Breakout reliever Declan Cronin expected to draw heavy trade interest at deadline

On Sunday, former Marlins first-round draft pick Andrew Heaney worked six scoreless frames. Miami's offense was held without an extra-base hit. Speaking of extra-base hits, Tim Anderson has not had one since April. He's 1-for-his-last-21 at the plate. Trevor Rogers set a season high by completing six innings himself, but he surrendered three runs in the opening minutes of the game. Rogers' average fastball velocity was lower than any other appearance of his MLB career. The Marlins lost, 6-0.

Down on the farm, Triple-A Jacksonville lost, 3-1. Avisaíl García went 0-for-3 with a walk, an error and a double play grounded into. He slashed .105/.190/.211 this past week in five rehab games. JT Chargois threw two more innings of hitless relief and his reinstatement from the injured list seems imminent. High-A Beloit won, 7-2. RHP Ike Buxton (5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 84 pitches/57 strikes) recorded his first win of the season. Low-A Jupiter won, 2-1. RHP Jake Brooks (6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, 71 pitches/48 strikes) retired 18 of the 21 batters he faced.

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🔷 The same bothersome right shoulder that derailed Sixto Sánchez's career from 2021-2023 has landed him on the injured list again. Frankly, the Marlins won't miss him—Sánchez's 10.5% strikeout rate was second-lowest among major leaguers with a minimum of 30 innings pitched. In seven starts, he never exceeded five innings, taxing the rest of the pitching staff. Roddery Muñoz is the leading candidate to fill his vacated starting rotation spot.

🔷 Listen back to the latest State of the Fish call-in show. Beginning at the 44-minute mark, we were joined by Craig Mish from SportsGrid for an extended Q&A about Marlins trade candidates and the direction of the franchise. Perhaps the top news nugget was that Avi García's Marlins tenure "may be coming to the end of the line," per Mish. Do not assume that he will be reinstated from the IL this week. García is earning a $12M salary from the Marlins this season and is still owed $17M more beyond 2024. Mish also considers right-hander Declan Cronin the second-most likely Marlin to be traded behind only pending free agent closer Tanner Scott. He compared Cronin to Nick Anderson in 2019, who was flipped in the midst of his first full MLB campaign to acquire then-prospect Jesús Sánchez. Mish wrapped up the show by acknowledging he's been very "negative" about Sixto through the years...and insisting that he has formed that opinion through conversations with members of the Marlins organization.

🔷 Through 19 Marlins series, @Isaac Azout has soared into second place on the Prediction Time leaderboard. Make series predictions with us all season long when you become a Fish On First SuperSub.

🔷 On Saturday, Alex Carver wrote about the keys to Cronin's success, particularly his excellence during the month of May. His first June appearance on Sunday was more of the same.

🔷 Louis Addeo-Weiss ponders a possible position change for Jazz Chisholm Jr. Would potential trade suitors give up more for him if he demonstrates that he can be a solid defensive shortstop?

🔷 The 2024 Dominican Summer League season begins today. The Marlins continue to field two affiliates in the league: DSL Marlins and DSL Miami. OF Luis Cova (Fish On First's #6 Marlins prospect) will be making his professional debut. Several international signings from recent years who never made it stateside have been released, including LHP Luis Baldiris, RHP Willian Campos, OF Anthony Rodriguez and RHP Nicolas Uriepero.

🔷 On this day in 2017, Edinson Vólquez threw the most recent Marlins no-hitter against the Diamondbacks. A month shy of his 34th birthday at the time, he's the oldest pitcher to throw a no-no with the Fish. Due to injuries, he would make only 10 more starts during the rest of his MLB career.

🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, the Tigers demoted former No. 1 overall draft pick Spencer Torkelson to Triple-A. After tapping into his immense power frequently toward the end of 2023, Tork has just four home runs through 54 games played this season. Vladimir Guerrero started at third base in a regular season game for the first time since his rookie season. The Yankees completed their sweep of the Giants with a ninth-inning comeback that featured Juan Soto's go-ahead, two-run homer. Teammates Aaron Judge and Soto now rank first and second among qualified MLB hitters in wRC+ (200 and 191, respectively). Old friend Giancarlo Stanton reached 1,500 career hits (960 of those came with the Marlins).

🔷 Today's MiLB schedule:

• DSL Marlins at DSL Giants Orange, 11:00 a.m. ET
• DSL Miami vs. DSL Rangers Red, 11:00 a.m. ET
• FCL Marlins vs. FCL Cardinals, 12:00 p.m. ET

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