Miami Marlins prospect updates: Mesa Jr.’s grand slam, Eder’s progress, draft signings

Outfielder Victor Mesa Jr., the Miami Marlins’ No. 13 overall prospect according to MLB Pipeline, has had his share of big moments this season. He’s hit for a cycle, had four three-hit games and been steady defensively.

His latest big moment came Saturday, when he hit the first walk-off grand slam in Double A Pensacola Blue Wahoos history to beat the Rocket City Trash Pandas 12-8.

The Blue Wahoos had led the game 8-0 after three innings before the Trash Pandas rallied to tie, chipping away a run or two at a time from the fourth through eighth innings before tying the game with a four-run top of the ninth.

Avisail Garcia, playing with Pensacola on a rehab assignment, led off the bottom of the ninth with a double before Troy Johnston was intentionally walked and Will Banfield dropped down a bunt to reach first and load the bases to bring Mesa to the plate.

Mesa worked the count to 2-2, fouled off two more pitches and then sent the seventh pitch to straightaway center for the game-winning grand slam.

Mesa went 2 for 5 in the game overall and had a pair of outfield assists on defense.

On the season, Mesa is hitting .238 with a .712 on-base-plus-slugging mark, 18 doubles, two triples, nine home runs, 48 RBI and 42 runs scored.

Jake Eder update

The grand slam backed one of the better outings from Marlins left-handed pitcher Jake Eder, who has now made five starts with Double A Pensacola since his return from a pair of injuries (first Tommy John surgery in 2021 and then a foot injury during spring training this year).

On Saturday, Eder held the Trash Pandas to two runs on five hits and three walks while striking out eight over five innings. He has pitched at least five innings while giving up no more than two earned runs in three of his five outings with Pensacola.

Eder is the Marlins’ No. 4 overall prospect and the top-ranked healthy pitcher in Miami’s system (No. 1 Max Meyer is recovering from Tommy John surgery while No. 3 Dax Fulton also underwent elbow surgery).

Marlins director of minor league operations Hector Crespo said earlier this month that Eder has been working to get all three of his pitches — fastball, changeup and slider — in sync.

“Once he gets the collection of all three, we’ve seen what he can do in years prior,” Crespo said. “The biggest thing is health. The velocity is starting to get back to the right spot.”

Marlins draft class complete

The Marlins signed 20 of their 21 selections from the 2023 MLB Draft. The lone holdout was 18th-round pick Tristan Dietrich, a left-handed pitcher from Owen J. Roberts High in Pennsylvania who will be playing collegiately at FIU.

Miami spent $12,767,400 on signing bonuses for its 11 Day 1 and 2 picks. The team’s total bonus pool for those picks was $12,829,600.

The majority of that money, as expected, went to the team’s top two selections — high school pitcher’s Noble Meyer and Thomas White. Meyer, the No. 10 overall pick, received a $4.5 million signing bonus, while White received $4.1 million. Second-round pick Kemp Alderman, an outfielder from Ole Miss, was the only other player to receive more than $1 million, getting a $1.4 million bonus.

Those three players visited loanDepot park over the weekend before heading up to the team’s minor-league complex in Jupiter for orientation. After that, they will begin their pro ball career.

Marlins draftee’s signing bonuses

Below is a list of the signing bonuses for all of the Marlins’ draftees who signed along with the slot value for the picks through the first 10 rounds. Players picks between Rounds 11 and 20 can receive a signing bonus of up to $150,000 without being counted toward the team’s bonus pool.

Round 1, right-handed pitcher Noble Meyer: $4.5 million (slot value: $5,475,300)

Competitive Balance-A, left-handed pitcher Thomas White: $4.1 million (slot value: $2,420,900)

Round 2, outfielder Kemp Alderman: $1.4 million (slot value: $1,825,300)

Round 3, first baseman Brock Vradenburg: $916,000 (slot value: $916,000)

Round 4, left-handed pitcher Emmett Olson: $460,000 (slot value: $609,600)

Round 5, left-handed pitcher Andrew Lindsey: $340,000 (slot value: $429,400)

Round 6, outfielder Jake DeLeo: $300,000 (slot value: $333,900)

Round 7, left-handed pitcher Justin Storm: $241,000 (slot value: $261,000)

Round 8, right-handed pitcher Nick Maldonado: $160,000 (slot value: $207,800)

Round 9, outfielder Colby Shade: $180,900 (slot value: $180,900)

Round 10, right-handed pitcher Xavier Meachem: $169,500 (slot value: $169,500)

Round 11, right-handed pitcher Jake Brooks: $150,000

Round 12, right-handed pitcher Josh Ekness: Signed for unannounced value

Round 13, right-handed pitcher Colson Lawrence:Signed for unannounced value

Round 14, left-handed pitcher Jack Sellinger: $100,000

Round 15, right-handed pitcher Nigel Belgrave: $150,000

Round 16, left-handed pitcher Kevin Vaupel: $75,000

Round 17, outfielder Mark Coley II: $50,000

Round 18, left-handed pitcher Tristan Dietrich: Did not sign

Round 19, third baseman Johnny Olmstead: $25,000

Round 20, two-way player Ryan Ignoffo: $75,000