The Miami Marlins recalled catcher J.T. Realmuto on Sunday, bringing one of their top prospects into the major league level.
The young catcher is replacing Jarrod Saltalamacchia on the roster who was placed on the 7-day concussion disabled list in a corresponding move.
Realmuto was drafted in 2010 by the Marlins in the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft, which takes place annually in June. The backstop was a third round pick out of high school in Midwest City, Oklahoma.
The 23-year old had fallen off the charts a bit the past two seasons but came alive in 2014 to earn this promotion. In 2012, Realmuto slashed .256/.319/.345 while in 2013, the catcher's slash line was .239/.310/.353. It's very likely that the lack of production from Realmuto helped the Marlins make the decision to sign Jarrod Saltalamacchia to a multi-year contract.
This season, Realmuto has slashed .301/.364/.503 and stayed consistent with similar numbers in April and May. He was listed as the 10th best prospect in the Marlins system by Baseball America in the past off-season.
Realmuto is known for his strong throwing arm, which is due in part to being a converted shortstop. Throwing out base runners in 2014 has been one of the problems that has plagued Miami and Realmuto could help with that.
The Marlins would likely only promote Realmuto if the plan is to give him regular playing time. If it was for a depth role, they would be more inclined to not have one of their top prospects stay idle on the bench.
