Offishial news, 9/13/23: Cabrera's control issues; Mets hire Stearns; Ichiro bobblehead

Ely Sussman · September 13, 2023

Tuesday's Marlins MiLB Notes: 1B Troy Johnston (Jacksonville) recorded his 115th RBI of the season. Appearing in his first professional baseball game in years, Sixto Sánchez (Pensacola) completed a scoreless inning on 18 pitches, though the quality of his stuff was greatly diminished as feared. His fastball velocity peaked at 88 mph. INF Cody Morissette homered in the bottom of the ninth to extend the game. The Blue Wahoos ultimately lost in extras. Jupiter took a 1-0 lead in the first round of the Florida State League playoffs. RHP Noble Meyer was excellent (3.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 55 pitches/38 strikes), inducing a ton of grounders.

The Marlins didn't record any hits after the second inning, Jake Burger had a hat trick and is now in a 3-for-24 mini-slump. Edward Cabrera's outing was okay overall, but he walked four of the first five batters he faced. He owns MLB's highest walk rate among pitchers with a minimum of 80 innings in 2023.

LHP Josh Simpson replaced Daniel Castano in the bullpen. Simpson has an eye-popping 35.5% strikeout rate during his minor league career, including 37.9% with Jacksonville this season. He leans heavily on his curveball (54% usage), but also features a mid-90s fastball and occasional changeup. He is on the verge of becoming the sixth member of the 2019 Marlins draft class to play in the majors.

NL Wild Card race updates: the Reds won, while the Cubs, Diamondbacks, Giants and Phillies lost. The Marlins are 1.5 games back of the third Wild Card spot.

Elsewhere around the majors, the Mets have hired David Stearns to be their new president of baseball operations. Stearns previously led baseball ops for the Brewers, turning them into perennial postseason contenders. The Mets had been not-so-quietly pursuing him for the past several years. Freddie Freeman celebrated his birthday by going 4-for-5 and raising his batting average to .339. He's within single-digit points of Luis Arraez (.348). Right-hander Kyle Hurt, who the Marlins sent to the Dodgers as part of the 2021 Dylan Floro trade, threw two scoreless innings in his major league debut. The Royals blew a 9-0 lead to the White Sox, but eventually beat them, 11-10.

The Marlins have a 38.5% chance to win their next game against the Brewers, per FanGraphs. Triple-A Jacksonville (7:05 p.m. ET) and Double-A Pensacola (7:35 p.m. ET) are at home.

We have begun posting
for notable Marlins prospects. Up first: INF Yiddi Cappe. Subscribe to the Fish On First YouTube channel!

Our partners at FOCO have a new limited-edition Ichiro Suzuki bobblehead available for pre-order commemorating his 3,000th MLB hit, which he recorded with the Marlins in 2016. Shop here.

Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images

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