Ely Sussman

Once again in 2026, I will be monitoring Miami Marlins predictions from our valued SuperSubs, Fish On First staffers and livestream guests. Individual article pages like this one will be created prior to every Marlins series and featured prominently on the FOF site. Consistent participation is key if you want to win this annual contest. Submissions only take a few seconds. Scoring system A "perfect" series is worth three points: Earn one point for predicting which team will win the upcoming series Earn one point for predicting the precise number of victories for each team Earn one point for predicting the “Series MVP” who accumulated the highest win probability added (WPA) during the series as calculated by FanGraphs (could pick a player from either team) FOF SuperSub David Fernandez is currently atop the 2026 season leaderboard, which will be updated between every Marlins series. If you are a SuperSub, leave a comment with your Prediction Time picks on this page, or join the Marlins Discord Server and submit there. We'll feature them on the upcoming Fish On First LIVE episode and track your points throughout the season! Any picks submitted prior to the first pitch of the series opener will be counted. If you are not a SuperSub, please consider signing up here to support the FOF staff. Series preview notes Probable starting pitchers: RHP Ryan Gusto (MIA) vs. TBA (WSH) on Friday RHP Eury Pérez (MIA) vs. RHP Cole Irvin (WSH) on Saturday RHP Janson Junk (MIA) vs. LHP Jackson Kent (WSH) on Sunday The Marlins rank 14th in MLB with a 100 wRC+ and 11th in MLB with a 4.00 FIP. They are 5-5 in their last 10 games and have a 38-25 record at home this season. The following Marlins players are on the injured list: Anthony Bender (15-day IL), Ronny Henriquez (60-day IL), William Kempner (15-day IL), Adam Mazur (60-day IL), Andrew Nardi (60-day IL), Robby Snelling (60-day IL) and Kyle Stowers (10-day IL). The Nationals rank third in MLB with a 110 wRC+ and 28th in MLB with a 4.73 FIP. They are 3-7 in their last 10 games and have a 34-31 record on the road this season. The following Nationals players are on the injured list: Connelly Early (15-day IL), Josiah Gray (60-day IL), DJ Herz (60-day IL), Richard Lovelady (60-day IL), Drew Millas (10-day IL), Mitchell Parker (60-day IL), PJ Poulin (60-day IL), Ken Waldichuk (60-day IL) and James Wood (10-day IL).

Prior to the start of each new Miami Marlins series, we invite the Fish On First staff, FOF LIVE guests and SuperSubs to participate in Prediction Time. Results for the 2026 season will be tracked here. This is how the scoring system works: Earn one point for predicting which team will win the upcoming series Earn one point for predicting the precise number of victories for each team Earn one point for predicting the “Series MVP” who accumulated the highest win probability added (WPA) during the series as calculated by FanGraphs (could pick a player from either team) That's a maximum of three points per series. Rank Name Total Prediction Points Series Winner Points Series MVP Points 1 David Fernandez 54 44 10 2 Jeremiah Geiger 53 46 7 3 Baby Seal 49 41 8 4 Sportsman38 47 41 6 5 Robert Hanson 46 39 7 6 Daniel Rodriguez 45 42 3 7 TenofSpades BK 45 38 7 8 Hector Rodriguez 44 42 2 9 Chad Turner 43 36 7 10 Bassmaster4 39 36 3 11 Sean Millerick 39 32 7 12 Kevin Barral 38 34 4 13 2qbn 37 35 2 14 Stevo 37 35 2 15 Hans Herrera 37 33 4 16 Ely Sussman 36 31 5 17 Nate Karzmer 31 27 4 18 1993 fan from start 30 28 2 19 Richard 29 26 3 20 Shawn 27 25 2 21 Alex Carver 26 24 2 22 JustMyFandom 25 22 3 23 M.J.S 25 21 4 24 Loud Miami Fan 24 22 2 25 rings 24 23 1 26 Gabriel Revilla 23 20 3 27 Sean McCormack 22 19 3 28 Saul Goodman 22 21 1 29 MRDHU75 22 21 1 30 Jose Herrera 17 17 0 31 HAMPTIME 17 14 3 32 JustMarlins 15 12 3 33 David Slaton 15 14 1 34 Michael Cronin 13 12 1 35 Louis Addeo-Weiss 11 10 1 36 Burr 10 9 1 37 Rob V 9 9 0 38 Ryan Schlesinger 7 7 0 39 Alex Krutchik 7 6 1 40 Thomas Joseph 7 7 0 41 One Regend 7 7 0 42 Isaac Azout 7 7 0 43 Casey Marika 6 5 1 44 Cartern 6 5 1 45 Slacker Mills 5 4 1 46 njp 2 2 0 47 MarlinszDude86 1 1 0 48 ducat2 1 1 0 49 Hippyboi 1 1 0 50 tbonemalone 1 1 0 51 ForeverMarlins 0 0 0 Last series

Fish On First has created this landing page to be frequently updated throughout the year with the latest on injuries affecting Miami Marlins players in both the majors and minors. Major league injuries RHP Anthony Bender (15-day IL, right shin stress reaction) Last official game appearance: August 18 (rehab assignment, Jacksonville) Projected return to Marlins active roster: week of August 24 RHP Ronny Henriquez (60-day IL, right UCL reconstruction with internal brace procedure) Last official game appearance: September 28, 2025 Throwing from 90 feet as of August 17 Will miss entire 2026 season RHP William Kempner (15-day IL, right elbow sprain) Last official game appearance: July 11 Underwent season-ending elbow surgery with Dr. Keith Meister on August 19 RHP Adam Mazur (60-day IL, right UCL reconstruction surgery) Last official game appearance: March 2 Underwent surgery on March 11 Recovery timeline of 13-14 months Scheduled to begin throwing program in September Will miss remainder of 2026 season RHP Max Meyer (15-day IL, neck strain) Last official game appearance: July 18 Visited neck specialist in Los Angeles on July 20 Received cortisone shot on August 12; will be re-evaluated in a few days LHP Andrew Nardi (60-day IL, left rib cage stress reaction) Last official game appearance: May 27 Experienced left elbow discomfort during rehab Scheduled to undergo season-ending elbow surgery with Dr. Keith Meister LHP Robby Snelling (60-day IL, left UCL repair surgery with internal brace) Last official game appearance: May 8 Underwent surgery on May 23 (performed by Dr. Keith Meister) Recovery timeline of 10-12 months Scheduled to begin throwing program in September Will miss remainder of 2026 season OF Kyle Stowers (15-day IL, Grade 1 left hamstring strain) Last official game appearance: August 9 Projected return to Marlins active roster: early September LHP RJ Shunck (60-day IL) Assigned to Low-A Jupiter Last official game appearance: April 14 Eligible to be reinstated on June 14 RHP Jesús Tinoco (full-season IL, right UCL reconstruction surgery) Assigned to Triple-A Jacksonville Last official game appearance: June 2, 2025 Underwent surgery in September 2025 Began throwing program on March 9 RHP Samuel Vásquez (60-day IL) Assigned to Double-A Pensacola Last official game appearance: April 16 LHP Thomas White (7-day IL, left shoulder capsular sprain) Assigned to Triple-A Jacksonville Last official game appearance: May 14 Recovery timeline of 12-16 weeks RHP Alex Williams (7-day IL) Assigned to Double-A Pensacola Last official game appearance: July 25 LHP Kaiden Wilson (full-season IL) Assigned to FCL Marlins Last official game appearance: August 19, 2025

As documented here, the Miami Marlins have had a low hit rate on their international amateur free agent signings. Identifying talent and developing it has been particularly challenging on the position player side. We are nearly a decade and a half into the "bonus pool era," and with all due respect to Javier Sanoja—a 2019 signing out of Venezuela—none of the Marlins' international hitters during that span have become everyday MLB starters. Santiago Solarte took an encouraging first step in that direction this season. The $1 million signing bonus he received in January is already looking like money well spent by the Fish. The 17-year-old infielder just wrapped up a dominant, unprecedented campaign in the Dominican Summer League. Solarte's offensive numbers in 2026 were amazing. In only 52 games, he slashed .339/.450/.598 with 10 home runs, 42 stolen bases and a 149 wRC+. Solarte also ranked tied for seventh among all players in total bases (104) and 11th in OPS (1.048). Keep in mind, the league consists of 51(!) teams. We have comprehensive Minor League Baseball stats across all levels available dating back to 2006. Solarte is the only player on record to post a 10 HR/40 SB season in rookie ball (including both stateside and foreign leagues). Solarte has elite power potential long term. He pulls the majority of his batted balls to right field, but six of his homers went to left or center. This grand slam from August 11 was a no-doubter to the deepest part of the ballpark with an exit velocity of 106 mph. For context, fellow Marlins prospect PJ Morlando, who was coveted for his power coming out of the 2024 MLB Draft, has reached that exit velo only five times this season. Morlando is three and a half years older than Solarte. There's only so much we can learn from stolen base totals at the lower MiLB levels, but Solarte's legs are a legitimate weapon. At 6'5", he covers a lot of ground with his long strides. This grounder to the left side was fielded cleanly. Solarte easily beat it out for an infield single anyway. He grounded into only one double play all season. Let's not get too carried away, though. Solarte was the beneficiary of a .450 batting average on balls in play (third among DSL qualifiers). He will not come close to maintaining that against stateside competition, causing his overall batting average to dip. His plate discipline is still a work in progress. His walk rate (12.9 BB%) was lower than the average DSL hitter and his strikeout rate was significantly higher (26.3 K%). Solarte split his defensive reps between shortstop and third base. It's difficult to imagine him sticking at the former moving forward, where he averaged one error every 13 innings. Most of his struggles on that side of the ball occurred during the first month of the season, to be fair. Ranked 16th on the Fish On First Top 30, Solarte should be assigned to the FCL Marlins in 2027. Even with some anticipated regression at that level, he's a candidate to taste Low-A Jupiter during the second half of that season.

With the Miami Marlins active roster set to expand in two weeks and a glaring hole already present at first base, here is a factor that I frankly had not been considering, via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald: "If the Marlins do not believe that a prospect can significantly contribute to help them win this year, they’re not going to promote them to the majors simply for a few weeks of September at-bats if they’re not already on the 40-man roster. "The reason: "Players who are on the 40-man roster can have no contact with coaches or a team’s medical staff, or use team facilities, after an MLB lockout — which appears inevitable — begins Dec. 1. Conversely, players who aren’t on the 40-man roster can have that type of contact this winter — including working with coaches — and also can attend minor-league spring training and play in minor-league games next season." Non-40-man hitters who have performed well for Triple-A Jacksonville this season include Cam Cannarella, Kemp Alderman and recently acquired Jonathon Long. As Fish On First's Isaac Azout discussed during Sunday's livestream, Alderman's promotion to the majors was believed to be "imminent" prior to suffering an elbow injury on May 17. With only a small portion of the 2026 season remaining, it is now a more complicated decision—with less time for him to adjust to MLB competition, he might not provide any positive value down the stretch, and the trade-off is losing direct contact with him for what figures to be a months-long work stoppage. One correction to Jackson's reporting...He mentions that "the same thinking" applies to right-hander Jace Beck, but he will be selected to the 40-man roster prior to the lockout regardless. The 26-year-old is a pending minor league free agent who is eligible to leave in November if not selected. The Marlins will surely get out in front of that given Beck's 35% strikeout rate this season and intriguing upside. Here is a refresher on the current composition of Miami's 40-man: To be clear, most of the Marlins prospects in this predicament already have relationships with reputable third-party training facilities. They will still have access to professional-grade workout equipment and development tools during the 2026-27 offseason. On the other hand, the team does not want to temporarily lose oversight of their medicals and strength and conditioning regimen during the lockout.

Once again in 2026, I will be monitoring Miami Marlins predictions from our valued SuperSubs, Fish On First staffers and livestream guests. Individual article pages like this one will be created prior to every Marlins series and featured prominently on the FOF site. Consistent participation is key if you want to win this annual contest. Submissions only take a few seconds. Scoring system A "perfect" series is worth three points: Earn one point for predicting which team will win the upcoming series Earn one point for predicting the precise number of victories for each team Earn one point for predicting the “Series MVP” who accumulated the highest win probability added (WPA) during the series as calculated by FanGraphs (could pick a player from either team) FOF staffer Jeremiah Geiger and SuperSub David Fernandez are currently tied atop the 2026 season leaderboard, which will be updated between every Marlins series. If you are a SuperSub, leave a comment with your Prediction Time picks on this page, or join the Marlins Discord Server and submit there. We'll feature them on the upcoming Fish On First LIVE episode and track your points throughout the season! Any picks submitted prior to the first pitch of the series opener will be counted. If you are not a SuperSub, please consider signing up here to support the FOF staff. Series preview notes Probable starting pitchers: RHP Janson Junk (MIA) vs. LHP Cristopher Sánchez (PHI) on Monday TBA (MIA) vs. RHP Zack Wheeler (PHI) on Tuesday Tyler Phillps' turn in the rotation RHP Sandy Alcantara (MIA) vs. RHP Aaron Nola (PHI) on Wednesday The Marlins rank 14th in MLB with a 100 wRC+ and 10th in MLB with a 3.98 FIP. They are 6-4 in their last 10 games and have a 26-36 record on the road this season. The following Marlins players are on the injured list: Anthony Bender (15-day IL), Ronny Henriquez (60-day IL), William Kempner (15-day IL), Adam Mazur (60-day IL), Andrew Nardi (60-day IL), Robby Snelling (60-day IL) and Kyle Stowers (10-day IL). The Phillies rank 25th in MLB with a 94 wRC+ and fourth in MLB with a 3.75 FIP. They are 6-4 in their last 10 games and have a 32-30 record at home this season. The following Phillies players are on the injured list: Tanner Banks (60-day IL), Adolis García (60-day IL), Brad Keller (60-day IL), Caleb Killian (15-day IL), Rafael Marchán (10-day IL) and Johan Rojas (60-day IL).

Fish On First staffers react to the latest Miami Marlins series and prepare you for what lies ahead. Sunday's show was hosted by Ely Sussman and featured panelist Isaac Azout. The following topics were covered: A standout defensive performance by Brian Navarreto on Sunday Eury Pérez's mind-boggling homerless streak and value to the Marlins Heriberto Hernández's offense easily making up for his fielding gaffe on Friday Exclusive reporting on what the Marlins think of their Triple-A first base options Previewing and predicting the next series against the Philadelphia Phillies You can find Fish Unfiltered and Fish On First LIVE on the Fish On First YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever else you get your pods. Our next FOF LIVE episode will be on Thursday at approximately 6:30 p.m. ET on the off day following the Marlins-Phillies series finale.

When Deyvison De Los Santos joined the Miami Marlins organization in July 2024, he was mashing in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League and on his way to leading Minor League Baseball in home runs. There was, quite understandably, speculation that he could be a regular in the Marlins major league lineup by the end of that season. Instead, fast-forward more than two full years later, De Los Santos has played a grand total of three MLB games. How is that possible? No question, De Los Santos should be looking in the mirror before pointing fingers at anybody else. His overall production has plummeted compared to what he achieved at age 21, with a drop-off in game power and a troubling tendency to chase pitches out of the strike zone, which opponents have exploited. He arrived with some potential defensive versatility to play either first base or third base, but has failed to become a viable option at the latter. Peaking at No. 3 on the Fish On First Top 30 prospects list, he's no longer ranked at all. De Los Santos has been an afterthought for months since a couple brief stints on Miami's active roster in March/April. However, he's gradually shown legitimate signs of development. In 92 Triple-A games this season, De Los Santos is slashing .276/.339/.480 with 17 home runs and 17 stolen bases. His wRC+ with the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp from 2024-25 was merely 86 (with 100 representing league average), but that has surged to a 113 wRC+ in 2026. His current 19.6% strikeout rate is the lowest that he has ever posted in a minor league campaign. June 21 is a key date to circle for De Los Santos. It was coincidentally his 23rd birthday, but more relevant from a baseball career perspective, that was when the Marlins designated Christopher Morel for assignment. A veteran right-handed hitter with a similar offensive profile, Morel was essentially blocking him. Removing that obstacle has brought out the best in De Los Santos—in 37 games since then, his slash line has risen to .295/.370/.550, including nine homers. The Marlins are currently in desperate need of De Los Santos' skill set. While Kyle Stowers recuperates from a hamstring strain, they have a void at first base. The position primarily belongs to Griffin Conine in the meantime, who certainly has the bat to fit there, but lacks the defensive experience and instincts. Leo Jiménez and Graham Pauley—with a combined slugging percentage below .300 in the majors—are getting the rest of the reps. Respectfully, none of those guys are consistently making picks like this: I won't make the case that De Los Santos should play every day, but he should be a featured piece of their offense against left-handed pitching. This article actually evolved from what was originally a grim analysis of Jiménez, who has produced -0.6 fWAR for the Marlins with an absymal 57 wRC+ vs. LHP despite holding the platoon advantage. De Los Santos is more qualified for a roster spot than either him or honorary assistant coach Brian Navarreto, who has taken a grand total of 23 plate appearances over the last two months. MLB rosters expand on September 1, at which point the Marlins will be calling up an extra position player. De Los Santos is a leading candidate to be promoted then, but they're playing games now with direct NL Wild Card ramifications, following Sunday's series finale in Cincinnati with a three-game set hosting the Philadelphia Phillies. For whatever reason, they're taking the field for these critical matchups without maximizing the talent on their roster.