Marlins select South Carolina prep outfielder with first-round pick. What Miami is getting

The long process of replenishing a farm system that’s ranked next to last in baseball began in earnest for the Marlins new regime on Sunday when the team selected South Carolina high school outfielder PJ Morlando with the 16th overall pick in Sunday’s draft.

Morlando, who attends Summerville High School, is a 6-3, 200-pound left handed hitter. Though he’s projected by many evaluators to be a left fielder, the Marlins said they will develop him as a center fielder.

He led the team with a .403 batting average (31 for 77), along with 26 runs, seven doubles, two home runs, 10 RBI, a .602 OBP, and a 1.173 OPS in 32 games last season. Morlando did not commit an error in his final two years of high school baseball.

Peter Bendix, the Marlins’ president/baseball operations, said Morlando has a “special impact bat.”

But among many evaluators, his stock dropped this year.

“The spring was not good,” ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel said of his prep season at the plate. “He started correcting that at the Combine. He’s aware of the adjustment that needs to be made. There’s a shot he has 30 home run power.”

ESPN’s Jeff Passan said the Marlins picked him higher than he was projected because the team struck a team-friendly financial deal with him in order to have more money to use on other picks in their draft pool. Factoring in draft order, MLB assigns each team a bonus pool to use on players selected in the first 10 rounds; the Marlins’ pool this year is $10.4 million.

There have been 217 occasions when teams exceeded their bonus pool money, but any team that exceeds its pool by more than five percent loses at least one future first-round pick, and more than that if they exceed the bonus pool by more than 10 percent. Morlando has been committed to play college baseball at South Carolina.

Bendix declined to confirm or deny that ESPN report, saying only that the sides are “working through the contract” and that he was the best player on Miami’s board at No. 16.

Defensively, “he has a chance to play center,” Marlins amateur scouting director Frankie Piliere said. “It’s very hard to play center field. We are going to give him every opportunity to do that because of his speed and athleticism. [But] it would not be surprising if he ends up as corner outfielder. We will challenge and develop him as a center fielder.”

Offensively, “this is a dangerous hitter that got pitched around with good reason,” Piliere said. “He’s an incredibly patient hitter. This is a player I spent a lot of time on. We had upwards of five or six high level scouts looking at PJ. We knew the bat was really good.”

MLB.com rated him 43rd in this draft and evaluated him this way:

“Morlando’s track record of performing against top competition includes winning the High School Home Run Derby and the MVP award at the High School All-American Game at the All-Star Game last July. He also starred with the U.S. 18-and-under team in each of the last two years. But his stock has dropped this spring amid questions about his usable power and athleticism, making it unlikely that he’ll go in the first round as once projected.

“Gatorade’s South Carolina prep player of the year, Morlando has advanced feel to hit, showing the willingness to work counts and to make two-strike adjustments. He has bat speed and strength in his 6-foot-3, 198 pound frame, but the pop he displays in batting practice hasn’t translated into game power last summer or this spring. He can get pull-happy and his left-handed swing can get uphill on occasion.

“While Morlando has caught and played some third base in the past, he’s destined for left field or first base, making power imperative. He can post solid 60-yard dash times but plays as more as a fringy to average runner and possesses similar arm strength. He’ll be 19 on Draft Day and eligible again in 2026 if he attends college at South Carolina.”

The Athletic’s Keith Law said of Morlando: He “came into the year as a potential top 5 pick but changed his swing and setup to try to cut down on strikeouts, a change that unfortunately cut off much of his game power and I think limited how much scouts could even see his athleticism at the plate.

“He does have huge raw power and the exit velocities to prove it, while he was limited to left field this spring as he wasn’t throwing well enough for the other outfield spots. The Marlins think he’s got enough speed to handle center and he’ll start his pro career there.”

Several college hitters linked to the Marlins went before their pick, including FSU third baseman Cam Smith, who went 14th to the Cubs.

The Marlins need to start hitting on more first round picks. That’s one reason why owner Bruce Sherman overhauled the team’s front office and hired Bendix last offseason.

Pitchers Braxton Garrett (2016) and Trevor Rogers (2017) are the only Marlins first-round picks that are on the team’s big-league roster.

Outfielder Connor Scott, the Marlins’ 2018 first-round pick and first draft selection during Derek Jeter’s years with the team, was included in the regrettable trade for catcher Jacob Stallings. Pittsburgh released Scott last month.

Outfielder JJ Bleday, the Marlins’ 2019 first-round pick, was traded last year for AJ Puk, who floundered in his short-lived move to the starting rotation to start this season. Puk goes to the All Star break with a 2-8 record and 4.85 ERA, while Bleday is hitting .224 with 11 homers and 32 RBI for Oakland.

Shortstop Kahlil Watson, the Marlins’ 2021 first rounder, was dealt to Cleveland last summer in exchange for first baseman Josh Bell, who’s likely in his final months with the Marlins and could be dealt before this month’s trade deadline.

The Marlins have high hopes for 2020 first-round pick Max Meyer and 2023 first-round pick Noble Meyer. Max Meyer had a 2.12 ERA in three games for the Marlins early this season before being sent to the minors so that the Marlins can monitor his innings following 2022 Tommy John surgery. He has a 4.89 ERA (and an 0-3 record) in 13 starts at Triple A Jacksonville.

Noble Meyer has a 3.22 ERA in 12 combined starts (with 61 strikeouts in 50 ⅓ innings) at two levels of Class A this season.

The team’s 2022 first-round pick, Jacob Berry, is hitting .210 with six homers and 27 RBI in 72 games for Double A Pensacola.

The Marlins go to the All Star break with a 33-63 record, the second-worst in baseball, behind only the Chicago White Sox.