Miami Marlins: An Interesting Player You Haven’t Heard Of

The Miami Marlins are deep in a rebuild but that doesn’t mean they can’t be interesting.  You have probably never heard of INF/OF Jon Berti, but maybe you should start paying attention to him.

Rebuilding isn’t a fun process because it means your team isn’t very good.  The Miami Marlins have found themselves in the midst of another rebuild since Jeff Loria just about bankrupted the team on his way out the door.

The Marlins have traded Christian Yelich, JT Realmuto, Giancarlo Stanton, Marcela Ozuna, and others over the past few years as they work to build a sustainable core and future.  That part of rebuilding is the brutal part.

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Now there is the fun part of rebuilding.  The Miami Marlins are in a position where they have plenty of ABs to give out and can afford to be patient for interesting players who haven’t quite figured it out yet.

Jon Berti is one of those players who benefited from the availability of ABs. You definitely didn’t notice but in 2019 Jon Berti, a 30-year-old former 18th round pick by the Blue Jays put up 1.7 fWAR in just under 300 plate appearances in Miami.

Berti contributed by doing a little bit of everything hitting .273/.348/.406 good for a 104 wRC+.  He also contributed defensively at all 3 OF positions, 3B, and SS and was average or slightly below at each of them.

Lastly, Berti can absolutely fly.  At 29.8 Feet/Second, Berti is in the top 15 fastest runners in all of baseball.

There are risks to his profile as Berti had an exit velocity of 86.6 MPH which is just below league average.  He also had a 53% GB rate but that risk is mitigated by his elite speed and his ability to hit the ball to all fields.

As mentioned, Berti finished up his first MLB season at age 30 so he isn’t going to be a superstar but he can still be flawed but useful player.  He might be a starter on the Marlins but he could be a solid utility type for a playoff-bound team.

The Blue Jays couldn’t be bothered to give Berti any ABs to see what he was so they released him.  The Blue Jays’ loss is the Marlins gain as they got Berti as a minor league free agent.

With rosters expanding to 26 players, MLB teams with postseason aspirations should be watching Berti closely. Berti is just as fast as Terrance Gore who routinely finds himself on postseason rosters.

Berti offers even more than that since he can play 5 positions (probably 2B as well), has an average bat, and the electric speed to be an impact off the bench.  Even if Berti doesn’t hit at a league-average rate again his positional flexibility and speed makes him a fit on any postseason roster.

Rebuilding can be rough but sometimes those ABs turn into a nice surprise like Jon Berti. Berti may already be 30 but he could fetch an interesting prospect or two to help the Miami Marlins on their journey to rebuild. Berti is a solid find by the Marlins and sometime this year, he will be a great addition to a playoff-bound team.