Walk it off not once, not twice, but thrice

[Louis Addeo-Weiss]

Call it a fluke, or call it early-season magic. Either way, the Miami Marlins are off to a 3-1 start after their third consecutive walk-off win.

MIAMI—Baseball always seems to have a way to perfectly align with time and space to help create moments one could otherwise only dream of. For the Conine family and the Marlins themselves, one of those moments came Sunday at loanDepot park.

On the day when Mr. Marlin, Jeff Conine, became the inaugural member of the team's Hall of Fame, outfielder Griffin Conine gave his father and the fans of Miami another memento from an already unforgettable day.

With his Marlins trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the 7th, the younger Conine—0-for-2 to this point—sent a 97 mph fastball from Pirates reliever Colin Holderman 404 feet over the left-center wall for a game-tying home run.

"It's up there," said Conine postgame when asked where that home run ranks among moments in his baseball-playing life. 

As for those Marlins, the flair for the dramatic would accompany them into the bottom of the 9th. 

Facing Pirates closer David Bednar—already victim to one of Miami's two prior walk-off victories through their first three games to begin the 2025 season—Derek Hill would lead off with a single. He then stole second and advanced to third on an errant throw from Pittsburgh catcher Endy Rodríguez that found its way into center field.

Two pitches later and with Conine looming in the on-deck circle, Bednar uncorked a wild pitch that brought Hill home to seal Miami's third walk-off win to begin the season, a 3-2 triumph over the Pirates and second in as many days to give the Marlins their first 3-1 start to a season since 2020. 

 

"If every series is going to be like this, it's going to be a very fun season," noted smiling, first-year manager Clayton McCullough. 

 

Mad Max

In his first start of the season, Max Meyer put forth not only one of the best starts of his young career, but inarguably the best from a Marlins rotation four games into 2025. 

Miami's first-round pick in the 2020 draft matched another one-time Marlins farmhand, Andrew Heaney (5 IP, 1 R), pitch-for-pitch, striking out a career-high 7 and allowing two runs (one earned) in 5 ⅔ innings of work in Miami's latest winning effort, though Meyer had to settle for a no-decision. In four career March/April starts, he now owns a 2.02 ERA.

"The ability to throw breaking balls, some of them in the low-90s, and you have to respect the velocity on the fastball," noted McCullough.

The 26-year-old, who authored 65.2 percent first-pitch strikes, also threw the three hardest pitches of his career Sunday, topping out at 97.6 mph. Of his seven strikeouts on the day, all of them came on his slider, a pitch that generated a 52-percent whiff rate.

 

Of Note

- Father knows best: In 80 career games against the Pirates, Jeff Conine hit .295/.353/.445/.798 with 7 home runs. 

- The Marlins achieved their sixth different 3-1 start to a season and first since the COVID-shortened 2020 season. Excluding 2014, the team has finished above .500 in every prior season. For what it's worth, FanGraphs currently projects these Fish to go 71-91.

- After 3 ⅓ scoreless innings on Sunday, Miami's bullpen owns a 1.40 ERA through the first four games and 19 ⅓ innings pitched. That's despite high-leverage arm Jesús Tinoco (left low back strain) landing on the 15-day injured list prior to the game.

 

Looking Ahead

Miami will continue its season-opening homestand Monday when it welcomes Juan Soto and the New York Mets. Cal Quantrill will make both his loanDepot park and Marlins debuts as he squares off against David Peterson in the series opener.

First pitch from loanDepot is slated for 6:40 EST.

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[One Regend]

Quote

"If every series is going to be like this, it's going to be a very fun season," noted smiling, first-year manager Clayton McCullough. 

Yeah, no. Hate to burst your bubble, Clay, but that's not how the season is going to unfold.

The Pirates are just as much of a mess of an organization as the Marlins are. And all of that is attributed to Bob Nutting and his "efforts" to build a winning culture in Pittsburgh. With the exception of Paul Skenes and maybe Bryan Reynolds, not a single one of their players has ever played up to potential. Even Oneil Cruz could be so much better than what he has been the past couple of years. The fact the Marlins have won 3 out of 4 against the Pirates isn't about the Marlins being a better team than given credit for, it's about the Pirates beating themselves.

We're facing the Mets next, and we're going to get clapped. We're not gonna fall right back to reality. We're going to crash face first into reality.

[Ely Sussman]

13 hours ago, One Regend said:

We're facing the Mets next, and we're going to get clapped. We're not gonna fall right back to reality. We're going to crash face first into reality.

Maybe!

But I remember a similar sentiment going the other way at this time a year ago. Got swept by a seemingly inferior Pirates team to begin the season, then had a very favorable matchup vs. the Angels after that to "get right." I could see a scenario where the non-Sotos in the Mets lineup are stuck in an uncharacteristic slump for a bit longer, regardless of who they're facing.