Jon Berti

Berti was sidelined for the final two-plus months of 2021 due to a concussion, but he's good to go entering spring training. The 32-year-old struggled last season prior to the concussion with a .210/.311/.313 slash line, and he should remain in a super-utility role for Miami this season. His ability to steal bases makes him a viable option in deeper leagues if he can secure regular playing time.

Berti is an oddball as a 31-year-old speedster. The versatile utilityman is one of the fastest players in baseball by sprint speed and he is 27-for-32 on the basepaths as a latecomer to the big leagues. The career 10.4 BB% combined with speed offers the potential for more steals, especially with a career OBP of .359. That said, he does strike out at a high rate for a player who is not hitting for power even though he has an excellent swinging-strike rate. It comes down to his willingness to work counts that then put him into two-strike situations that could go either way. Perhaps some more aggressiveness would serve him well. Berti has multi-positional eligibility to go along with the speed, but it would be nice if he brought along a higher BA this season. The high BABIPs are there, but the strikeouts have capped his average to this point.

Berti missed just over two months with an oblique injury, but his defensive versatility afforded him time in a utility role and Berti fared surprisingly well in his limited sample. The 29-year-old had a strikeout rate of 25.4% and a contact rate of only 71.5%, and Berti did not drive the ball with much authority when he did manage to connect (.406 SLG, 3.8 Barrel%). However, he does have elite sprint speed and used that to beat out 11 infield hits and steal 17 bags in 20 attempts. Over the course of a nine-year minor-league career split between the Blue Jays, Indians and Marlins organizations, Berti stole 270 bases, and with stolen bases being increasingly difficult to find, Berti will have his truthers who believe he'll be a bargain. The question is whether the playing time will be there. Consider us pessimistic. Even Don Mattingly and the Marlins' front office seem unconvinced.