John McMillon leaning on slider and 'executing efficiently' since joining Marlins bullpen

[Kevin Barral]

Claimed off waivers by the Marlins, John McMillon has quickly helped fill the shoes of the veteran relievers who were moved in trade deadline deals.

MIAMI—Going up against Zack Wheeler and the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night, the Miami Marlins were going to be big underdogs no matter what. When scheduled starter Edward Cabrera was scratched on short notice due to migraine-like symptoms, that actually could have worked in Miami's favor. Their relievers have quietly combined for 6.4 fWAR in 2024, the second-best mark in MLB. Although this emergency bullpen game was a disaster—the Marlins lost by a final score of 16-2—the 'pen has stepped up in general despite a constantly changing roster.

Earlier this week, Marlins manager Skip Schumaker complimented president of baseball operations Peter Bendix for turning waiver wire acquisitions into potential pieces of the club's 2025 Opening Day roster.

"Peter's done a good job in the front office of getting us some arms that we could still compete with." said Schumaker. "A lot of the back-end arms, the guys that were off small trades or waivers—(Jesús) Tinoco, (Calvin) Faucher and (Declan) Cronin—that group has been really successful for us. I don't know where we would be without them, honestly. You take a shot with some of these guys that have real power stuff."

Right-handed reliever John McMillon is continuing this trend. The former undrafted free agent spent some time in the Kansas City Royals organization and made his major league debut with them in 2023, only pitching in four games. The Royals designated him for assignment on July 30.

In eight Marlins games this season since being claimed off waivers, McMillon has posted a 1.69 ERA, 3.56 FIP, 10.1 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9 through 10 ⅔ innings pitched. He is riding a four-game hitless streak.

"Those are guys that you feel like you can take a chance on and work with because you can tweak one or two things, then they become like Faucher or Cronin," said Schumaker.

In McMillon's case, the Marlins have tweaked his slider usage. In AAA earlier this season, the majority of his pitches (53.4%) were four-seam fastballs, but since arriving to Miami, the slider has become his primary pitch, being thrown 61.4% of the time.

"I feel like it's just been a good rhythm here," said McMillon. "I like the game plan we're getting put together and have been executing efficiently so far. I think that that's what's contributing to that."

Opponents are 1-for-25 with 11 strikeouts in at-bats ending with McMillon's slider.

"I never want a guy to get away from this fastball," said Schumaker about McMillon, whose heater averages 95.5 mph. "If you don't have a true outlier pitch, then you need to mix and match...The more we see him, the more we look at the data, that might be an outlier pitch as of right now. I think he's a two-pitch pitcher that can get guys out."

 

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In Edward Cabrera's place, Austin Kitchen made the start against the Phillies on Friday. The lefty struggled in two innings of work and allowed seven runs (six earned) off of nine hits. Kitchen only managed to strike out one opposing hitter.

Meanwhile, Zack Wheeler cruised through six innings, not allowing a hit through 3 ⅓ innings of work. Connor Norby broke up Wheeler's no-hit bid with a base hit right at third baseman Kody Clemens. Although the Marlins were able to score that run, they wouldn't tack on more until the bottom of the ninth inning when the game was already decided.

Kitchen and five other Marlins pitchers (not including McMillon) combined to allow 22 hits, the highest single-game total for any team in loanDepot park history. The last time that the Marlins allowed 20 or more hits was earlier this season in a 20-4 loss to the Oakland Athletics on May 4, the same day Luis Arraez was traded.

For the Fish on Saturday, Darren McCaughan will take the mound, making his second start of the season in a Marlins uniform. The Phillies will trot out co-ace Aaron Nola. In his last start against the Marlins, Nola went 6 ⅔ innings, striking out nine. With a current record of 52-89, the Marlins will look to avoid their 90th loss of the season.

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