With both Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Jesús Sánchez matriculating to The Show, JJ Bleday ought to be the must-watch position player in the Marlins minor league system right now. He was the 2019 NCAA home run leader and a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award. Selected with the No. 4 overall pick in the subsequent amateur draft, he received the challenging assignment of making his professional debut at the High-A level, then was prominently involved in big league spring training each of the last two years. He’s a consensus top-100 MLB prospect.
I was part of the baseball industry majority that entered the 2021 Minor League Baseball season predicting Bleday would earn a Marlins call-up by season’s end.