No. 3 prospect Snelling makes mark in 1st Triple-A start after promotion

MLB Pipeline’s No. 81 overall prospect Robby Snelling tossed five scoreless innings in his return to Triple-A Jacksonville in Thursday’s 4-1 victory over Norfolk in Game 1 of a doubleheader at Vystar Ballpark.

Snelling, who ranks as Miami’s No. 3 prospect, didn’t compose his best performance but still managed to shut down the Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate. He allowed four hits with three walks and three strikeouts, continuously working around trouble against a lineup featuring six players with big league experience.

Though Snelling tallied the third-most K's in the Southern League as of last Saturday, he didn't collect his first strikeout until fanning Emmanuel Rivera on a slider below the zone for the second out of the fourth.

In his 86-pitch, 57-strike outing, Snelling utilized his four-pitch mix of a four-seamer, curveball, changeup and gyro slider.

“It's awesome being back up here and being with guys that I spent a lot of time with in Spring Training,” Snelling told MLB.com on Saturday. “It was a good start, mentally, just because you're going to take shutouts whenever they come. But there were definitely a lot of things that, looking back on the start, I'm like, ‘All right, well, I need to vacate the zone better when I get guys to two strikes. I need to be able to put guys away when I get into those race-to-two-strike counts.’

“I got ahead really well, a lot of first-pitch strikes. Got to 0-2 on a bunch of guys. You don't want contact at that point. So just stuff to work on in practices and in my bullpens leading up to the next starts.”

After a leadoff single to open the game, Snelling induced a double play from Dylan Carlson. Following a double, he stranded the runner with a flyout to center. In the second, Snelling issued back-to-back one-out walks before retiring the next two batters.

When Norfolk tried putting together a two-out rally in the third on another walk and a ground-rule double, Snelling got José Barrero to ground out to second to end the threat. The leadoff baserunner reached in the fourth, but Snelling recorded the final six outs in order. He finished his start by tallying his first perfect inning with a pair of strikeouts. His fastest pitch of the game -- a 97.4 mph four-seamer -- was thrown during a sequence to strike out Samuel Basallo to end his outing.

This wasn’t Snelling’s first taste of the Triple-A level. He made his debut with the Jumbo Shrimp on Sept. 20, allowing two runs (one earned) on seven hits over six innings with seven strikeouts and one walk to cap his 2024 season.

But after making two Grapefruit League appearances this spring, the Marlins reassigned him to Minor League camp and he began his 2025 campaign at Double-A Pensacola.

“Being new to the trade and not being able to meet all the guys that were up here in Triple-A until I finally got up here, I was a little uncomfortable last year,” Snelling said. “Now, being able to have dialogue with all the guys in the locker room and have a good, strong relationship with all of them makes it a lot more fun to be up here. So really, just hoping to continue to build on that stuff throughout the rest of the season.”

The 21-year-old, who came over from the Padres in the Tanner Scott/Bryan Hoeing trade ahead of last year's Deadline, went 3-5 with a 3.61 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP in 14 starts for the Blue Wahoos this season. Snelling led Pensacola in starts (14), innings (72 1/3) and strikeouts (85) at the time of his final appearance for the club.

It is not out of the realm of possibility that Snelling is a September callup for the Marlins if he continues to develop. However, he is not on the 40-man roster, so Miami would have to select his contract and make room for him. It also depends on what the Marlins do at the July 31 Trade Deadline.

“Very exciting for Robby,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said pregame Tuesday. “He showed us in Spring Training there was an uptick in velocity, there was an uptick in his overall stuff, and he's gone out in Double-A and pitched very well. Robby’s a terrific competitor, very hungry coming into this year, and he's performed in a way that it's time to challenge him in the next spot.

“So happy for Robby, and exciting that it's just another young player that has developed very well under our group in [player development], they've done an outstanding job with helping him take strides this year. Hope he continues to pitch well in Triple-A.”