Top Early Standouts in the Miami Marlins’ Farm System

I am a sucker for seeing a player progress throughout the minor leagues and end up making it to the show. While some of the players I mention in this article may not have that opportunity, it does not dismiss the fact that their stat lines provide the Marlins’ front office with hope that they may be able to contribute at the major league level one day.

What I do tend to appreciate is when you generate lists of top performers in the minor leagues, and you end up stumbling upon players whom you may not have heard of before.

While that’s the case with some names here, others have been mentioned countless times before. As we approach the middle of May, it’s time to check in on the early standouts from the Marlins’ farm system and see which minor leaguers fans could expect to see at the big-league level in the near future.

Stats were taken prior to play on May 12.

Triple-A Jacksonville

Kemp Alderman (OF)

2026 Stats: 35G, .287/.370/.473, 6 HR, 17 RBI, 5 SB, 125 wRC+

In an article I wrote back in December, Kemp Alderman was mentioned as a player I believed would end the season having made an impact at the MLB level for the Marlins. If he continues his current trend down in Triple-A Jacksonville, he is going to do just that.

After being named the Southern League Player of the Week three separate times last season, Alderman has been able to keep the good times going in his second taste of Triple-A, after a short 20-game stint at the end of 2025.

While the current strikeout percentage would best his previous season-high mark, I would not be too worried about that, only because he has been able to keep that number near the minor league average throughout his professional career.

When it comes to his standing in the Marlins’ system, Alderman offers the ball club an intriguing power option down in the minors that could truly provide a sense of fulfillment for a lineup in desperate need of it.

Seeing that he has only played at the corner outfield spots in his career, his current spot on the Marlins’ roster would be a little murky, as those positions are taken up by Kyle Stowers and Owen Caissie for the majority of the games.

However, should the struggles continue with Caissie, and Peter Bendix decides that the young lefty needs a break to clear his head, look for Alderman to possibly get an opportunity to join the list of MLB debuts for the Marlins in 2026.

Jacob Berry (3B)

2026 Stats: 29G, .280/.403/.410, 2 HR, 16 RBI, 11 SB, 125 wRC+

To say that Jacob Berry’s start to his Marlins career has been nothing short of a disappointment to this point might be putting it a bit lightly. Despite the strong start to the season for the switch-hitting corner infielder, the first four seasons Berry had put up had people throwing the “bust” label around. 

Well, Berry seemed to have found something this offseason to turn his career around and give himself another opportunity for redemption and make himself a piece of the core going forward. 

A big reason for this turnaround comes simply from his bat-to-ball skills improving stop, by stop throughout his minor league career.

After posting a 74.3% contact rate in his first season back in 2022, Berry has been able to get that number all the way up to 82.7% in 2026. Something else that stands out to me is the significant dip in his swing percentage that has seemed to parallel the jump in contact rate.

What that cut down in swinging has done for Berry is drastically improve his walk rate, which currently sits at 16.1% and would be the highest mark of his career by nearly six percent.  

Berry may never provide the Marlins’ lineup with the power that they — and fans — hoped on when he was drafted. However, if he continues to make strides in the contact percentage and get on base at a high mark, he could provide the Marlins with a sense of consistency they have been looking for at a corner spot — specifically at first base — which is a spot he has started to play this season for the first time in his professional career.

Honorable Mention: Braxton Garrett (LHP)

2026 Stats: 7 GS, 2.30 ERA, 9.19 K/9, 32.4 HardHit%

I don’t typically mention players of Braxton Garrett’s caliber in articles like this, but the story is just too good to ignore. I wanted to make sure I gave him his due.

After undergoing Tommy John surgery, the return to the mound has been an extensive one for Garrett. Braxton has seemingly turned that page on that portion of his career and is full-steam ahead toward making a return to the big-league mound.  

While the current Marlins rotation seems set for the time being, he may have to wait a little while longer before he throws for the big-league team again.  

Double-A Pensacola

Karson Milbrandt (RHP)

2026 Stats: 6 GS, 1.48 ERA, 11.87 K/9, 60.3 Contact%

I understand that he may not be at the level of some other pitching prospects around the league, but give it time. Karson Milbrandt is going to be a darn good major-league pitcher for the Marlins one day.

Entering the season as the No. 7 prospect on Just Baseball’s Marlins Top 15 Prospects entering the season, Milbrandt has done nothing but continue to prove that the Marlins’ pitching development is amongst the best in all the major leauges.

The Milbrandt turnaround has coincided with the hiring of Peter Bendix and the overhaul of the team’s development staff. After posting ERAs above 4.60 in his first two seasons in professional baseball, Milbrandt became one of the new brass’s early success stories in terms of organizational turnarounds.

Known early for his athleticism coming out of the draft, Milbrandt has been able to use that to help aid his path toward becoming a major league starter.  

What should not come as a surprise is the success he has had to start the 2026 season. This continued progression truly began to take shape last season, when he posted a 1.69 ERA in his final two starts of the season with Double-A Pensacola.

The young 22-year-old is already in the fourth professional season of his career and has shown no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

As a matter of fact, just like I did with Alderman, I also mentioned the possibility of Milbrandt also making an impact in the big leagues this year. His time will come eventually.

High-A Beloit

Connor Caskenette (C)

2026 Stats: 24 G, .312/.470/.481, 3 HR, 18 RBI, 8 SB, 160 wRC+

Don’t worry, you may not be the only person who hadn’t heard of Connor Caskenette prior to reading this article. However, it seems fair to say now that it is about time that we start paying attention.

The Marlins’ catching prospect was selected 364th overall in the 2024 MLB Draft as a 22-year-old out of Purdue. After an incredibly subpar start to his professional career in his first season, Caskenette was able to find his footing of sorts last year, ending with a wRC+ just above 100, at 106.

He’s now taken his game to a whole other level in 2026 and may start finding himself on more prospect lists if he keeps this pace.

If you look at his slashline, the .470 OBP should certainly stand out to you, and his 22.0% walk rate is just as absurd as it reads. I find it even more impressive that, while lower than his career clip of 80.4%, his 77.3% contact rate to go along with that walk rate should justify sustainability going forward.

Single-A Jupiter

Abrahan Ramirez (3B)

2026 Stats: 26 G, .256/.351/.415, 3 HR, 18 RBI, 8 SB, 115 wRC+

It was fairly short after the Jazz Chisholm Jr. trade to the Yankees that fans of both sides wanted to claim victory in the deal for their home teams. Now, after time has allowed for that to settle, we are seeing how all of the pieces have started to settle into their new organizations.

Abrahan Ramirez is one of those players who has done just that.

After spending three seasons in the Yankees system, the first two having spent them in the DSL, Ramirez made his Marlins debut for Single-A Jupiter and, unsurprisingly, struggled to find his groove.

Now, as a 21-year-old who was given another chance at the same level, the third baseman looks to have found some of the success he had as a prospect in the DSL.

When I looked at his profile as a whole, I found myself in shock at how he has been able to produce at the rate he has, specifically due to the low contact rates he has sported throughout his five seasons in professional baseball.

Ramirez is currently sitting at a 70.5% contact rate, which, funny enough, would best both of his first seasons of professional baseball. Both of those in which he has produced the best numbers of his career so far.

Emilio Barreras (SS)

2026 Stats: 20 G, .300/.488/.467, 2 HR, 13 RBI, 173 wRC+

Emilio Barreras is on some sort of heater in his first 20 games down in the minor leagues.

After a poor-ish showing in his first season of professional baseball, the 2025 eighth-round pick was sent back to Single-A Jupiter in hopes that any offseason adjustments he may have made would translate over into the 2026 season. Thankfully for the infielder, it has.

Elevated on minor league leaderboards by his 173 wRC+, Barrera has seemingly made significant strides across the board. Starting with the aforementioned wRC+ and the 111-point increase from last season, which matches perfectly in terms of sample size, considering he only appeared in 29 games last year.

There is also a complete flip between his walk rate and punchout rate. Last season, he struck out 26.1% of the time and walked 13%. Now, in 2026, he is walking at a 23.2% clip and striking out at a tick under 15%. Then you have the 12.8% increase in contact percentage, sitting at 88.2% this season, and you begin to believe in what he has been able to produce thus far down in the Marlins system.