Marlins selects Jordan Groshans

The Marlins plan to pick the infielder’s contract Jordan Groshansreported Craig Mish of the Miami Herald. Groshans is not currently on Miami’s 40-man roster, although there is already a vacancy there. A corresponding move will be required to bring Groshans into the active roster.

Groshans, 22, is a former Blue Jays first-round pick and was picked 12th overall in 2018. After that draft, he played 48 games in rookie ball and jumped onto Baseball America’s top 100 list, where he was ranked 89th through 2019. Groshans then went to A-ball and mashed to the tune of .337/.427/.482 but was limited to just 23 games due to a foot injury. BA continued to believe in the results and promoted him to 29th on their list by 2020.

After the pandemic wiped out the minor leagues this year, Groshans entered 2021 having played just 23 games in the past two years. He spent the year at Double-A and showed little rust, at least in terms of putting his racquet on the ball. He went into 10.8% of his plate appearances while slamming in just 19.3% of them. However, a back injury limited him to 75 games and seemed to prevent him from delivering much power. He hit seven long balls during that time but still put up a healthy batting line of .291/.367/.450, wRC+ of 124.

In 2022, he slipped off BA’s top 100 but was still ranked #4 on the Toronto system. Their report praised his flair for hitting zone and all-fields approach, but raised concerns about his power potential and his inability to stay healthy for an entire season. The Jays had Groshans in Triple-A for most of the year, which while managing to stay healthy still struggled to bring much pop. In 67 games for the Bisons, he walked at a 12.5% ​​rate and hit only 16.5% of the time, but only went over the fence once. This resulted in a slash line of 0.250/0.348/0.296, wRC+ of 81.

The Jays freaked out and got the Groshans just before the deadline to the Marlins Anton Bass, Zach Pop and Edward Duran (as later named player) in return. Since then, Groshans has played 31 games for the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, hitting .301/.398/.416. That’s a much nicer looking slash line than what he did in Buffalo, even though it only includes two more homers, bringing his season total to three.

Groshans is currently listed as the #9 Marlins on Baseball America, #11 on FanGraphs, and #12 on MLB Pipeline. All three reports highlight the quality of strike zone work but raise concerns about the lack of energy. Whether his profile at the plate proves useful might depend on his later defensive position. Groshans has been primarily a shortstop so far in his career, but has also played elsewhere in the infield. Since he took over, the Marlins have split his time almost evenly between second, third and short places. Most reports suggest he’s better suited at third base than shortstop, which would mean he would need to take a step up in the performance department. Cornerfielders are generally expected to deliver more punch than their center counterparts, making the Groshans’ overall package an unusual one at the moment.

They made draft appearances for the Marlins this season. Their pitching was in good form but they knew they had to improve the lineup, they added Joerg Soler, Avisail Garcia, Joe Wendel and Jacob Stallings. Unfortunately, all four of this group have underperformed, and many of Miami’s homegrown options are also struggling. The team as a whole has achieved .229/.294/.361 for a wRC+ of 86, putting them 27th in the Majors. That’s a big reason why the club has been limping to a 58-83 record this year and is way out of the running.

With only about three weeks left on the schedule, the Pisces can use that time to evaluate some younger players before deciding on their attacking plan for the off-season. Groshans will enter an infield mix that includes Wendle. Jon Bertie, Brian Anderson, Miguel Rojas, Garret Cooper and Karl Leblanc. There are also Jazz Chisholm Jr.who won’t be returning this season due to a back injury but will be the regular second baseman next year.

For Groshans, it’s possible that the prolonged absences from the pandemic and his injuries prevented him from getting into a good grove, and he’s still thriving. Also, he’s only 22 years old and will be 23 in November, giving him time to develop different facets of his game. For a Marlins club that has been looking for tackles for quite some time, they will be hoping they can find this additional gear. With Wendle, Anderson, Rojas and Cooper all slated for free agency after 2023, there could be plenty of open positions for a long-term job if he does.