Offishial News: Memorable 2024 spring debuts for Puk, Ohtani

Fish On First will have boots on the ground for today's Marlins spring training game. Follow Isaac Azout and Noah Berger for live updates from Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium and check out our staff's 2024 Spring Training Journal (new entries every day).

 🔹 On Tuesday, A.J. Puk excelled against a lineup of mostly Mets backups. Rewatch every pitch of his here. For the second time in spring training, Tristan Gray homered, this solo shot soaring 415 feet to center field. The non-Puk pitchers struggled, however, as the Mets won, 7-1.

🔹 As expected, the Marlins tabbed Jesús Luzardo to be their Opening Day starter. He's only the fourth left-handed pitcher to start a Marlins season opener and the first since Wei-Yin Chen (2016).

🔹 I reviewed where each of the shortstops in this free agent class signed and what the terms of their contracts were.

 🔹 Alex Carver speaks to C Will Banfield about the keys to his breakout 2023 season.

🔹 Elsewhere around baseball, Shohei Ohtani homered in his 2024 Cactus League debut. The Dodgers (5-0-1 record) are the only remaining undefeated team this spring.

 🔹 Join us tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET for a new episode of Fish On First LIVE streaming on YouTube/Twitter/Facebook. Special guest: Josh Nelson of Sox Machine. FOF LIVE is presented by Berger & Hicks! If you’ve been injured as a result of somebody else’s negligence, give them a call at (305) 670-7050.

🔹 Today's game: Marlins (RHP Edward Cabrera) vs. Astros (RHP Misael Tamarez) at 1:10 p.m. No television coverage.  

🔹 The Marlins named Brett Freed as their new head of entertainment bookings. "Adding a talent like Brent was a focus for our organization as we look to provide elevated experiences for artists and fans that our venue often features,” president of business operations Caroline O'Connor said in the team's press release.

🔹 Ethan Budowsky of Just Baseball places the Marlins 20th in his 2024 MLB uniform rankings.

 🔹 Former Marlins general manager Kim Ng will be a guest speaker tonight at Amherst College. Not counting on anything interesting to emerge from that, but I'll be monitoring the situation just in case.

🔹 Vote in our February 2024 Marlins fan confidence poll if you haven't done so already! Eager to find out how the results compare to January's edition.

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