Miami Marlins prospect Brendan Jones transforms walks into triples with blistering speed, aiming to steal bases and cover ground like no other.
Speed was a theme of the return the Miami Marlins got for Ryan Weathers.
The top prospect in the return, Dillion Lewis, had a 20-20 season across A and High-A ball in 2025.
Juan Matheus swiped 40 bags in Class A last year.
But the biggest speedster, at least statistically, that the Marlins got in return for Weathers is Brendan Jones.
Playing in High-A and AA in the New York Yankees' organization last year, Jones attempted to steal 60 bases and was successful 51 times.
Jones was a speedster in college, too, stealing 40 bases in 42 attempts in his last season at Kansas State (61 games).
In an interview on the Swimming Upstream podcast hosted by Fish on First, Jones explained his base-stealing process.
"I think it started when I was in high school. I was just really fast. I would just go a lot," Jones said. "I didn't necessarily have a plan or a scouting report, per se, in high school. Then, obviously, as I got to college, the catchers get better, the pitchers get quicker to the plate. I thought Kansas State did a really good job of having scouting reports for us, stuff like that. Pitchers' time to home, hold time, stuff like that. Then, once I got to the Yankees (organization), they kind of took that to another level."
When Jones got to the Yankees, he learned to consider what counts would be best to run on, and what the tendencies were of the pitcher he was facing.
Of course, Jones wouldn't be able to steal second base if he didn't get on first consistently.
Last season, Jones only hit .245, but had a .359 on-base percentage, which shows that he knows how to take a walk.
Jones told Fish on First that, in his eyes, his getting on first base is equivalent to him getting a triple.
Now, fans who like home runs might not appreciate Jones' game as much, but he does have a respectable 14 home runs in 148 minor-league games.
If Jones can hit around 15-20 homers and keep up his base-stealing prowess in the big leagues, he'd be a real treat for Marlins fans.
Marlins fans probably won't see Jones with the big team in 2026, with MLB.com projecting his majors arrival date to be 2027. But whenever Jones does get to the majors, Marlins fans can look for him to -- you guess it -- run fast and also cover ground defensively. In Jones' last season at Kansas State, he was an ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove finalist, and that defensive ability has translated to the professional level, as well.
The Marlins were one of the top base-stealing teams in the majors last year, finishing seventh. Jones fits the mold for the way Miami wants to play.
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