The Marlins drafted him in 2019. He chose college. Three years later, Miami picked him again
Three years ago, toward the tail end of the 40-round 2019 MLB Draft, the Miami Marlins selected a high school first baseman from Kirkland, Washington, named Torin Montgomery.
At the time, the Marlins liked his ability to control the strike zone and hit for power, according senior director of amateur scouting DJ Svihlik, who was in his first year overseeing the draft process for the Marlins.
So they took a flier on him in the 35th round — pick No. 1,041.
Montgomery opted to go to college, signing with Boise State and playing his freshman season close to home before transferring to the University of Missouri.
Fast forward to Tuesday, Day 3 of the 2022 MLB Draft. As the Marlins went on the clock in the 14th round of the now-20-round draft, they decided on a familiar name.
Maybe the second time will be the charm for the Marlins, who drafted Montgomery with pick No. 412.
“All we’re doing now,” Svihlik said, “is we’re acquiring a player that has a little more of a track record, and he’s proven some of our thoughts correct.”
Montgomery’s freshman season with Boise State was limited to 13 games because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but he showed potential in his small sample size of games with a .308 batting average, three doubles, two triples, three home runs, nine RBI and 11 runs scored. He had hits in nine consecutive games to end that season, including four multi-hit efforts.
And then he took off when he got to Missouri. As a sophomore, Montgomery led the Tigers with 30 RBI and 30 runs scored while hitting .278 with nine doubles.
This season, he bumped his batting average up to .365 and had 49 RBI while logging 12 doubles and nine home runs over 49 starts. He played error-free defense in his final 41 games.
“Really good plate discipline,” Svihlik said, “which was kind of a theme for us this year.”
Overall, the Marlins’ 20-player draft class features 14 pitchers and six position players. Of their 20 selections, 17 come from the college ranks with all three high school picks being pitchers.
The deadline to sign drafted players to a contract is Aug. 1.
“When you break the draft into the three days,” Svihlik said, “Day 1 [Rounds 1 and 2] just a small deal that you get through where you’re committing major dollars. Day 2 [Rounds 3-10], there’s strategy. Day 3 [Rounds 11-20], it’s almost like a whole new draft. Some of the players that you draft on Day 3, you weren’t able to draft on Day 2 and that doesn’t mean you didn’t like them. I thought we were able to execute that really well.”
Meet the Miami Marlins’ 2022 MLB Draft class
Some other notables from the Marlins’ Day 3 selections:
▪ 19th-round pick Carmine Lane out of the University of South Florida was announced as a catcher despite primarily playing third base during his collegiate career.
Svihlik said the plan is to have Lane switch positions once he signs, similar to what they did with 2021 18th-round pick Bennett Hostetler last offseason.
“He’s a real tough kid,” Svihlik said. “He’s got good hands. You look in the big leagues, a lot of catchers come from down the draft board and there’s plenty of opportunities to be a catcher-conversion guy.”
Over 135 games at USF, Lane hit .309 with a .365 on-base percentage and .491 slugging mark to go with 22 home runs, 105 RBI and 86 runs scored.
▪ Lane was one of three players with state ties selected on Tuesday. The Marlins also drafted FSU second baseman Brett Roberts in the 16th round and Tampa Wharton High right-handed pitcher Evan Chrest in Round 17.
▪ Five of the Marlins’ 10 selections on Day 3 were among Baseball America’s top 500 prospects for the draft: Stanford right-handed Alex Williams (11th round, No. 310 overall prospect), Illinois left-handed pitcher Cole Kirschsieper (12th round, No. 288), Long Beach State outfielder Chase Luttrell (13th round, No. 265), Roberts (No. 201) and Chrest (No. 300).
