Marlins begin baseball's busiest month

On Sunday, the Marlins blew one of their biggest leads of the season. They were up by four in the middle of the fifth inning thanks to a uncharacteristically strong offensive effort against Ranger Suárez. Alas, the bullpen that had been extraordinarily sharp in recent weeks was wobbly this time. A Tim Anderson error led to two unearned runs in the sixth, then Andrew Nardi and Anthony Bender combined to let the Phillies take the lead in the seventh. The Marlins lost, 7-6.

Down on the farm, Triple-A Jacksonville lost, 7-6. Looks like Edward Cabrera (3.0 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 67 pitches/46 strikes) will need one more rehab start before being reinstated by the Marlins. INF Xavier Edwards hit his first home run of the season. Double-A Pensacola won, 5-1. C Joe Mack mashed his 10th homer of June and 16th of the year (tied for the highest total in the Marlins org). RHP Matt Pushard is—no pun intended—pushing for a promotion. He has held the opposition scoreless in 15 of his last 16 relief appearances. The Southern League has a .101 batting average against him. High-A Beloit lost, 7-3. Infielders Johnny Olmstead and Josh Zamora continue to carry the Sky Carp offense, hitting back-to-back solo shots in the fifth inning. Low-A Jupiter won, 3-1. RHP Jake Brooks (6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 73 pitches/53 strikes) continues to be the consistent Marlins minor league starting pitcher and 1B Brock Vradenburg had an inside-the-park home run.

Here's more Marlins news and content:

🔷 June is in the books. The Marlins had a 9-17 record and minus-57 run differential, numbers that are pretty closely aligned with their overall 2024 season performance. Now, the calendar flips to the always-chaotic month of July, featuring the MLB Draft, All-Star break, a wave of prospect promotions and the MLB trade deadline.

🔷 Through 27 Marlins series, here's an updated look at the Prediction Time leaderboard. Make series predictions with us all season long when you become a Fish On First SuperSub.

🔷 The Marlins and Burger King have made co-branded paper crowns. They're available at participating Burger King locations in South Florida and will be given away to fans attending Tuesday's and Thursday's games at loanDepot park.

🔷 Hector Rodriguez and Sean McCormack each share their updated Marlins mock drafts. Hector has the Fish selecting Wake Forest's Seaver King with their first-round pick, while Sean goes with Oklahoma State's Carson Benge.

🔷 Members of the Marlins traveling party have started a tradition of organizing pickup basketball games during every road series, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com details. "It's just the bonding that is the most important to me," Skip Schumaker said.

🔷 Bob Nightengale of USA Today describes Tanner Scott as the "best reliever on the market" with his reporting suggesting that the Athletics won't be trading closer Mason Miller this summer.

🔷 Baseball Trade Values made a trade deadline primer for the Marlins highlighting many of their potential trade chips. Weirdly no mention of Declan Cronin, who I think they will aim to sell high on.

🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, Rangers rookie Wyatt Langford hit for the cycle, helping to snap his club's six-game losing streak. The Rockies edged out the White Sox with a 5-4 victory in 14 innings. Owning the worst records in the National League and American League, respectively, their offenses combined to go 3-for-35 with runners in scoring position. Nationals top prospect James Wood will make his major league debut tonight against the Mets. The 21-year-old outfielder has a 173 wRC+ in 52 Triple-A games this season. Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson is MLB's first confirmed Home Run Derby participant. Phase 2 of All-Star voting continues through Wednesday at 12:00 p.m. ET.

🔷 Today's MiLB schedule:

• Triple-A Jacksonville vs. Charlotte, 7:05 p.m. ET
• Double-A Pensacola v.s Montgomery, 7:05 p.m. ET
• High-A Beloit vs. Wisconsin, 7:35 p.m. ET
• Low-A Jupiter vs. Palm Beach, 6:30 p.m. ET
• FCL Marlins at FCL Mets, 12:00 p.m. ET
• DSL Marlins vs. DSL Tigers 1, 11:00 a.m. ET
• DSL Miami at DSL Twins, 11:00 a.m. ET

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