MIAMI -- Player turnover has been steady through the years for the Marlins, but a constant has been a pipeline of talented young pitchers who have made their way through the system.

 

Since Josh Beckett's rookie season in 2002, Florida enjoyed tremendous success replenishing its staff with young arms.

 

Dontrelle Willis blossomed from Double-A in 2003 to win the National League Rookie of the Year Award, along with being a major reason the Marlins won the World Series.

 

The 2006 Marlins set a Major League record by becoming the first pitching staff with four rookies to win at least 10 games -- Ricky Nolasco, Josh Johnson, Scott Olsen and Anibal Sanchez.

 

Last year, then 21-year-old Chris Volstad burst onto the big league season, and ever since, the 6-foot-8 right-hander has had Major League scouts marveling.

 

How far Florida goes in 2009 largely will depend on the health and depth of the pitching staff. Already, starter Andrew Miller is on the disabled list with a strained right oblique, meaning the team is searching for a new fifth starter.

 

The Marlins have yet to announce who will be filling Miller's rotation spot on Sunday against the Phillies at Dolphin Stadium. While the depth of pitching at the Minor League levels has thinned a bit in recent years with the promotions of players like Volstad, the organization remains well-armed in the Minor Leagues.

 

"We're not quite as deep as we were, because some guys are in the big leagues, but we're still good," said Jim Fleming, the Marlins' vice president of player development and scouting. "We're still young and still developing. I think what you've seen were the guys who developed the fastest have gotten to the big leagues. A lot of guys that are still there [Minor Leagues], we're still very hopeful they will become good big leaguers.

 

"We're not quite as deep as we were, because some guys are in the big leagues, but we're still good. We're still young and still developing. I think what you've seen were the guys who developed the fastest have gotten to the big leagues. A lot of guys that are still there [Minor Leagues], we're still very hopeful they will become good big leaguers."

-- Marlins vice president of player development and scouting Jim Fleming

"You get spoiled sometimes when they get there at 21 or 22. Some of these guys are just going to be 23 or 24."

 

If Florida dips into the Minor Leagues for a starter on Sunday, a strong candidate appears to be Graham Taylor at Double-A Jacksonville. With the Phillies having so many left-handed hitters, the lefty Taylor could get the nod.

 

The Marlins' top pitching prospect is 6-foot-8 left-hander Sean West, who is also at Double-A. West was one of Florida's five first-round picks in 2005, the same class that produced Volstad.

 

The question is whether the team wants to be careful with West, who missed all of 2007 due to left shoulder surgery. West was in Spring Training with the big league club, and he impressed the staff. He's made three starts at Double-A thus far.

 

Another consideration is Major League service time, which factors into the business side of the sport. Does the team want to promote someone like West this fast? If it does, it risks him going to arbitration faster than say if it would promote him later on in the season, specifically after June 1, which would bump back arbitration a year.

 

Willis was promoted out of need in May 2003, while during that same year, Miguel Cabrera was called up in June. Even though the two made their debuts about five weeks apart, Willis went to arbitration a year earlier than Cabrera.

 

"A lot of these cases, we were in a position where we really had to get them to the big leagues, because they were the next guys," Fleming said of the rises of players like Willis. "Now, you can slow down some of the guys and let them work some of these things out in the Minor Leagues rather than let them work it out at the Major League level, which is more difficult."

 

Putting the business end aside, the organization deals with a fine line when determining when a player is ready to make that leap to the big leagues.

 

"It's a difficult thing," Fleming said. "You look to see their stuff and see their determination and see how they hang in there. It's not like any of them are doing bad. It's just that some of them haven't gotten to the level where they're going to be consistent in the big leagues.

 

"That's what we're looking at -- we're looking for some consistency, day in, day out, performance after performance. More times than not, are they consistent with their delivery and their pitches? That's really where we're at when we're looking for that kind of stuff."

 

If the Marlins opt to remain with the pitchers already on the roster for Sunday's game, then right-handers Burke Badenhop and Hayden Penn, who have been pitching long relief, are the options.

 

Another left-handed starter at Double-A who isn't far from being big league ready is Aaron Thompson, also a first-round pick in 2005.

 

At Triple-A, right-hander Brett Sinkbeil (first-rounder in 2006) is a candidate to get called up as the season progresses.

 

Already this year, some depth at the Minor Leagues took a hit by a few injuries. Rick VandenHurk, Ryan Tucker and reliever Taylor Tankersley are on the Minor League disabled lists. All three have Major League experience, but none are close to returning.

 

"The good thing is we still have more depth," Fleming said. "We still have Sinkbeil, Thompson, Badenhop, Graham Taylor and West. They're good players. One of them will be the next guy. They need to step up and we'll be all right. We have lots of options.

 

 

http://florida.marlins.mlb.com/news/articl...sp&c_id=fla

 

This may be interesting to see how it plays out on sunday.

WTF? This is will be interesting and fun!!

Fun in a good way I hope.

Who ?

Who ?

Any1 know about this guy ?

If our minor league pitching is really start to thin a little, perhaps we should go after a veteran pitcher, especially if Miller continues to struggle once he is off the DL, for this season and next. That way, we have a reliable, if not average, pitcher in our rotation, and we wouldn't be replacing a youngish pitcher with another youngish pitcher. Basically, you would have a spot filled automatically with a proven veteran (at a reasonable cost) coming out of spring training, so you wouldn't be looking at the minor leagues to fill that spot and you can let the waters quiet a little down there. And you would give someone like Andrew Miller some more time to develop.

 

Of course, if there is an injury to a SP, then you will naturally look minor league way, so it really doesn't solve anything like the case we are talking about here.

Cant remember which thread but I mentioned yesterday that in Frisaro's blog he lists Taylor as a serious option for Sunday, along with Aaron Thompson and of course Sean West, who has gathered the most discussion on here of late.

Cant remember which thread but I mentioned yesterday that in Frisaro's blog he lists Taylor as a serious option for Sunday, along with Aaron Thompson and of course Sean West, who has gathered the most discussion on here of late.

I wanna see sean west ! cause idk the other 2

Graham Taylor has done pretty good this year so far, 3 starts, 2-1, 3.24 ERA. did ok in both AA and A last year. He's been pretty consistently good since he started in 2006. I'd be fine to see him start for the next couple of games.

Who ?

Any1 know about this guy ?

Taylor is a control freak with some deception in his delivery. He possess no plus pitches, and just pounds the strike zone. He dominated college and A ball because of his plus control, but the scouting report on him suggests he will not be able to fool hitters as he rises levels with his moderate stuff and no real out pitch. This is much like former Marlins prospect Petit (although in Taylor's defense, he has much better power-against numbers than Petit). He's a moderate prospect somewhere in our top 18-25 overall, and in a best case scenario becomes a nice 5th starter or a second lefty swingman out of the bullpen that can eat a lot of innings adequately. Since being called up to AA he, has a 1.46 whip in 40 innings (45 hits, 5 HR), about a 5.5 K/9, but he is doing slightly better this year in his 3 starts (1.32 whip) so maybe he just needs a little time to adjust to new levels.

 

He's not very exciting, unless you find Nate Robertson or Jeremy Sowers exciting. I'd take him over Badenhop though, and maybe he can get through the Phillies lineup twice before they figure out his delivery. He's the oldest out of Sinkbiel, Trahern, West, and Thompson, so maybe the Marlins go by age through these guys, instead of rolling the dice with higher upside West or Thompson.

Id like to see west or thomson get the nod. That phillies lineup up is full of lefties so I don't think throwing the hopper is a good idea. It be nice if whoever comes up throws lights out.

Not to brag or anything but..

 

I CALLED IT!

 

Graham real isn't anything special but he does get outs and does have pretty good control.

 

I went to a hammerhead game where he had 53 pitches through 6 innings allowing only 2 hits and 1 run the run being a solo home run.

 

I know its just A Ball but thats still very impressive.

I'm cool with this he was voted the best pitcher in the fish farm the last two years on performance so give him a shot. If he's successfull and gets sent back down or maybe Brandenhop or however aint getting it done. we gotta do what we gotta do to win. Manny lauched a rocket in Houston last night!

 

:notworthy Maybe one year of him for Stanton aint such a bad idea.

Lefties abundant in the Phillies lineup notwithstanding, I have a bad feeling that Taylor would get totally eviscerated either way.

 

Small sample size of course, but lefties have a .500 SLG against Taylor so far this year.

Daniel Barone is still with the organisation. Somewhere. I think.

somwhere floating around...

i heard josh friedman from 790 say he thinks they'll call up west to pitch on sunday

Taylor was the Marlins minor league pitcher of the year in 2007. I've said it before I like his make-up, he just wins so far at all levels. I hope he gets the start and does well.

Logan Kensing, you know without the August pennant race thing

Daniel Barone is still with the organisation. Somewhere. I think.

He started for New Orleans (AAA) for us tonight.

barone has some of the worst stuff ive ever seen....his stuff was almost as bad as jason vargas.....i say give it to badenhop and penn is exactly where he should be......in the pen where he has been very good.

i heard josh friedman from 790 say he thinks they'll call up west to pitch on sunday

 

That was in the PBP yesterday as well. I'm not so sure. I think Sunday's starter is already here. Penn or Hopper. If it was a little later in the year, then maybe.

 

But we shall see.

i heard josh friedman from 790 say he thinks they'll call up west to pitch on sunday

 

That was in the PBP yesterday as well. I'm not so sure. I think Sunday's starter is already here. Penn or Hopper. If it was a little later in the year, then maybe.

 

But we shall see.

Beinfest already said for certain it wouldn't be Penn and alluded that it wouldn't be Hopper.

During the game today Burke was throwing in the bullpen. Could that mean that he is not going to pitch sunday?

During the game today Burke was throwing in the bullpen. Could that mean that he is not going to pitch sunday?

He was just getting work in.