Amazing and awful records that Marlins are on pace to break through first quarter of 2026

As of Sunday morning, we are approximately 25% of the way through this Miami Marlins season. Relative to expectations, the results have been underwhelming. They are on pace for a 73-89 record, which would be worse than anybody on the Fish On First staff predicted.

If you're like me, you can find entertainment value in both victory and defeat when encountering extreme stats. Gotta give the Marlins some credit for overdelivering in that department.

Here are five single-season franchise records that are currently on pace to be rewritten, ordered from least sustainable to actually plausible.

Highest ERA in a single inning (team)

• Marlins record: 6.67 ERA in the seventh (1999)
• 2026 Marlins pace: 7.65 ERA in the first

If it feels like these Marlins constantly find themselves playing from behind, it's because they are. Through 40 games, they have allowed 36 first-inning runs (34 of them earned). Every member of the club's starting rotation has contributed to the problem, even newcomer Robby Snelling, who immediately fell behind 3-0 in his major league debut.

But overall, the Marlins have a solid pitching staff with an ERA no higher than 4.50 in any other inning. Let's chock up this extreme split to early-season randomness.

Most hits in a single season (player)

• Marlins record: 221 (Juan Pierre, 2004)
• 2026 Otto Lopez pace: 222

Nobody has come particularly close to challenging Pierre's record over the last two-plus decades. The speedy center fielder played every inning of every game in 2004, starting in the leadoff spot the vast majority of the time—that allowed him to accrue 748 plate appearances, which is another franchise record.

Otto Lopez is on pace to edge past JP by the slimmest of margins. Historically, Lopez has been inexplicably lousy against left-handed pitching, but that has completely flipped this season with a 21-for-47 start (.447 BA).

The immense workload required to keep this up makes Lopez a longshot. He's also being buoyed by a record-worthy .411 batting average on balls in play. Even with great hustle out of the batter's box and frequent hard-hit contact, that mark is unsustainable.

Regardless, Lopez is establishing himself as the most well-rounded shortstop that the Marlins have ever had.

Lowest caught stealing rate (team)

• Marlins record: 11.2% (2025)
• MLB record: 9.6% (San Diego Padres, 2007)
• 2026 Marlins pace: 8.3%

Controlling the running game has been a serious ongoing issue for the Fish dating back to early last season. Opponents are unafraid to challenge the arms of Liam Hicks and Agustín Ramírez, and they're able to get huge jumps against a heavily right-handed pitching staff that's generally slow to the plate.

Recent prospect promotions should go a long way toward addressing this vulnerability. Joe Mack will deter thieves with his arm strength and accuracy. Robby Snelling adds a lefty to the rotation with a great minor league track record of limiting steals.

Mack has started at catcher in six of his first seven games on the active roster. If he comes close to maintaining that workload moving forward, both the league and team CS% records should be out of reach.

Most stolen bases (team)

• Marlins record: 177 (2003)
• 2026 Marlins pace: 178

Although not with the same efficiency, the Marlins have run the bases just as aggressively as their opponents have.

This trend has more staying power. The addition of speed demon Esteury Ruiz is working exactly as intended—through only 12 games, he already ranks second on the Fish with six steals. Once Jakob Marsee (10 SB) reaches base with the regularity he's capable of, that will create more opportunities to pad the team's total.

At the very least, the Marlins will probably eclipse last season's mark of 138 steals.

Highest strikeout rate in a qualified season (player)

• Marlins record: 28.7% (Preston Wilson, 1999)
• 2026 Connor Norby pace: 31.4%

Brian Anderson struck out 28.8% of the time in 2020, but I'm not counting that because the season was limited to 60 games due to COVID.

This was supposed to be an opportunity to lament the struggles of Owen Caissie, who is striking out over forty percent of the time. However, the rookie's propensity to whiff has appropriately limited his playing time. It's difficult to envision him sticking in the big leagues for the entire season, and even if he does, reaching the 502 plate appearances needed to qualify is unlikely.

I was not expecting to find Connor Norby here considering that his 2026 campaign has been an overall improvement from the year before. Quietly, though, his K rate has been Caissie-like over the last 30 days. In two-strike counts, changeups and splitters are especially problematic for him.

Norby's newfound patience at the plate and solid transition to first base should keep him in the lineup frequently despite being strikeout-prone.