Offishial News: Halfway to Marlins Opening Day

Sunday's game marked the midpoint of the Miami Marlins preseason schedule—they have played 15 exhibition games and have 15 more to go (14 in the Grapefruit League plus one against the New York Yankees at loanDepot park). The brightest of bright spots has been Sandy Alcantara looking dominant coming off Tommy John surgery. Catcher Joe Mack stands out as the most impressive non-roster invitee, especially when adjusting for his age (22) and lack of Triple-A experience.

For entertainment purposes only, the results have been ugly. The Marlins own the Grapefruit League's worst record (4-8-3) with their opponents racking up nearly twice as home runs and stolen bases as they have for themselves.

Marlins Opening Day is 17 days away.

More Marlins news and content below:

🔷 Fish On First merchandise has arrived. We've partnered with About The Fans to make it easier for you to rep the FOF brand in public and find unique, Marlins-inspired products. Orders placed today should arrive in time for Opening Day.

🔷 Most of the players without MLB experience were trimmed from Marlins big league camp over the weekend, even those who had been looking good in Grapefruit League action like Max Acosta, Dax Fulton and Jared Serna. Regarding members of the 40-man roster, Fulton and Serna were optioned to Double-A Pensacola, while Acosta, Luarbert Arias, Deyvison De Los Santos and Adam Mazur went down to Triple-A Jacksonville. The plan is for those players to report to the aforementioned affiliates when the season begins, though the team is allowed to change course if something unexpected happens between now and the end of camp.

🔷 Sandy Alcantara himself, manager Clayton McCullough and pitching coach Daniel Moskos have all disputed a report from ESPN's Jeff Passan that describes Alcantara being on an innings limit, "particularly early in the season." Also in his latest interview with the Marlins Radio Network (embedded below), McCullough was refreshingly straightforward about Max Meyer being in "a great spot" to fill out the club's starting rotation (joining Alcantara, Cal Quantrill, Ryan Weathers and Edward Cabrera). Barring an injury to another starter, Valente Bellozo seems to be on the outside looking in.

🔷 Matt Mervis spoke to the Miami Herald's Jordan McPherson about trying to shake the "bad habits" that contributed to his 2024 struggles. Marlins hitting coaches have worked with him on "getting his back hip in a proper position."

🔷 Christina De Nicola of MLB.com describes how the Marlins are using Trajekt to prepare their hitters to face specific pitchers. According to ESPN's Alden Gonzalez, 19 other MLB teams already had Trajekt as of midway through last season, so this is simply catching up to the competition. Gonzalez reports that Trajekt costs approximately $15,000 a month. In addition to the machine that just arrived in Jupiter, a second one is being installed at loanDepot park.

🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, a doctor has advised New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole to undergo Tommy John surgery, though he is seeking a second opinion before making a decision. Either way, Cole will be out for an extended period (he missed nearly half of the 2024 season with an elbow injury). Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Michael Grove needs season-ending labrum surgery. New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez is undergoing surgery for a fractured left hamate bone, which will sideline him for 6-8 weeks.

🔷 Today's Grapefruit League games: the Marlins (probable starter RHP Sandy Alcantara) host the Washington Nationals (LHP Mitchell Parker) at 1:10 p.m. and another group of Fish (RHP Cal Quantrill) will visit another group of Nats (LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara) at 6:05 p.m. Nick Fortes, who hasn't appeared since Wednesday due to a groin contusion, is expected to start one of the games.

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