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Led By Peyton Burdick, Blue Wahoos Fill Connections On Miami Marlins 2021 Awards 

Peyton Burdick, far right, holds his awards as thelins minor league player of the year and Double-A player of year during ceremony Oct. 3 before Marlins final game of season at loanDepot Park. Four others with Blue Wahoos connections received awards. (Photo courtesy of Miami Marlins communications)
October 4, 2021

A good portion of the Miami Marlins hopeful future played in Pensacola for the Blue Wahoos during the 2021 season. It was reflected in the team’s end-of-season awards. Led by outfielder Peyton Burdick, named the Marlins overall Minor League Player of the Year, after setting the Blue Wahoos team record

A good portion of the Miami Marlins hopeful future played in Pensacola for the Blue Wahoos during the 2021 season.

It was reflected in the team’s end-of-season awards.

Led by outfielder Peyton Burdick, named the Marlins overall Minor League Player of the Year, after setting the Blue Wahoos team record for most home runs in a season (23), he was part of current or past Blue Wahoos connections on Miami’s top three levels of award winners.

Fellow outfielder Griffin Conine, who played the second half of the season for the Blue Wahoos and finished second in all levels of the minor leagues with 36 home runs, was named Miami’s Class A player of the year. Conine began the season for the Beloit (Wisc.) Snappers in High-A – a ballclub owned by Blue Wahoos Quint Studer.

Lewin Diaz, who dazzled in 2019 in Pensacola while with the Minnesota Twins organization, was named the Marlins’ Triple-A player of the year and heads into 2022 as the Marlins’ starting first baseman.

In addition, Blue Wahoos defense coach Jose Ceballos was named the Marlins 2021 staff member of the year.

All of the recipients at various levels, received their awards Sunday on the field, prior the Marlins season-finale game at loanDepot Park.

In that game, another Blue Wahoos player from 2021, catcher Nick Fortes, hit the game-deciding two-run homer in a 5-4 win against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Fortes made his major league debut in Miami for the Marlins on Sept. 18 and singled in his first at-bat, then hit a two-run homer in his next plate appearance in a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

“It was a crazy year,” said Geoff DeGroot, the Marlins’ director of minor league operations, speaking with Miami area media prior to Sunday’s game. “None of us really knew what to expect. A lot of unknowns going into the season.

“The number one priority was, ‘Let’s get a full season in.’ So our guys had the opportunity to play and develop playing games. I think the one thing we saw is that both on the pitching side and the position player side, all of our guys improved throughout the year.

“All the guys here (on field Sunday) just did an incredible job this year.”

And the Marlins’ veteran shortstop Miguel Rojas, who played for Pensacola in the Blue Wahoos’ inaugural 2012 season as a then-Cincinnati Reds player, was the player-manager Sunday in the Marlins’ final game.

It has been a tradition for Miami manager Don Mattingly, former Los Angeles Dodgers manager and all-time great as a player with the New York Yankees, to have a player serve as manager the final game.

Rojas also did this for the Marlins in 2019.

The Marlins enter the offseason with the No. 3 rated farm system in Major League Baseball, according to MLB Pipeline's updated rankings. Four of the top 100 prospects in the minor leagues -- pitchers Edward Cabrera, Max Meyer and Jake Eder, along with outfielder J.J. Bleday, all played for the Blue Wahoos in the 2021 season.

“I think one of the No. 1 priorities on baseball operations was to build our system, strengthen our system,” said Marlins CEO Derek Jeter, speaking with Miami area media members on Oct. 2. “We've done that.

"Now, we need to see the wins on the field here in Miami, so that's why I'm excited about going into this offseason, and I'm excited about the young core that we have. But we’ve got to see how we can get better and what we can add to them.”

Here's a look at the Blue Wahoos' connections to the Marlins minor league awards.

PEYTON BURDICK -- The 24-year outfielder, an Ohio native, was named the Marlins' overall Minor League player of the year as well as the Double-A player of the year. He led the Double-A South led the Double-A South in runs scored (71) and walks (76), tied for the lead in home runs (23) and posted the third-best On-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) in the league at .848. His .231 batting average in 106 games increased by 40 points since July.

Burdick was promoted to Triple-A Jacksonville following the Blue Wahoos season and is expected to begin the 2022 season in Triple-A.

GRIFFIN CONINE -- The son of Jeff Conine, nicknamed "Mr. Marlin" after leading the franchise to its two World Series triumphs during his decorated MLB career, Griffin Conine played 42 games for the Blue Wahoos and hit .176 with 13 homers and 25 RBI. His home run total combined with his 23 in Beloit accounting for a big season in that category. He could return to Pensacola to start 2022 season.

LEWIN DIAZ -- His strong performance in the final month of the season with the Marlins made him the team's leading candidate for every-day first baseman in 2022. Diaz left a warm impression in Pensacola while a member of the Twins organization in 2019. He played in 33 games, batting .302 before he was traded to the Marlins organization. In Triple-A Jacksonville this season, Diaz batted .248 with 15 doubles and 20 homers in 74 games. At the big league level, Diaz hit eight homers in 39 games for the Marlins.

JOSE CEBALLOS -- His 2021 season In Pensacola was his eighth as a coach within the Marlins organization. Ceballos began his coaching career with Greensboro in 2014, He was a catcher in the Marlins system from 2007-2013. He played 211 Minor League games and reached Double-A.