Fansided

Keep an eye on these 5 MLB players you haven’t heard of yet

By Baasil Ebrahim

JUPITER, FL - MARCH 10: Lewis Brinson
JUPITER, FL - MARCH 10: Lewis Brinson /
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The Miami Marlins’ Lewis Brinson bats during the third inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Jupiter, Fla., on Friday, Feb. 23, 2018. The Marlins won, 6-4. (David Santiago/El Nuevo Herald/TNS via Getty Images)
The Miami Marlins’ Lewis Brinson bats during the third inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Jupiter, Fla., on Friday, Feb. 23, 2018. The Marlins won, 6-4. (David Santiago/El Nuevo Herald/TNS via Getty Images) /

Lewis Brinson

Marlins fans are hoping that Lewis Brinson can make a rookie of the year push this season. After a 1.047 OPS in spring training this year, there is no doubting that is a legitimate possibility. Both MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus placed him in the top 30 prospects going into this season.

Similar to Diaz, he hits the ball extremely hard, 90.9 mph (16th best last year) but doesn’t make quality contact often, 3.6% of the time. However, this isn’t usually the case, it was likely simply the difficulty of MLB pitching vs AAA. In AAA, he has a career wOBA well above .400 and has shown the ability to dominate at all level except for the majors. As seen by his spring training stats, the .106 batting average he had in 47 at bats last year won’t stay.

He has the ability to hit and is a plus defender in center field. Unlike Hernandez, the opportunity is something Brinson won’t have to worry about after the Marlins traded last year’s starting outfield. He’ll have a great mentor in Cameron Maybin to talk to and won’t be benched for extended periods of time.

For someone who just needs to adjust to Major League pitching, Brinson couldn’t be in a better spot to succeed this season.

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