When the Miami Marlins went on the clock for the first time in the 2022 MLB Draft on Sunday, they had their pick of all of the top college position players at their disposal.
And with the No. 6 overall pick, the Marlins selected LSU third baseman/outfielder Jacob Berry.
Berry, a 21-year-old switch-hitter, has been on the Marlins’ radar since his senior year at Queens Creek (Arizona) High School, according to senior director of amateur scouting DJ Svihlik.
The selection was then validated by what he did during his first two seasons in college.
As a freshman at the University of Arizona in 2021 when he posted a .352 batting average with 17 home runs, 19 doubles and five triples to go along with 70 RBI and 54 runs scored while primarily being used as a designated hitter.
He then followed his coach Jay Johnson from Arizona to LSU and continued to thrive while transitioning from the Pac-12 to the Southeastern Conference. He hit .370 with a .630 slugging mark last season — his only year with LSU. Among his 77 hits were 15 home runs and nine doubles. He struck out just 22 times while drawing 27 walks and recorded 48 RBI and 47 runs scored.
“With Jacob there wasn’t a specific moment,” Svihlik said about how the Marlins solidified Berry as their top pick above the other college bats. “The summer was really good. The body of work he was able to put together with Team USA was really impressive — not just the home runs that he hit. He was amongst among the best hitters on Team USA and you look at his extra-base hits, you look his ability to draw walks and put together quality at-bats from both sides of the plate. We’re just really, really drawn to his skill. So I would say it was more about the body of work that he put together in the summer and the progression of work that we’ve seen over the last three years dating back to high school.
“Jacob is a very determined young man, a very focused young man,” Svihlik continued. “Everything that he does is professional. It makes you believe in a player, especially when he goes out and does what he does it goes to major universities.”
MLB Pipeline has Berry ranked as the No. 7 prospect in the draft.
The highlights of the site’s scouting report of Berry: “Equally productive from both sides of the plate, Berry has drawn some comparisons to a switch-hitting version of Andrew Vaughn (the No. 3 choice in 2019) for his ability to hit for power and average while controlling the strike zone. He hammers fastballs and handles breaking balls and changeups well. He has a quality swing and approach from both sides, makes repeated hard contact and shows a propensity for driving the ball in the air.”
The bonus pool slot for the sixth overall pick is $6,034,300.
The five picks before the Marlins: Prep shortstop Jackson Holliday (the son of Matt Holliday) to the Baltimore Orioles at No. 1, outfielder Druw Jones (the son of Andruw Jones) to the Arizona Diamondbacks at No. 3, right-handed pitcher Kumar Rocker to the Texas Rangers at No. 3, middle infielder Termarr Johnson to the Pittsburgh Pirates at No. 4 and outfielder Elijah Green to the Washington Nationals at No. 5.
That left Miami all five of the top college bats — Berry, Cal Poly shortstop Brooks Lee, Georgia Tech catcher Kevin Parada and Texas Tech second baseman Jace Jung — available when the Marlins went on the clock.
The Marlins opted for Berry, one of the more prolific bats from the college ranks this draft cycle.
“Very excited about this player,” Marlins general manager Kim Ng said. “Everything from just being a pure hitter to his knowledge of the strike zone, his plate discipline. His competitiveness certainly struck a chord in our discussions when we were talking about him.”
The main question will be where Berry plays defensively.
“Berry spent most of his freshman season as a DH and played just nine of his 63 games in the field at third base, which has been his primary position with the Tigers. He has below-average speed and average arm strength and he’s rigid at the hot corner, so most scouts believe he’ll have to move elsewhere as a pro. He has looked decent at times in right field but there’s a good chance that he winds up at first base — where he’ll have no problem fitting the offensive profile.”
That’s something Miami will address down the road. Svihlik said Barry feels comfortable and confident that he can continue to play third base at the next level.
But the organization’s priority was getting a player who was polished enough offensively to rise quickly through the minor leagues.
They believe they have that in Berry.
“He’s pretty close,” Svihlik said. “This is a young man that has extreme plate discipline. Really good bat-to-ball skills. In a world now that we live in, it’s really, really hard to have those characteristics. Pitching has never been better. There’s a challenge at an earlier age, so when you have an opportunity to get a player with this type of plate discipline, the ability to use the field, you get really excited — along with his physical tools and the ability to impact the ball — you get really excited that those characteristics are going to quickly carry over into professional baseball and carry him quickly through the system.”
