Offishial news, 9/4/23: Marlins mop Nationals; Johnston goes 20/20

Today’s Marlins news roundup also updates where the team stands in a crowded NL Wild Card race.

Ely Sussman

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  • Sunday’s Marlins MiLB Notes: 1B Troy Johnston (Jacksonville) completed a 20 HR/20 SB season. He’s the first Marlins minor leaguer to go 20/20 since Bryan Petersen in 2008! Ryan Weathers threw five scoreless innings and earned a win. More control issues for RHP Evan Fitterer (Pensacola), but overall, one of his best starts of the season (5.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 6 K, 91 pitches/49 strikes). C Will Banfield hit his 20th home run. OF Chase Luttrell (Beloit) is in a 3-for-39 slump.
  • Blue Wahoos OF Davis Bradshaw confirmed that an injury will sideline him throughout the Southern League playoffs. He had a .314/.383/.405 slash line (124 wRC+) in 86 games this season, albeit while facing much younger competition. Bookmark our injury/rehab tracker.
Tracking Miami Marlins injury, rehab updates
  • The Marlins are riding a four-game winning streak, their longest since late June. They went a perfect 7-0 at Nationals Park this season. Similar to 2022, the seemingly large gap in the standings between them and the Nats can be explained by head-to-head record.
  • Sandy Alcantara retook the MLB lead in innings pitched (184.2 IP). He also committed two errors and now leads all pitchers in that department as well with five.
  • NL Wild Card race updates: the Cubs and Phillies won, while the Brewers, Diamondbacks, Giants and Reds lost. The Marlins are in a three-way tie for the third Wild Card spot.
  • On a related note, I’ll be tracking the status of tiebreakers between the Marlins and other Wild Card contenders in the event that the final regular season standings aren’t enough to determine postseason berths.
2023 Marlins NL Wild Card tiebreaker breakdown
  • Elsewhere around the majors, Ronald Acuña Jr. and Freddie Freeman both went 0-for-4. Luis Arraez is now up by 21 points on them in the NL batting title race. Jorge López tossed a scoreless inning in his return to the Orioles.
  • Our 2023 FOF Super Subscribers fantasy football league is set. The league is viewable here.
  • With eight series remaining in the MLB regular season, Willyans is clinging to a slim lead in our 2023 Prediction Time contest. All Super Subscribers are encouraged to play along with us.
2023 Prediction Time Leaderboard

Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images

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4 responses to “Offishial news, 9/4/23: Marlins mop Nationals; Johnston goes 20/20”

  1. kommenter Avatar
    kommenter

    I fear this may be the high water mark of the Marlins season. Still, as I understand the convoluted tiebreaker rules the Giants, not the Marlins, would get the third NL wild card slot as of today. The Braves and Dodgers series are going to be crucial. Need to win one game in each, no more sweeps. Then hope for better than 500 play against the other teams. Phils and Brewers look tough, Mets and Pirates not so much. I’d be willing to bet that the arrogant NY fans don’t show their faces with anywhere near the same numbers as they have in the past for the Met series. Too busy rooting for the Jets. With three games against the Pirates to end the season, if we stay close, we could have a nailbiter entry into the post season.

    Reply
  2. Leo Armbrister Avatar
    Leo Armbrister

    The key to the Marlins making the playoffs is hitting and good defense. I believe the Marlins will get enough good pitching over the next three weeks to be competitive. However the opposing pitching will probably be better than they faced when they swept the Nationals.

    Reply
    1. Ely Sussman Avatar
      Ely Sussman

      Yup, that last part is an understatement. Dodgers, Phillies, Brewers and Braves each have very tough pitching staffs and have gotten stronger as the season has progressed (top 10 in MLB in ERA since the All-Star break).

      Reply
      1. OneRegend Avatar
        OneRegend

        I have to say that the Dodgers rotation has been decimated by injuries and Julio Urias being a complete moron, and outside of Bobby Miller, their farmhands holding the fort don’t show much promise. Not to mention we played them particularly well last time we faced them. (the Dodgers Stadium series was VERY winnable, but of course, the Marlins got in their own way)

        I’m slightly more optimistic about our chances with the Dodgers, though it is heavily cautious optimism.

        The Braves, yeah, won’t surprise me one bit if we get swept by them again.

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