Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Marlins stock up on pitching
Team drafts three more pitchers on Day 2 of draft
There appears to be a clear focus in the 2020 MLB draft for the Miami Marlins: pitching.
One day after selecting Minnesota right-handed pitcher Max Meyer with the No. 3 pick, Miami doubled down on arms, taking Daxton Fulton out of
Mustang High School in Oklahoma with the No. 40 selection.
Fulton, listed at 6-foot-6, 225 pounds, brings a mature arsenal of pitches, with a fastball that sits in the low-90s to an above-average curveball. As a lefty, he also promises to diversify the Marlins’ system, which features just three left-handed pitchers in its top-30 prospects, per MLB.com.
Jim Callis on MLB Network called him, “the best highschool lefty in the draft.”
Fulton is still recovering
from Tommy John surgery he underwent in the Fall, one of the chief reasons he was not selected in the first round of the draft. His pitching delivery comes at a 3⁄4 angle, a source of concern for some, including The Athletic’s Keith Law.
“There’s definite upside here, assuming his stuff returns,” Law wrote, “but also real risk if his arm action stays the same.”
Law ranked Fulton No. 67 on his Big Board heading into the draft. Baseball America ranked Fulton as the 52nd-best prospect.
Miami made it 3 for 3 with pitchers shortly after, taking Kyle Nicolas, a right-hander from Ball State University, with the No. 61 pick. Nicolas is listed at 6-4, 225 pounds, matching the stature of Fulton.
Nicolas made a lasting impression in his final collegiate start, striking out 17 batters over seven innings of one-hit ball against Sacred Heart on March 6. Like Fulton and Meyer, Nicolas will impress with his stuff: a fastball that approaches 100 miles per hour and an effective slider to boot.
Production-wise, Nicolas has been inconsistent in his twoplus years, posting a 5.30 earned-run average over 38 appearances in his first two collegiate seasons. He had a 2.74 earned-run average in four starts in 2020 before the season was suspended.
”[The Marlins] clearly have an M.O,” MLB Network host Greg Amsinger. “They want wipeout stuff. Max Meyer had some of the best stuff, if not the best stuff, in the college ranks. Dax Fulton was the best lefthanded high school pitcher. And now, Kyle Nicolas.”
The Marlins didn’t take a pitcher in both the 2018 and 2019 drafts until the fifth round. Miami’s director of amateur scouting saw the 2020 draft as a perfect mix of need and opportunity.
“Pitching is always important, whether it’s this year, next year,” D.J. Svihlik said Wednesday. “What do they say? You need three to get one. Pitching depth is really important. … And when it lines up in a year like this — it is pitching heavy, so stay tuned, you take what the draft is offering you.”
If their intent wasn’t already obvious, Miami took yet another pitcher at No. 75, selecting Zach McCambly a right-hander from Coastal Carolina. In his summer in the Cape Cod League, the best summer league in amateur baseball, McCambley posted a 1.74 ERA in 2019. Callis graded McCambley as having the best curveball in the draft, though he said McCambley needed to further his develop with the changeup in order to stick as a starter.