The Marlins' offensive identity? Warning track power

[Ely Sussman]

NEW YORK — The sign still exists. You know, the white one with the black and blue border that reads "LET'S PARTY FIGHTIN' FISH." I saw it in the Miami Marlins dugout two hours before Saturday's game. There just haven't been many occasions to use it lately, or many occasions throughout the 2026 season, for that matter.

The Marlins celebrate with the sign after hitting home runs. Well, they have been out-homered in four consecutive games (all losses) and rank 28th among MLB teams in that category. This lack of power is stressing them in other areas and rapidly sinking their chances of postseason contention.

Saturday really exemplified how slim the margin can be between offensive excellence and futility.

The Marlins scored only one run against the New York Mets despite very well-struck balls off the bats of Otto López, Kyle Stowers and Joe Mack. They traveled 358 feet, 380 feet and 402 feet, respectively, but each of them ultimately landed in an outfielder's glove.

The Marlins have hit the 3 farthest fly balls in this game, but nothing to show for them pic.twitter.com/gWQSqn79T9

— Fish On First (@FishOnFirst) May 30, 2026

Lopez leads the league in hits this season, but only four of those have cleared the fence. A year after breaking out as an All-Star with 25 long balls, Stowers has been limited to three. The rookie Mack is homerless through his first 21 career games.

"Get a good pitch to hit, you put a good swing on it, and after that, there's not a whole lot that's within your control," manager Clayton McCullough said postgame.

That is an oversimplification. If the quality of contact and its launch angle are good enough, the result is a home run and the opposing defense doesn't have an opportunity to make a play. The Marlins are struggling to reach that standard with their swings. Meanwhile on New York's side, unheralded part-time players Jared Young and Hayden Senger crushed solo shots off Lake Bachar that would've left the vast majority of MLB ballparks.

 

The Marlins have a lot of continuity on the position player side after a surprisingly competitive 2025 campaign. Rather than investing in veterans with proven, consistent track records, they are depending on their young bats to utilize the experience that they've gained and the coaching that they've received to improve.

With the notable exceptions of Xavier Edwards and Liam Hicks, most Marlins have regressed instead. Consider these year-to-year decreases in isolated power (slugging percentage minus batting average):

• Kyle Stowers is down 120 points
• Heriberto Hernández is down 89 points
• Jakob Marsee is down 79 points
• Agustín Ramírez is down 67 points (demoted to Triple-A)
• Graham Pauley is down 37 points (demoted to Triple-A)

Combining their caught stealings/pickoffs with other mistakes on the bases, the Marlins have run into more outs than any other club this season. McCullough has spun it as a positive when speaking publicly, taking pride in being "aggressive" and constantly "pushing the envelope."

The reality is, the Marlins play this way out of necessity. Instead of waiting for homers that rarely come, their baserunners have to do more of the heavy lifting themselves.

Overall, Miami's offensive production has been nearly average (97 wRC+), but the distribution of those runs is uneven because of how often they are held homerless. That means plenty of good-but-not-great starting pitching performances go to waste.

Currently on pace for a 91-loss season, the Marlins have left some meat on the bone. They are capable of playing better defense, for example, and their most experienced pitchers—Sandy Alcantara and Pete Fairbanks—are bound to find their rhythm as the season goes on. However, they won't even sniff a playoff berth without more dingers.

 

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