Marlins' Player Development Awards show talent waiting in the wings

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.

MIAMI -- There has been a big push to focus on player development under Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix, and the early returns could be seen firsthand during Saturday’s presentation of the 2024 Player Development Awards.

Moments before starting at shortstop and batting sixth against the contending Braves at loanDepot park, Marlins No. 13 prospect Javier Sanoja received Player of the Year and Triple-A MVP honors. After an invitation to big league camp this spring, Sanoja began the season at Double-A Pensacola, where he played for just 15 games until being promoted to Triple-A Jacksonville. In 111 games with the Jumbo Shrimp, he hit .291/.354/.431 with more walks (44) than strikeouts (30).

Sanoja, 22, serves as the primary example of director of player development Rachel Balkovec’s footprint in her first year helming the department. So are top prospect Thomas White (Pitcher of the Year and High-A MVP) and No. 9 prospect Joe Mack (Double-A MVP). All three garnered hardware for their performance at the second Minor League level they played at this season.

“We just talked about aggressive development, really just going after and educating the players as fast as possible, digging in with them, not being afraid to try things, and not being afraid to put ourselves out there as players and coaches,” Balkovec said.

Added director of Minor League operations Hector Crespo: “At a certain point [when] we have confidence that he can go to the next level and hold his own, we test them, we push them, and we have an aggressive mindset as far as promotion. So we feel confident that a player can go and hold their own at the next level. We want to end up pushing guys and seeing if they can handle it. Some guys will, some guys won't, but I think the new mentality that our new group has kind of brought in is being more aggressive and pushing these guys to kind of see what their limitations are.”

Perhaps part of that success stems from the Marlins aiming to make innovation their main core value. They want to become industry leaders, being at the forefront of what development looks like moving forward. The organization wasn’t just thinking about 2024 but three to five years in the future.

Miami saw success at the Dominican Summer League and Florida Complex League in large part because coaches showed up with a specific plan for each player on a daily basis and stuck to organizational values.

“Taking a look at different ways of doing things,” Crespo said. “Playing the game, there's things that have been done for such a long period of time. So whether that be exploring the way we throw our bullpens, the way we throw sides, the way we play catch, the way we hit BP, the way we lift, just looking for ways to maximize some innovative aspects to set us apart from just the next organization.”

In the lower levels, for example, the Marlins are building a culture around competing. The organization implemented a point system where players would pick up positive points for good things and negative points for bad things. It is a way to reward and praise behavior the department wants to see.

“I think that the common misconception about athletes is that they should want to just run out there every single day and put their life on the line, and aren't they working hard every day?” Balkovec said. “Well, anyone knows that if you're competing side by side with somebody else and there's points or even money on the line at the other side of that competition, you just run a little bit faster no matter who you are.

"So really, it's just the premise of pairing them up against each other in some ways, and giving them a prize or a positive reward at the end, and positive reinforcement, like you mentioned. [It’s] as simple as that.”

Here is the complete list of the Player Development Awards recipients:

• Triple-A MVP: Javier Sanoja

• Double-A MVP: Joe Mack

• High-A MVP: Thomas White

• Single-A MVP: Ryan Ignoffo

• Florida Complex League Marlins MVP: Andrés Valor (No. 17 prospect)

• Dominican Summer League Miami MVP: Luifer Romero

• DSL Marlins MVP: Joseph Tailor

• Student of the Year: Manuel Medina

• Service Member of the Year: Luis Ramírez

• Staff Member of the Year: Esmerling De La Rosa