Going into this season the Marlins have high hopes that Matt Dominguez will come in and win over the starting 3B job. I’m finding it hard to believe that the 21 year old Dominguez who has never gone past Double A pitching will win the job out of spring. Dominguez, the Marlins top prospect was drafted out of Chatsworth High School in the first round of the 2007 draft has not lived up to his potential at the plate. Currently Dominguez is a career .257 hitter in the minor leagues but he possesses a plus glove, something the Marlins want on their team for this year.
Is it really worth it to have the struggling 21 year old come to the major leagues and ask him to produce? No. Dominguez quite frankly is not a major league ready player. His fielding may translate well to the majors, but his bat still needs a year or so in the minor leagues for some seasoning.
I think the player that should start at 3B on opening day is Emilio Bonifacio. Bonifacio showed signs of improvement last year by increasing his batting average and lowering his total errors. Bonifacio is a switch hitter which is nice, and when he gets on base he is pretty dangerous. Last year at the age of 25, Bonifacio had 12 steals and zero caught stealing, so maybe Bonifacio is starting to figure it all out. This off season Bonifacio played for the Dominican Summer League where he hit .271 and struck out only 17 times in 107 AB’s. Even if the club doesn’t feel comfortable with Bonifacio at 3B, they can have Omar Infante play there and Bonifacio at 2B. If Bonifacio can play like he has been this summer league I think he will be a valuable asset on the team for the 2011 season.
-Alex