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The Miami Marlins were eliminated from 2025 postseason contention following their 1-0 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday. The fact that the previous sentence was written on September 25 is a credit to manager Clayton McCullough, the coaching staff and all the players who contributed this season. A team that was almost universally projected to finish with 70 wins or fewer currently stands at 77-82 with three games remaining to spoil the New York Mets' Wild Card chances.
"We set out from spring training that our number one focus was going to be to just try to get better every day and try to raise the floor—not only of the players that we were gonna have on the roster at a given time and try to get everybody a little bit better as we went along, but also our staff and players creating a culture and put something in a place that we believe is gonna lead to sustainability. " McCullough said postgame. "While disappointing to get here and know that our season is going to end on Sunday, doesn't take away from taking a step back and a 30,000-foot view on so many what we feel like were real steps that we took throughout this season and the strides that a lot of our players have made."
After being limited to one total (unearned) run by the previous two Phillies starting pitchers, the Marlins offense didn't fare any better against Walker Buehler. Signed by the Phillies to a minor league deal less than a month ago, Buehler went five innings, allowing three hits, three walks and struck out two on 74 pitches.
Taijuan Walker followed him by throwing two innings, allowing only one hit and struck out three. Matt Strahm and David Robertson handled the eighth and ninth innings, respectively.
It was the 10th time this season that the Marlins have been shut out. They did a good job making contact, but only collected eight hard-hit balls. They had no extra-base hits, though Agustín Ramírez came close with a 114 mph line drive off the left field wall.
It was a short leash for Marlins starting pitcher Janson Junk, going 4 ⅔ innings. He only surrendered one run on five hits, no walks and struck out four.
In the bottom of the first inning, Junk allowed a leadoff single to outfielder Harrison Bader, then struck out Kyle Schwarber and allowed a second base hit, this time to Bryce Harper, who was making his first appearance this series. Alec Bohm grounded out, but Bader was able to score. Junk went on to retire eight straight before Harper had his second hit of the night.
Junk was signed to a minor league deal and initially sent down to Triple-A Jacksonville. The Marlins selected his contract on May 24. Early on, he was used in long relief, not making his first start with the team until June 20 against the Atlanta Braves. He will finish the season posting a 4.17 ERA and a 3.15 FIP through 110 innings pitched as a big leaguer. Per the team, Junk walked just 13 of the 447 batters, posting a 2.9 BB%, the lowest mark in MLB this season and the best single-season mark in club history (min. 100 IP).
"He goes out there and fills it up," said McCullough. "He did exactly what we needed tonight...Great season for Janson and another start where we got what we needed."
It's rare to get that kind of production from somebody acquired on a non-guaranteed contract. The only other minor league free agent signing from last offseason to pitch over 100 innings in 2025 was Toronto Blue Jays starter Eric Lauer, who finished the regular season with 103 ⅔ innings pitched, posting a 3.21 ERA and 3.88 FIP.
It's unclear what role Junk will have with the Marlins in 2026. He is out of minor league options, so that positions him well to make the active roster even with talented arms coming back from injuries and making the case to be promoted from Triple-A.
"We know Janson can (start or pitch out of the bullpen)," said McCullough pregame. "We'll come into spring training not knowing what the landscape is going to look like next year, but we will get Janson prepared to be a starter for us going into spring training, someone who's going to be on our team next year in some capacity. Those are just questions that we will answer down the road."
In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Marlins deployed Ronny Henriquez, who struck out both Max Kepler and Harrison Bader swinging. Per the Marlins, it marked his 59th appearance with at least one strikeout, tying the club record shared by Kyle Barraclough (2016) and Tanner Scott (2023).
The Marlins finish their season against the New York Mets with Sandy Alcantara taking the mound on Friday opposing rookie Brandon Sproat. First pitch is at 7:10 pm.
"We're going to go home, have our last three, go out and try to win each one of those games and go about it in a very similar manner," said McCullough.
Should the Marlins continue trying to develop Agustín Ramírez as a catcher?
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