It’s not just the baseball world that’s still thinking about Jose Fernandez, the 24-year-old star Miami Marlins pitcher killed in a boating accident early Sunday morning.

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He’s also on the mind of GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump, who mentioned Fernandez during a Tuesday campaign stop in Melbourne, Fla., a good 180 miles from where the Marlins play in Miami.

Donald Trump talked about Jose Fernandez during a Florida campaign stop on Tuesday. (AP) More

We don’t know which pitching stats Trump values — our guess: he likes both wins and WAR — but we do know that he thinks Fernandez is one of the best pitchers ever, apparently.

In Florida, Trump pays tribute to Jose Fernandez: "Just about as good a pitcher as ever was at that age." — Nick Corasaniti (@NYTnickc) September 27, 2016





Trump mentions Jose Fernandez during rally in Melbourne, FL. Says he spoke to Marlins owner "Jeff" pic.twitter.com/CBYZNXNCUU — Drū (@dru_star) September 27, 2016





About that “American Dream” part, we’d encourage you to read Jeff Passan’s Sunday column that also casts Fernandez as the American dream.

Fernandez was a Cuban refugee, an immigrant who came to America at age 15 after a brief time in Mexico, looking for a better life. (He eventually became a U.S. citizen in 2015). If you think that story doesn’t jibe with a lot of the campaign rhetoric you hear from Trump and his supporters, you’re not the only one to think so:

Jose Fernandez was a 15-year-old refugee who crossed the border from Mexico. Trump would've deported him. https://t.co/gkbXtecDag — Alex Reimer (@AlexReimer1) September 27, 2016





Trump's policy would've been to not allow Fernandez here as a youth because he was a refugee. Just sayin'. — Josh Kail (@THATJoshKail) September 27, 2016





As for whether this is legit empathy from Trump or another case of politicians pandering, we’ll let you decide that one.

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz