Bleday, Meyer lead Marlins spring invites

The Marlins saw the arrival of several top prospects in the Majors last year on the way to their first postseason appearance since 2003. In a few weeks, the club will get a closer look at the next wave headed toward southeast Florida.

Miami invited No. 20 overall prospect JJ Bleday, No. 28 Max Meyer and 16 others as non-roster players to Major League Spring Training camp on Monday. The two Top-100 prospects are the club's most recent first-round picks with Bleday coming from Vanderbilt in 2019 and Meyer from Minnesota last June.

Bleday has an outside shot at cracking the Marlins' Major League roster in his upcoming age-23 season. The left-handed-hitting outfielder stands out for his plus power potential and above-average hitting ability overall. He showed those skills on campus, particularly in his junior campaign when he led the country with 27 homers and finished with a .347/.465/.701 line over 71 games with the Commodores. His only Minor League experience came in 38 contests with Class A Advanced Jupiter in 2019, where he hit .257/.311/.379 with three long balls in the pitcher-friendly Florida State League.

Bleday has only played right field in the Minors so far and has the plus arm to be an asset at the position. Barring a free-agent signing, Miami is expected to have an open competition in right this spring, so it's possible the 2019 fourth overall pick could see Grapefruit League action. He is more likely to head to Double-A or Triple-A once the season begins and fight for a Major League spot from there.

Meyer will be in Major League camp for his first Spring Training. The 21-year-old right-hander has some of the most dangerous weapons among pitching prospects today with a mid-90s fastball and plus-plus slider. Those two offerings were big reasons why Miami took the 6-foot hurler with the third pick in the 2020 Draft. Meyer has yet to appear in the Minors due to the cancelation of last year's season, but like Bleday, he was a participant in the club's alternate-site workouts in Jupiter.

Seven other top-30 prospects within the Miami system received non-roster invites Monday: No. 14 Kameron Misner, No. 15 Connor Scott, No. 16 Peyton Burdick, No. 20 Nasim Nunez, No. 21 Kyle Nicolas, No. 22 Zach McCambley and No. 30 Will Banfield. Other invitees are pitchers Tommy Eveld, Jake Fishman, Dylan Lee, Josh Roberson and Will Stewart; catcher Nick Fortes; infielders Joe Dunand and Luis Marté and outfielder Brian Miller.

Marlins pitchers and catchers are expected to report to the club's facility in Jupiter, Fla. on Feb. 17.