WhiteFanposts Sections News & RumorsAnalysisPodcastsProspects & DraftGame CoverageFull ArchiveMasthead Social Marlins Players on TwitterFish Stripes on InstagramMarlins Media Members Fish Stripes Best of 2018 Marlins StoriesScheduleRosterStatsCommunity Guidelines StubHub 鉁昅iami Marlins Prospects and Draft CoverageIn-State 2019 Draft TargetsMarlins 2019 MLB Draft Targets: Florida International Panthers The Fish Stripes series on local draft prospects continues with FIU.the FIU Panthers who could hear their names get called by the Marlins.1. 3B Austin Shenton The top MLB Draft prospect from the Florida International University is their junior third baseman Austin Shenton. The Washington native transferred to FIU last season and instantly became an impact player for the Panthers. Shenton started off his college career at Bellevue College where he hit .395 with seven home runs Yunel Escobar Jersey , 56 RBIs and had a 1.094 OPS. He was also First Team All-NWC. In his first season at FIU, he batted .344 with eleven doubles, nine home runs and had a .941 OPS, also earning a All-Conference USA Second Team selection. Over the summer, Shenton played in the Cape Cod League and led the Wareham Gateman to a league championship. The FIU third baseman was even named the MVP of the 2018 Cape Cod Baseball League championship series. Shenton batted .522 with three home runs and 12 RBIs in the postseason. In the regular season, Shenton was one of league’s best hitters. He finished third in Cape Cod in batting average with a .349 batting average and was also second in RBIs with 30. Shenton was also named to the West Division All-Star team. Austin Shenton is not only one of the top collegiate hitters in the state, but one of best pure hitters in the country. He possesses a lot of nice hitting tools and drives the ball to all fields. Presently an above-average runner for a third baseman, he might change position at the pro level to left field or first base. Shenton will likely get drafted on the second day of the 2019 MLB Draft. 2. OF Lorenzo Hampton Jr.Another position player for the FIU Panthers who could see themselves getting drafted the Marlins is Lorenzo Hampton. The Monsignor Pace graduate spent his first two college baseball seasons at California. As a Golden Bear, Hampton didn’t get the opportunity for a lot of time but found a home at FIU. In his junior season at FIU, Hampton played in 51 games and had a .278 batting average with nine home runs, .835 OPS and a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. Over the summer, Hampton played for Keene Swamp Bats in the New England Collegiate Baseball League. He finished the summer with a .258 batting average with seven doubles, five home runs and 19 RBIs. Hampton played in the NWCBL All-Star Game and was also the Home Run Derby champion. Lorenzo Hampton Jr. was a very highly recruited high school prospect in Miami. He is 6’5” and weighs around 225 pounds with a lot of room to grow. His father, Lorenzo Sr. Martin Maldonado Jersey , was a running back at the University of Florida. He was a first-round pick of Miami Dolphins and spent four years in the NFL.Hampton is a power hitting outfielder and is also very solid defensively, likely a right fielder in the pros. He has a strong arm and does a good job of being accurate with his throws. He really needs to work on his strikeouts. Hampton projects to get drafted on the third day of the 2019 MLB Draft.3. RHP Nick MacDonaldThe junior right-handed pitcher Nick MacDonald is one of the weekend starters for the Panthers and is also one of FIU’s top prospects. The South Floridian pitcher has had a success two seasons at Florida International University. In his freshman season, MacDonald appeared in fourteen games with a 7-2 and a 3.84 ERA. He threw 65 2鈦? innings with 63 strikes in the 2017 season and was named to Conference USA All-Freshman team. As a sophomore, MacDonald finished with a 3-4 record with a 4.26 ERA and struck out 69 in 67 2鈦? innings pitched. Over the summer, MacDonald pitched for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks in Cape Cod, posting a 2-1 record with 4.59 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 33 1鈦? innings pitched. His best outing in the Cape Cod League was against the Cotuit Kettleers. MacDonald threw five innings allowing five hits, no runs, no walks and seven strikeouts. Nick MacDonald is a solid pitching prospect with some tools that can get him to the next level. His fastball tops out at 91 mph, but sits in the high 80s. MacDonald does a good job of mixing his pitches and can locate all of his pitches well. He has good command of the strike zone and pitches with a lot of confidence in himself. If MacDonald does get drafted in the 2019 MLB Draft, it will likely be in the middle to late rounds. The Freight Train!"2018 rating: 8.982017 rating: 7.622018 salary: $3.3 Million (Arb-1)2018 performance: 614 PAs, 164 hits, 30 HRs, 87 RBIs, 8.98.293/..352/.516 = .868 OPS.He played left field. 2019 status: He is on the D-backs 40-man roster http://www.angelsfanproshop.com/authentic-zack-cozart-jersey , and he is projected to start the season on the 25 man-roster in left field.David Peralta belongs in left field, although the reason is not good defense. In two seasons (2015 and 2018), David Peralta played over 94% of his innings in left field. Those same two seasons were his best hitting seasons (OPS+ 137 and 124).Coincidence?Maybe.But in the other three seasons, when he played less than half his innings in left field, his hitting was less than his best (OPS+ 112, 86, and 100).This season, David Peralta hit a career high 30 home runs.His previous best, 17 home runs, happened in 2015. David Peralta won a silver slugger award.This season, David Peralta was one of the three NL outfielders who won a Silver Slugger Award.Let’s look at how each player stood out. Christian Yelich.Christian Yelich was best by most commonly looked at stats.More importantly, he had impact! He had the most games with Win Probability Added (WPA) of at least 0.1 (40 vs 36/28). Nick Markakis. In the Majors, the percentage of Balls In Play (BIP) has been falling every year (see here and here).That trend is a troublesome problem for baseball.I subtracted home runs to measure balls-in-play when when the outcome is in doubt. By this new measure (BIP-HR)/(PA), Markakis is best (.75 vs .66/.62). And it’s not close!This season’s average in the Majors was .639 – so Markakis stood out as bucking baseball’s problem trend. In addition Darin Erstad Jersey , Markakis struck out about half as often (.11 vs .20/.21).For those two reasons, Markakis was worthy of the honor. The icing on the cake is he won a Gold Glove, too!David Peralta.April and June were excellent months with OPSs of .914 and 1.074 (let’s wait a minute to look at August). On 30 April, he was hit in the hand by a pitch by Tory Cingrani, which explains why May was his lowest slugging & OPS of the season.Comparing the three NL silver sluggers, Peralta had the best BABIP for ground balls (.286 vs .274/.259). Peralta stood out with consistency across several measures because he was nearly always first or second (he was third for wBA). NL Silver Slugger Outfielders 2018statisticYelichMarkakisPeraltastatisticYelichMarkakisPeraltaData from Baseball Reference and StatcastIn August, Peralta was extraordinary!Diamondback fans and the baseball world noticed David Peralta’s hitting in August.Matt Musico compared the players who hit best in August (Justine Turner, David Peralta, JD Martinez, Tyler White, and Paul Goldschmidt). Peralta’s hard-hit rate was 62.7%. The following comparisons were truly extraordinary!Peralta had the most homers (10). Peralta ranked second with 1.141 OPS (Turner first).Peralta ranked second with .371 ISO (White first). Peralta ranked second with 203 wRC+(Turner first). Peralta ranked second with 1.7 fWAR(Turner first). A Second Chance: The Story of D-backs’ David Peralta An amazing video documentary was created by Marcos Grunfeld and Gilbert Perez.Its audio is Spanish with English subtitles.David Peralta’s story is extraordinary!And his story continues.Will Peralta be traded?The Braves contacted the D-backs about acquiring Peralta.Were they interested in a fire sale acquisition, or were they truly interested?In either case, Peralta remained a D-back.Three reasons to trade Peralta: The D-backs want to reduce costs. He is projected to earn $7.7 million in arbitration, which at the moment would make him the third highest salary on the team (behind Greinke and Tomas).If Greinke is traded http://www.angelsfanproshop.com/authentic-zack-cozart-jersey , then Peralta would rise to second highest.2018 was a career-best season, including his silver slugger award.His trade value is high.The D-backs have other players who could play in left field: Jarod Dyson, Steven Souza Jr., Christian Walker, and Ketel Marte.Three reasons to keep Peralta as a D-back:Peralta is a fan favorite. In October, fans rated him number one in a poll on the AZ Snake Pit website.His nickname is cool. Kylee Sam wrote that in 2015, announcer Steve Berthiaume tagged David Peralta with Freight Train.“He’s a big guy and when he runs full speed, he gets up a head of steam like a big freight train.” -- Steve Berthiaume.“I like it, everybody likes the name so far, you know it’s fun.” – David PeraltaHe excels at hitting! Congratulations to David Peralta for his silver-slugger award!Let’s all cheer for “The Freight Train.”