The Marlins completed their portion of the 2024 MLB Draft on Tuesday afternoon. Now, Miami’s front office and development staff turn their attention to signing their draftees and integrating them into the Minor League system. The deadline to sign is Aug. 1 at 5 p.m. ET.

Let’s break down a few takeaways from the Marlins’ Draft approach over the past three days.

1) All about the (college) bats

One of the big draws with this year’s crop of talent was more mature college bats -- it makes sense, given that the 2020 Draft was cut to just five rounds due to the COVID pandemic, and a lot of players who might have been drafted out of high school ended up going to college.

Miami knew it was more interested in picking up positional talent, and boy did the Marlins follow through. Across the three days of the Draft, Miami selected just seven pitchers (two high schoolers and five from college) and a whopping 14 position players -- including 11 out of college.

• Marlins snag HS slugger PJ Morlando with No. 16 pick

“This was one of the strengths of this class,” director of amateur scouting Frankie Piliere said on Monday. “We felt it was pretty deep on the college bats, and [we’re] really excited about the result.”

Among the players Piliere is most excited about are third-rounder Gage Miller (an infielder out of Alabama) and fourth-rounder Fenwick Trimble (an outfielder from JMU), who are well-rounded and hit for contact, not just for power.

“These are contact bats, guys that have positional value,” Piliere said. “It was an exciting day to be able to line these types of guys up. I think some of them will even get deeper in the Draft than we thought because of the depth of that group.”

2) Development potential

Outside of baseball talent, the Marlins -- like many teams, to be fair -- sought players with a growth mindset. One such player is right-handed pitcher Nick Brink, Miami’s seventh-round pick out of the University of Portland.

Brink became Portland’s Friday night starter this spring, just two years removed from undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2022. Initially a reliever when he got back on the mound in ‘23, Brink transitioned into a starting role and delivered results. In 2024, Brink led the West Coast Conference with 130 strikeouts, tied for the sixth-most in the nation. His development between just 2023 and ‘24 stuck out to the Marlins.

“Nick has come a long way,” Piliere said. “Nick is somebody our area scout has liked for a long time. … It's not an overwhelming power package, but he does a little bit of everything. At this point in the Draft, those are the type of guys we're confident that are going to -- because you mentioned him getting better -- this is a guy we think is going to keep getting better. …

“These are the players I think really sometimes surprise you and develop even further, because there's already such a good baseline of pitchability and the ability to throw the ball over the plate.”

• Here's what the Marlins did on Day 2 of the Draft

That’s not all there is to Brink, though; he’s got the smarts to back his arsenal. Not only was he named a 2023-24 CSC third team Academic All-American, but he also threw two complete games this past season -- the only pitcher to do so in the WCC. Brink delivered a 3.61 ERA while earning a 3.95 GPA as a computer science major.

3) Lost in the mix …

In all the hubbub of the 20 rounds of the Draft, here are three names that you might have missed and why Piliere thinks they stand out.

Aiden May (Competitive Balance Round B, RHP, Oregon State)
From Piliere: “We just saw somebody with big league weapons. … We were probably pretty surprised to see him down where he was, just because of the stuff package. You watch Aiden May, it's like watching a Major League pitcher in terms of arsenal.”

Grant Shepardson (fifth round, RHP, Mountain Vista HS (Colo.))
From Piliere: “[This is] someone who's up to the mid 90s, has a real breaking ball and ingredients to develop into an impact starting pitcher. … We're really, really pretty pumped to get this type of upside and projection package this late -- and he already has a good baseline of stuff -- we feel like we got a steal.”

Coen Niclai (15th round, C, Robert Service HS in Anchorage, Alaska)
From Piliere: “The power bat is a start, but the fact that he's been able to make contact against older players the way he has I think really makes him stand out. There are a lot of players with raw power, but Coen has shown an ability to adjust very quickly and we think he has a chance to stick behind the plate."

Read more on Niclai and his skillset here.