A Conversation with Miami Marlins Prospect Cody Ege

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Since being drafted in the 15th round of the 2013 draft by the Texas Rangers, lefty pitching prospect Cody Ege has been working hard to make his way up the ranks. A college pitcher at Louisville who helped his team reach the College World Series, Ege spent his first professional season pitching for three teams in the Rangers organization.

He spent most of that first season pitching for the Hickory Crawdads of the South Atlantic League (Single-A level). He then spent all of 2014 as a Myrtle Beach Pelican, the High-A team for the Rangers, part of the South Atlantic League. Here, his first full pro season, he pitched 62.2 innings over 37 games, registering a 3.88 ERA with an impressive 10.91 K/9. He began 2015 in High-A again, this time as a High Desert Maverick in the California League. He only pitched 13.1 innings here though, posting a 1.35 ERA and an eye-popping 16.88 K/9 in the notoriously hitter-friendly High Desert.

He earned his promotion to Double-A, where he became a member of the Frisco RoughRiders in the Texas League. He continued his dominance there, pitching 31.2 innings with a minuscule 0.85 ERA. He continued striking guys out, putting up 10.52 K/9, but struggled with his control posting a 5.40 BB/9., which was more than double his previous high.

Then the trade deadline came around and the Rangers needed a late-inning reliever to help them in their improbable playoff push. They approached the Miami Marlins and acquired Sam Dyson in exchange for Ege and catching prospect Tomas Telis. Ege immediately joined the Marlins Double-A affiliate, the Jacksonville Suns of the Southern League. There, he tossed only 8.1 innings, impressing the Fish with his 1.08 ERA and 11.88 K/9 while bringing his walk rate down to 2.16 BB/9. This short stint earned him another promotion, this time to the Marlins Triple-A team, the New Orleans Zephyrs of the Pacific Coast League. Again pitching in a very hitter-friendly league, Ege excelled. He totaled 12 innings for the Zephyrs and posted a 0.75 ERA with 9.75 K/9 and 1.50 BB/9. His impressive showing as a member of the Marlins organization earned him a Spring Training invite for this coming season, where he will try to earn a spot in the Marlins bullpen as a left handed reliever.

Across all levels in the Minor Leagues, Ege has accumulated quite the impressive line: 14-3, 2.11 ERA, and 201 strikeouts to only 48 walks in 158 innings pitched. He’s an exciting prospect to follow and he was kind enough to join me to answer some questions for us last week. Here they are, with special thanks to the members of /r/letsgofish over on Reddit for coming up with a few of them.