Saturday, August 02

Like many kids growing up in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Marlins No. 12 prospect Deyvison De Los Santos idolized Adrian Beltré.

In the midst of last year’s breakout Minor League season, De Los Santos met Beltré during the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game in Arlington and received words of encouragement from the Hall of Famer.

“He told me that my bat is a big league bat, and to trust that and to continue working, to never stop working, so I can fulfill that dream to make it to the big leagues,” De Los Santos said via interpreter Luis Dorante Jr.

If De Los Santos continues to perform at Triple-A Jacksonville, that time should come soon enough – just like it recently did for Marlins No. 4 prospect Agustín Ramírez. After opening the season batting .235 in his first eight games, De Los Santos entered Sunday with a slash line of .281/.343/.382 and six extra-base hits in 24 games.

A year ago, De Los Santos being a step away from The Show seemed improbable. After the D-backs decided not to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft, the Guardians selected, then returned De Los Santos. Months later, Miami acquired him and outfielder Andrew Pintar (Marlins No. 29 prospect) in a trade with Arizona for late-inning reliever A.J. Puk ahead of the Deadline.

De Los Santos went on to finish 2024 as the Minor League home run (40) and RBIs (120) leader with time spent at both the Double-A and Triple-A levels.

“That's something that I felt motivated and I did what I know what to do, which is play baseball, same thing I've been doing since I was a little kid, and I was well motivated and looking forward to improve myself,” De Los Santos said.

However, even in a memorable season, there were holes in De Los Santos’ game that must be corrected in order to earn his first callup.

According to MLB Pipeline’s scouting report, De Los Santos has plus-plus raw power (60 grade on 20-80 scale) to all fields with exit velocities as high as 116 mph, but his undisciplined approach resulted in a 46 percent chase rate -- matching the worst percentage in the big leagues.

And while De Los Santos spent most of his three professional seasons at third base, he has seen more time at first in 2024-25. During his first big league camp with the Marlins, he appeared at both corner-infield spots. De Los Santos is blocked at the MLB level by Matt Mervis, Connor Norby, Graham Pauley and Eric Wagaman.

“His power is unbelievable,” Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix said. “There's very few players in baseball who have this kind of power, let alone guys who are 21 years old. He hit 40 home runs in a Minor League season. That's not even 162 games. He did it as one of the youngest players in Double-A and in Triple-A, and he also has some clear flaws to his game.

“He knows that he needs to work on his pitch selection, he knows that he needs to work on his plate discipline, and he knows that at the big league level, if you have a big weakness, pitchers are going to exploit it. So it's about how quickly can we make those adjustments? Because we know the power is real.”

When the Marlins optioned De Los Santos to Triple-A Jacksonville after just six Grapefruit League games, that was the organization’s message before he joined Minor League camp.

De Los Santos has shown progress staying in the zone with his swing decisions. In his first eight games of the season, he tallied 16 strikeouts to three walks. Over the next 15 contests, De Los Santos had 13 strikeouts and six walks.

“We forget this guy's 21 years old,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “He's very young, and he's gotten to the upper levels in rapid fashion because of his ability. And we're a real buyer of that talent. The strike zone discipline and then challenge him on the defensive end, too, to continue to appreciate every part of your game and the importance that it plays -- not just what happens in the batter's box.”

Ramírez kept up his torrid start to his MLB career by hammering his first homer.

Here are top prospect performers at the other affiliates:

Double-A Pensacola: OF Kemp Alderman (No. 11 prospect)
The 22-year-old entered Sunday batting .308/.365/.569 with three doubles, one triple, four homers, seven steals and 14 RBIs in 18 games for the Blue Wahoos, picking up right where he left off in the Arizona Fall League.

High-A Beloit: C Ryan Ignoffo (Not ranked)
Ignoffo, who was a non-roster invitee at big league camp, had team highs in doubles (six), homers (three) and RBIs (19) entering Sunday.

Single-A Jupiter: INF Andrew Salas (No. 5 prospect)
Salas, 17, opened his pro career by hitting .303/.511/.394 with one double, one triple, two RBIs and five steals in his first 11 games. He had walked (14) more than he had struck out (12) while facing competition more than four years older.

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