Offishial News: Marlins pitching staff turning the corner?

[Ely Sussman]

Marlins news roundup for 4/22/24

On Sunday, despite a pedestrian final line (5.0 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 7 K), Edward Cabrera pitched well again, and this time, the bullpen behind him excelled, including the near-perfect Calvin Faucher. Jesús Sánchez's first home run of 2024 was a 460-foot no-doubter and even Nick Fortes enjoyed a 2-for-4 day. The Marlins won, 6-3. It's the first time this season that they did not lose a series.

Down on the farm, Triple-A Jacksonville won, 8-4. JT Chargois (neck spasms) began his minor league rehab assignment with a 1-2-3 inning. 1B Troy Johnston had arguably his best game of the season, going 3-for-4 with a walk. Double-A Pensacola lost, 3-0. The Marlins promoted C Joe Mack. The 21-year-old went 0-for-3 with a walk in his Blue Wahoos debut. RHP Paul Campbell (6.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K) continues to pitch consistently well. High-A Beloit lost, 8-6. Another multi-hit game for INF Josh Zamora. He doesn't have quite enough playing time to qualify, otherwise he'd be leading the Midwest League in wRC+ (280). Low-A Jupiter won, 6-3. RHP Jake Brooks (6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K) carried a shutout into the sixth inning. OF Colby Shade went 3-for-3 with a walk and three stolen bases.

Here's more Marlins news and content for you:

🔷 Through seven Marlins series, FOF staffer @Daniel Rodriguez sits atop the Prediction Time leaderboard with 10 points, though @Alec Chao and @Hans Herrera made perfect picks against the Cubs. Make series predictions with us all season long when you become a Fish On First SuperSub.

🔷 Listen back to our weekly State of the Fish call-in show, discussing the recent improvement from the Marlins pitching staff and some Triple-A call-up candidates.

🔷 Entering last week, the Marlins had been allowing nearly six runs per game. Against the Giants and Cubs, they allowed only four runs per game, and a chunk of that damage came against A.J. Puk, who was battling through shoulder fatigue. Overall, this is beginning to resemble the team I was expecting to see entering the season—not competitive enough to be proud of, but also not incompetent enough to be embarrassed by.

🔷 On this day 10 years ago, José Fernández out-dueled Alex Wood in a 1-0 Marlins win over the Braves.

🔷 The Marlins continued their annual tradition of sending rookies on a coffee run in Wrigleyville, as MLB.com Tim Stebbins details.

🔷 Every Monday (until they are firmly out of contention), I will update the Marlins' playoff odds. Per FanGraphs, those have dipped from 3.4% to 2.2% over the last week.

🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, baseball's top-ranked prospect, Jackson Holliday, has begun his major league career in a 1-for-30 slump. Shohei Ohtani set the record for most MLB home runs by a Japanese-born player. The Phillies are riding a six-game winning streak while the Pirates have dropped six in a row.

🔷 Join us for a new episode of Fish On First LIVE tonight from 6:00-7:00 p.m. ET on YouTube/Twitter/Facebook. Special guest: John Rodriguez. SuperSubs are encouraged to make series predictions. FOF LIVE is presented by Berger & Hicks. If you’ve been injured as a result of somebody else’s negligence, give them a call at (305) 670-7050.

🔷 Today's MLB game: the Marlins (probable starter LHP Ryan Weathers) visit the Braves (RHP Reynaldo López) at 7:20 p.m. ET. The Marlins have a 34.4% chance to win, per FanGraphs.

 

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[TheYearOfTheFish]

To really feel as though the pitching staff is "turning the corner" - the Marlins need AT LEAST 3 of their five starters to develop SOME sense of consistency. This has no yet happened. Further, they have to settle on what the back end of their bullpen is going to look like to say they are turning the corner. For now, too many questions remain to be answered. I am happy with the series split against the Cubs, but let's not overreact and think THIS is the start of a turnaround. When and if the Marlins can work their way to around 5 or less games under-500 - the conversation can take place.