Single-A Modesto this season, with 63 strikeouts (15.2 per 9.0 innings). He entered the year with a career record of 11-22, 4.66, in 69 appearances (48 starts) over three seasons at the Single-A level, with an All-Star nod in the Midwest League in 2015. Schiraldi, a native of Austin, TX, was a 15th round pick by Seattle in the 2014 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Texas at Austin.