Marlins Receive Tough Injury Update on Top Pitching Prospect
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Just when the Miami Marlins thought things couldn't get worse after getting beaten down by their NL East division rival, the Atlanta Braves, on Wednesday, it did indeed get worse. However, not at the MLB level.
Having to swallow the 9-1 defeat at home was rough enough. But the Marlins organization put their No. 1 overall prospect, left-handed pitcher Thomas White on the 7-day injured list at Triple-A Jacksonville, retroactive to Tuesday. White is also the No. 14 prospect in baseball per MLB Pipeline.
Major League teams normally don't reveal why a prospect is placed on the injured list. Even though it's a seven-day list, in many cases the prospect spends more time than seven days. In White's case that's a possibility.
As Fish On First Prospects' X (formerly Twitter) page reported, White's final batter faced in his last outing was a four-pitch walk, with a decrease in his fastball velocity. While this might have had something to do with why he's on the injured list, it doesn't rule out the possibility that he was just running out of gas.
White's 2026 Season So Far
Through seven games started this season, five in Triple-A, two in Single-A, White holds a 4.01 ERA across 24.1 innings of work. His Triple-A stats look as follows:
A 4.34 ERA, 18.2 innings pitched, 12 runs, nine earned runs, three home runs allowed, 25 Ks, nine walks
Yeah, things haven't gone tremendously for White thus far in Triple-A. In fact, in his last start, White allowed two home runs in just 4.0 innings of work, walking two and just not having the command he's starting to become known for.
Should the Marlins worry? Not necessarily, as he's still very young, and his being added to the seven-day IL could be precautionary. But, with another prospect, Robby Snelling, dealing with an elbow injury that will require him to meet with a doctor this week, White's status is worth tracking. Once he returns, all eyes are going to be on him once again, this time to see if the injury has truly gone away.
White has shown that he has what it takes to eventually be an impactful pitcher in the big leagues. He has high strikeout numbers when healthy. He just has to work his way through walking batters while keeping the ball in the ballpark.
MLB.com lists White's expected MLB debut to take place at some point in 2026, but this injury could be another reason why the front office might wait one more season before they're ready to give him a shot.
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Dominic Minchella is a 2024 Eastern Michigan University graduate with a BA in Communications, Media, and Theatre Arts and a Journalism minor. He covers Major League Baseball for On SI and spends his free time watching games and sharing his insights.