Dillon Peters Shows Promise With Curve

Best Player: 3B Brian Anderson

Anderson earned a callup to the Marlins by batting .275/.361/.492 with 22 home runs, 21 doubles and 81 RBIs in 120 games at Double-A Jacksonville and Triple-A New Orleans.

The Marlins immediately placed the 24-year-old Anderson, a 2014 third-rounder from Arkansas, in the starting lineup upon arriving in Miami.

“We’re trying to see what he can do,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said of Anderson. “I like the quality of his at-bats. He sees the ball well. This will help his progress, and then he can make adjustments.”

Best Pitcher: LHP Dillon Peters

The 5-foot-9 southpaw went 7-3, 1.57 in 13 minor league starts, nine of them at Double-A Jacksonville. Peters then made his big league debut on Sept. 1—one day after his 25th birthday—and threw seven scoreless innings against the Phillies.

After making a strong impression in spring training, Peters went to Jacksonville and broke his left thumb while trying to defend himself from a line-drive comebacker. He missed three months but restored the organization’s faith by continuing to be efficient once he got back on the mound. At Jacksonville, he recorded a 1.97 ERA and 0.96 WHIP while allowing one home run in 45.2 innings.

“He’s a motivated young man,” said Jeremy Powell, who was Peters’ pitching coach at high Class A Jupiter. “He can navigate under pressure and take the fight to the hitter. He’s unafraid.” In his debut against the Phillies, Peters got batters to miss on nine of the 17 swings they took against his curveball, an exceptionally high rate of whiffs.

Keep An Eye On: RHP Trevor Richards

The 24-year-old Richards split his time between high Class A Jupiter and Double-A Jacksonville and recorded a sub-3.00 ERA at both stops. Combined he went 12-11, 2.53 and a 1.03 WHIP while allowing 9.7 strikeouts and 1.8 walks per nine innings.

Another righthander to watch is 18-year-old Matt Givin, a 20th-round pick this year out of a Colorado high school. In seven pro starts, all in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League, he had a 0.39 ERA and a 19-to-6 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 23.1 innings.