When will the Chris Paddack experiment come to an end?

[Kevin Barral]

MIAMI, FL — For Miami Marlins starting pitcher Chris Paddack, his struggles on Sunday weren't subject to bad luck or being BABIP'd—he just wasn't good. Paddack allowed six runs to the Philadelphia Phillies in the first inning and was removed in the top of the third. The Marlins remain winless in games that Paddack has started this season, and in this case, they were forced to use much of their bullpen during a stretch of 10 straight games with no days off.

Trea Turner led off the game with a double. Paddack proceeded to walk both Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper. Alec Bohm grounded into what would've been a fielder's choice, but the Marlins were not able to get any outs out of it, allowing Turner to score and give the Phillies a 1-0 lead. Paddack then walked Brandon Marsh with the bases loaded to allow another run. J.T. Realmuto sac fly got the first out of the game, but the Phillies added their third run of the game.

The big blow came from Bryson Stott when he took Paddack deep for his second home run of the season. Both of Stott's home runs have come in this series. It gave the Phillies a 6-0 lead. In the top of the third inning, Justin Crawford knocked in his club's seventh run.

"I just sat on the bench and kind of reviewed the game on the iPad," Paddack said. "A lot of uncompetitive pitches with two strikes is what I saw the trend was. What I mean by that, is just some pitches that were just completely out of the zone led into those 3-2 counts, the three walks there I felt like I never could get into a groove. I noticed I was pulling some fastballs early. Never drove any fastballs to the bottom of the zone. They were able to lay off some changeups below. Being a guy that commands the baseball, throws the ball where I want to, I just felt off tonight."

As Paddack was coming off the field, fans let him know their feeling, booing him. This was not only a sign of frustration amongst the fanbase boiling over, but likely what could be a sign that the decision to continue having Paddack in the rotation may not be the right one.

Right now, it wouldn't make sense to move on from Paddack altogether. A move to the bullpen could potentially benefit him. He has struggled to go deep into game, so using him in shorter bursts could be the best fit, as he seems to have found some success in that type of role.

Through seven appearances this season (six starts), Paddack has a 7.63 ERA, 5.01 FIP, 7.92 K/9 and 2.93 BB/9. Paddack has described his season as a "roller coaster."

"I've been here before. It definitely sucks," Paddack said. "I feel like this year I haven't been able to allow things to continue over. Right when we think we're getting in a good place, I get hit in the mouth again. There's no excuse for it. I'm a competitor. I work my butt off. Trying to be the best teammate that I can and a role model for some of our younger guys in the clubhouse. I got to look at myself in the mirror, and I have to clean some things up, and that starts with myself."

In Triple-A right now, Braxton Garrett has a 1.71 ERA in 26 ⅓ innings pitched. Garrett was originally sent down to build back up as he underwent Tommy John surgery, missing the entire 2025 season, but at this point, he has shaken off all of the rust.

Along with Garrett, Fish On First's No. 2 prospect Robby Snelling leads Triple-A with 44 strikeouts. He also has a 1.86 ERA, 290 FIP, 13.66 K/9 and 4.66 BB/9 in six starts this season. Just like Garrett, Snelling has nothing left to prove in the minors. His call-up may take a bit longer given he is not on the 40-man roster and Garrett has a half-decade of major league experience.

McCullough shut down any potential speculation regarding Paddack's future in the rotation, saying that he will be making his next scheduled start, which is on Friday in the series opener against the Washington Nationals.

"Outside of today, Chris is throwing the ball well," McCullough said. "He has probably ran against some tough luck in some outings, but he has thrown the ball and kept us in the games that he's pitched. Today it was a tough one from pitch one till it was over."

After Paddack, a group comprised of John King, Tyler Phillips, Josh Ekness and Calvin Faucher shutout the Phillies lineup, allowing five hits and striking out five.

Phillips, who had received most of the high-leverage situations after closer Pete Fairbanks was placed on the injured list, threw three innings, 47 pitches, essentially knocking him out for the next two days.

"He's been built out and he's done that on a number of occasions for us," McCullough said. "That's the best way for us to try to navigate through today, try to preserve as many options as we have for the next couple of days going forward. We have a really good bullpen, and we have guys that can throw in a lot of different places and can do things. Tyler has done that on a lot of occasions, as have a lot of other guys. His ability to also provide that type of length either way, but in a game like today, does a lot to just save everyone down there from getting taxed."

The Marlins offense didn't get much going until the bottom of the seventh inning. Leo Jiménez, who got the start at third base, was hit by a pitch and Esteury Ruiz took Phillies starting pitcher Jesús Luzardo deep for his second home run of the season. It also marked Ruiz's second home run this week, with his first coming on Wednesday in the series finale against the LA Dodgers.

Ruiz is now slashing .286/.286/.786/1.072 with two home runs, three RBI and a 189 wRC+. It has only been seven games for Ruiz this season, but early on he is making a strong impact when he's been on the field.

"He's been a performer in Triple-A," McCullough said. "He is someone that our group targeted this offseason. Certainly, the speed and ability to play all three outfield spots, but felt like offensively, there was some potential there for something to translate to the major league level if given the opportunity."

Fish On First's No. 20 prospect Josh Ekness made his MLB debut, tossing a 1-2-3 inning. His fastball topped out at 98.4 mph, averaging 97.9 mph. 

With the loss, the Marlins drop back down to two games under .500, 16-18. With Janson Junk on the mound, Miami will go for a series split. First pitch is at 6:40 pm.

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[Russell]

Time to bring Snelling up, this team is competitive. No excuses unless FO truly believes not ready.

Giving Paddack another start tells fans we don’t give a sh*t, we ain’t trying.

[Shawn]

Is my early season prediction of cal 2.0 been proven yet? It’s time to bring garret up we could use a lefty in the rotation. DFA paddock and be done with it. I know depth good at this point though there’s gusto, garret and snelling ready to contribute. 

[UKPhil]

This is the Paddack the Marlins signed. He'll have a couple of decent starts, then get absolutely slaughtered when his not very good stuff isn't working.

I would love to see Paddack DFA'd or traded for a bag of balls and Garrett called up.

After that I'm a bit worried by the Marlins lack of ready depth. Gusto and Fulton are just not good enough at this time. Snelling and Thomas White are stretched all the way out to 3+ innings a start. I know they are precious, but if they can't go 6 or 7 innings on a good day what are they for?

[MRDHU75]

CHRIS PADDACK IS A F____ BUM!

That is all...time for Brax or Snelling....sick of this bullish!

[One Regend]

I've always been confused by the decision to have an all-righty starting rotation. At that point you're just begging the opposing lefties to feast on your team. No, having good lefty relief pitching doesn't solve that problem.

The Marlins have a habit every 5 or so years, or every time they hit the reset button on the franchise, to sign a guy that, everyone in the baseball industry knows isn't good, and wouldn't even sign him to a league minimum deal, to serve no purpose on the team but block prospects that are more deserving of the 26-man spot from getting their reps at the major league level. The Marlins did this with Cal Quantrill last year, and they triple-dipped this year by signing Christopher Morel, Austin Slater, and Chris Paddack.

This year is Wasted Potential: The Season, for the Marlins. It's infuriating to watch.

[Hippyboi]

I didn't understand signing him in the first place. He had one good year back in 2019 and was average in 2022. 

After Sandy is he our most expensive player? Crazy

[1993 fan from start]

I know that both  Augstin and Javier Sanoja where in starting lineup.   

no one was calling pitches from the dugout.    CHRIS  will get at lest one more change under J. Mack.   CHRIS was brought in to eat inning not working.   next start in rotation  . should be skip . Give the pitching coaches a change to work with him.  Not 100 percent control issue.

it was bad by the tv guys. to say give hiim more innings after the first.  and bad chocie by who ever manger of the game. to run him back out. 

[Jose Herrera]

I enjoyed watching Chris explain what went wrong with this outing. However, I could not help but notice it looks like he has a bad sunburn. Would have been great if he could have prepared better.

Nonetheless, like others have mentioned we have at least three other pitchers ready for a chance.

[Hippyboi]

Trade Sandy in June, if he keeps his era at 3 or less. We will not pay him 21m next year, so who are we kidding. Every pitcher moving forward will benefit from a catcher who can catch and throw out more than 10% of runners. Even the wild pitches are often catchable. This has to be on a pitcher's mind when he is on the mound.

Perez

Myers

Junk

Garret

Snelling

White / Gusto waiting in the minors

[Russell]

On 5/4/2026 at 10:30 AM, Hippyboi said:

Trade Sandy in June, if he keeps his era at 3 or less. We will not pay him 21m next year, so who are we kidding. Every pitcher moving forward will benefit from a catcher who can catch and throw out more than 10% of runners. Even the wild pitches are often catchable. This has to be on a pitcher's mind when he is on the mound.

Perez

Myers

Junk

Garret

Snelling

White / Gusto waiting in the minors

With every start Sandy makes that trade value is going down and quick