Prospects invited to spring training
The Marlins announced Thursday nine more nonroster invitees to major league spring training, a group mostly of the club’s own minor-leaguers headlined by two prospects of note: third baseman Brian Anderson and left-handed pitcher Dillon Peters.
Anderson, 23, is the organization’s top positionplayer prospect and fourth overall, according to MLB Pipeline. Peters, 24, comes in at No. 13 on that list.
The others in this batch of NRIs are:
Left-handers Maronde and Tomshaw.
Catchers Ramon Cabrera, Cam Maron, Chris Hoo and Rodrigo Vigil.
Third/first baseman Matt Juengel.
Anderson, who hit .265/.348/.389 while splitting time between High-A Jupiter and Double-A Jacksonville in 2016, impressed after the regular season in the Arizona Fall League.
He batted .273 with a .360 on-base percentage and .506 slugging mark, hitting five homers and driving in 12 runs in 22 games. He also struck out as many times as he walked (nine).
Peters, who had a poor debut pro season in 2015, broke out while spending most of last year in Jupiter. He had a 2.46 ERA and 1.11 WHIP while striking out Nick Matt 5.56 batters for every one he walked across 20 starts. The Marlins rewarded him toward season’s end with a promotion to Double A, where he showed similar control, posting a 1.99 ERA and 0.93 WHIP in four starts.
Juengel, who turns 27 on Friday, hit .263/.325/.431 with Triple-A New Orleans last year. Cabrera, who signed a minor league contract with the Marlins, hit .264/.291/.378 over parts of 2015-16 with the Reds. Maron slashed .302/.392/.370 as a 25-year-old with Jacksonville. Vigil converted to catcher in 2013 after playing second, third and shortstop.
Tomshaw had a strong but brief showing (2.12 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, eight games) as a reliever in Triple-A. And Maronde is the only player in this bunch with major league experience, making 33 appearances for the Los Angeles Angels from 2012-14.