LAS VEGAS — There have been a lot of ups and downs for Jacob Berry since the Marlins selected him with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2022 Draft.
And so on Saturday in the ninth inning, after the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp had lost the Triple-A National Championship lead they had for six frames and were attempting a comeback, Berry knew how to ride the wave.
“I mean, it can go really good and really bad,” he said. “I’ve had both ends of it this year, but I just kept grinding.”
COMPLETE MARLINS PROSPECT COVERAGE
“To watch the struggles he went through early in his career, to step up to that first-round [expectation], he met it tonight,” Jumbo Shrimp manager David Carpenter said. “And I hope people take notice.”
Jacksonville jumped out to an early lead in the third on two-run homers by Jack Winkler and MLB’s No. 71 overall prospect Joe Mack (MIA No. 3). The Jumbo Shrimp remained in the driver’s seat until the Aviators more than turned up the heat in the ninth.
After three straight Las Vegas batters reached — including rehabbing A’s outfielder Denzel Clarke — Jacksonville brought in Robby Snelling (MIA No. 4/MLB No. 75) out of the bullpen. Four days after pitching in Game 1 of the International League Finals, the No. 8 LHP prospect was making his first career relief appearance.
Snelling allowed a walk, then forced a groundout, putting the Jumbo Shrimp two outs from the championship. Then Bryan Lavastida stepped up and completely flipped the script.
The 26-year-old first baseman crushed a three-run homer to right-center field to give the Aviators the lead. Lavastida — who had his own roller-coaster season after the Astros released him in August and the A’s picked him up — made the Las Vegas crowd go crazy for the “visiting team.”
“You always look up at the scoreboard in these type of games,” Berry said. “And you’re worried about what’s on the board at the end of the game.”
But the LSU product also had some first-pitch magic up his sleeve. After Winkler singled and Victor Mesa Jr. struck out, Berry drilled a 97.9 mph offering 429 feet over the bullpen in right-center.
The Jacksonville dugout flooded onto the field as Berry circled the bases. The team’s relief pitchers were pouring out of the bullpen before the homer even touched the ground. The game — and the season — ended with euphoria and relief, as well as the Jumbo Shrimp’s second championship of the week.
“I don’t know if you can really put into words how much all of these guys mean, and the work that they put in from day one,” Carpenter said. “But to watch guys that have been with us the entire time — the Jacob Berrys, the Jack Winklers, those types of guys — to be able to step up in a big game like this, was incredible.”
Berry started off slow this season, slashing .195/.302/.326 in the first half. But he kept grinding and soon he realized, “You’re only as good as your next day.” With that in mind, the 24-year-old improved just about every aspect of his game in the second half, posting a .319/.390/.454 slash line to close out the regular season.
“It felt like it just kind of got better as the year went along,” Berry said. “And hopefully I can take that into next year.”
Morgan McSweeney got the start for the Jumbo Shrimp, just three months after the Marlins signed him out of indy ball. The 28-year-old right-hander worked around two hits with a strikeout over two scoreless frames. McSweeney was at the 2023 Triple-A National Championship here in Las Vegas as part of the Orioles’ Norfolk roster, though he did not enter the game.
Carpenter led Jacksonville to its first Triple-A crown in his first season of affiliated baseball after managing in the MLB Draft League the past two years. The 40-year-old was a Triple-A reliever only six years ago.
The club previously won an International League title in 1968 when there was no Triple-A title game. The Jumbo Shrimp then won six Double-A Southern League titles (as the Suns) before returning to the Minors’ highest level in 2021. This was the first time a Marlins affiliate competed for the Triple-A crown.
“The Marlins are doing a great job of getting the right people in, and I think you can see that now, obviously, with our big league team,” Berry said. “And I just think we’ve done a really good job this year, in the last few years, of just building up the program again, and hopefully take this to the next level at some point as well.”
