Marlins Select Two Pitchers in Minor League Phase of Rule 5 Draft
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Today was the 2025 Rule 5 Draft, which took place in Orlando, Florida at the MLB Winter Meetings. During the Minor League phase of the draft, the Miami Marlins made two selections according to Marlins Communications on X.
The Miami Marlins today made two selections in the Minor League phase of the 2025 Rule 5 Draft: RHP Jake Smith from the Los Angeles Angels organization and RHP Livan Reinoso from the Los Angeles Dodgers organization.
— Marlins Communications (@MarlinsComms) December 10, 2025
Smith, 26, posted a 3.92 ERA (25 ER/57.1 IP) in 39 appearances…
Two right-handed pitchers, Jake Smith from the Los Angeles Angels, and Livan Reinoso from the Los Angeles Dodgers system, were taken by the Marlins, and must be assigned to their Triple-A affiliate in Jacksonville.
At 26 years old, Smith spent the majority of his 2025 season in High-A before receiving a Double-A promotion, where he pitched 15.1 innings. Over his 42 innings pitched in High-A, however, he'd post a 4.50 ERA in 29 games out of the bullpen.
Smith posted a strikeout rate north of 23% in 2025, but struggled with the walks, walking batters at a near 19% clip this past season. If he can improve on the control with Miami's organization, he could be a solid grab for an arm that still has the stuff to hold hitters to a .190 batting average against.
When looking at Livan Reinoso, the 27-year-old is coming off a 54.1 inning season where he appeared in 38 games out of the bullpen between High-A and Double-A. A large majority of those innings came with Double-A Tulsa, where he posted a 4.39 ERA.
Control remains an issue for someone like Reinoso as well. While his strikeout rate sits just shy of 20%, so does his walk rate. He posted a 1.04 K/BB ratio in 2025, but like Smith, managed to still hold batters to just a .181 batting average against.
While the walks compared to the number of strikeouts now is a concern, there's still hope for an arm that posted an 11.38 K/9 back in 2023. Even at times in 2025 when the walks were still high, he was able to limit damage.
For example, with 11 strikeouts and walks in August, he managed to post a 2.45 ERA in seven games. In the case for Jake Smith as well, back in August of this past season, he accumulated more walks than strikeouts, yet didn't allow a single earned run.
While there is certainly concerns in the walks department for both of these arms, they've shown the ability to limit the damage they allow, being efficiently erratic in a way. It's made it difficult for hitters to excel against their stuff, proving if they're going to beat them it's by discipline at the plate.
For the Marlins, there is upside here with both the selections of Jake Smith and Livan Reinoso.
