The pen is mightier for this Marlins prospect

This story was excerpted from Christina De Nicola’s Marlins Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

"We're getting out of here. Let's get to work."

Those are the words Marlins No. 23 prospect Nasim Nuñez wrote in his journal upon his promotion from High-A Beloit to Double-A Pensacola last August.

After walking into meetings and noticing that players had to bring their own piece of paper to take notes, director of Minor League operations Hector Crespo felt it might be impactful to create notebooks for them. So he and Colleen Mitchell, manager of player care and service, made sure every player received one in 2022.

"If anything happened during the season that was memorable, or they just wanted to keep an account of what happened, they could have these journals to write certain things down," Crespo said. "We didn't give them parameters of what to write. It was more free-spirited. It was something good, something bad, something that happened during the day, something that you enjoy doing. Just anything that you write down to visualize it, and get it on there. I know a good amount of our guys use it, so it was a good reference point for us."

One of those players is Nuñez, whose parents encouraged him to write in a journal when he was younger but who didn't do so until the Marlins distributed one. It quickly became second nature for him to compose motivational -- and sometimes humorous -- tidbits. How much and how frequently Nuñez writes depends on the day. It's usually about baseball, and he rarely uses complete sentences.

"I believe everybody needs that time to themselves, because if you're always so consumed in doing something else, and too busy, you don't get time to reflect on that stuff, and that's what helps you grow and develop," Nuñez said. "I usually write in there when my mind starts getting full, and I want to express some stuff, but I don't want to express it to everybody or to people, so I just write it down and it kind of clears my mind."

It came in handy when the 22-year-old got off to a slow start in the cold weather of Beloit. Things had been easier in the lower levels of the Minors and at Collins High in Suwanee, Ga., where Nuñez was selected in the second round of the 2019 MLB Draft as the best defensive shortstop available. But that adversity helped him grow mentally, especially while writing down how he was feeling.

Nuñez regrouped by slashing .288/.426/.381 from May 7-July 31, prompting his promotion to the Blue Wahoos. His first Double-A homer -- a go-ahead shot to stave off elimination in the semifinals -- was instrumental in Pensacola's Southern League championship run.

The 5-foot-9, 158-pounder isn't known for power (20 grade on the 20-80 scale), but rather his speed (70 grade) and defense (70). In fact, Nuñez finished with 70 steals -- third most in Marlins affiliate history, behind Quincy Foster (73) and Yefri Perez (71).

"What I learned most about myself was that as long as I keep going, and I set my mind on something I can accomplish, whatever it is that I want to, always have a positive mindset and want to learn," said Nuñez, who was named Beloit's MVP and received a non-roster invite to Major League camp this spring. "You don't know everything. So I'm always asking questions, trying to find the answer, just like an annoying little kid."