Ely Sussman

Offishial news for 6/10/24 On Sunday, A.J. Puk allowed a game-deciding three-run home run to Tyler Freeman (awkward timing for Fish On First on the heels of Kevin Barral's article about his bullpen success). Jake Burger hit his fifth homer of the season, but just his first at loanDepot park. The Marlins lost, 6-3. They've dropped four series in a row. Down on the farm, Triple-A Jacksonville won, 7-4. OF Griffin Conine capped off a phenomenal week with his organization-leading 13th home run. His season slash line has skyrocketed to .272/.378/.543. Double-A Pensacola won, 8-7. C Joe Mack saw his homer streak snapped after four games, but at least he scored the game-winning run in the 10th inning. OF Jake Thompson is hitting .438 (7-for-16) since being promoted back up to the Blue Wahoos. High-A Beloit lost, 5-3. Only two hits for the Sky Carp. Low-A Jupiter lost, 7-6, having blown a 6-2 lead in the ninth inning. That squandered a great outing by RHP Jake Brooks (6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 74 pitches/55 strikes). OF Colby Shade (3-for-4, 1 RBI) continues to have a wacky season at the plate—his .438 BABIP is by far the highest among Marlins minor leaguers. Here's more Marlins news and content for you: 🔷 The Avisaíl García era is officially over. Designated for assignment by the Marlins on Tuesday, García cleared waivers and was released by the Marlins on Sunday. The underperforming veteran outfielder is now a free agent and he'll continue getting paid what remains of his $53M Marlins deal. 🔷 Ryan Weathers went on the 15-day injured list with left index finger soreness. The Marlins are skipping his rotation spot this week, but will have to come up with a stopgap after that. 🔷 Xavier Edwards started all three games of the Guardians series at shortstop. Both Tim Anderson (bereavement list) and Otto Lopez (paternity list) are expected to rejoin the Marlins on Tuesday. It would be bizarre to bring Edwards up in the first place only to immediately send him back down to Triple-A, right? We'll see what the club does there. 🔷 Yet another roster-related storyline: JT Chargois is on the verge of being reinstated from the IL. He's been nearly flawless over the last three weeks with Jacksonville. The Marlins have a vacancy for him on their 40-man roster, so it's just a question of which reliever gets squeezed off the active roster in a corresponding move. 🔷 Bizarre timing, but the Marlins have hired a new minor league pitching coach: Mitchell McIntyre. This spring, McIntyre was the pitching coach at Iowa Western Community College. He also had a brief professional playing career from 2018-2019. 🔷 Listen back to the latest State of the Fish call-in show. Every Sunday at 6:00 p.m. ET, we review the previous week of Marlins baseball and invite you to share your questions and takes. 🔷 Through 21 Marlins series, here is a peek at the Prediction Time leaderboard. Make series predictions with us all season long when you become a Fish On First SuperSub. 🔷 Kevin Barral spoke with Logan Allen about pitching a big league game in Miami, so close to where he played college ball at Florida International University. 🔷 Hector Rodriguez's latest MLB Draft profile focuses on Kansas State infielder Kaelen Culpepper. 🔷 On a day that the Marlins celebrated Dontrelle Willis with a bobblehead giveaway, he spent a full inning in the Bally Sports Florida TV booth. D-Train took questions from the media right after that and described the relationship he has with Jesús Luzardo. 🔷 The daughter of the late José Fernández, Penelope, attended her first Marlins game on Friday. He died shortly before she was born. 🔷 The Florida Panthers "have had conversations" with the Marlins about bringing a hockey game to loanDepot park, per George Richards of Florida Hockey Now. The roof would have to be closed, of course. 🔷 Tim Kelly of Just Baseball ranked the 10 greatest pitchers in Marlins history (he went with all starters). 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, the Mets and Phillies split the London Series. Aaron Judge hit his 24th home run, putting him on pace for 58 this season. The Twins erupted for seven runs in the 10th inning to snap a five-game losing streak. The Braves dropped to 35-28, the closest they've been to .500 since mid-April. Four teams—the Cubs, Reds, Giants and Cardinals—are in a virtual tie for the third National League Wild Card spot. 🔷 Today's MiLB schedule: FCL Marlins at FCL Cardinals, 12:00 p.m. ET DSL Marlins vs. DSL Giants Orange, 11:00 a.m. ET DSL Miami at DSL Arizona Black, 11:00 a.m. ET Marlins podcast episodes View full article

Bleday has quietly emerged as the everyday center fielder for the A's. The Miami Marlins ran out of patience with JJ Bleday, and I recall most people being okay with that. They swapped former first-round draft picks with the Oakland Athletics in advance of 2023 spring training: Bleday (2019 first-rounder) for A.J. Puk (2016 first-rounder) straight up. The thinking was that they had a greater need for a controllable, high-leverage reliever than a more controllable but less dynamic platoon corner outfielder. When you draft the reigning SEC Player of the Year and a Golden Spikes Award finalist, you place expectations on them to be a key contributor at the major league level. Bleday's pedestrian production throughout his time in the Marlins organization made it difficult to envision him fulfilling his potential. The rapid progression of the players selected immediately after him made it all the more disheartening. To Bleday's credit, he has gradually improved. Five years after entering professional baseball, he has become a well-rounded big leaguer. Entering Monday, Bleday owns a .237/.321/.453 slash line this season, which translates to a great 123 wRC+ in what's been a challenging offensive environment. His strikeout rate has dipped to 18.4%, lower than it was with any of Miami's minor league affiliates. According to both defensive runs saved and outs above average, he rates as an average center fielder so far in 2024. Perhaps most impressively, he's done it while playing every single A's game and producing equally well against left-handed pitching as he has against righties. 70661782-9fadf1fd-72c77d4f-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4 Although not quite to the same extent as Bleday who was a sub-replacement level player as a Marlins rookie, Jesús Sánchez had also disappointed in 2022. He contributed just 0.3 fWAR in four-plus months prior to being demoted to Triple-A Jacksonville. He resurfaced during the final days of the regular season after excelling in the minors, apparently convincing the front office that he should still be ahead of Bleday on their outfield depth chart. Did the Marlins choose correctly? It's still premature to reach a conclusion considering the gap between Sánchez's actual and expected results, but things are trending in Bleday's direction (also worth noting that Bleday has an additional year of club control and minor league options remaining just in case). Only 16 months after parting with Bleday, the direction of the Marlins franchise has drastically changed. Instead of trading prospects to enhance their major league roster in pursuit of a postseason berth, they're on the other side of those conversations. Destined for one of MLB's worst records this season, they'll have a chance of receiving the top pick in the 2025 draft. Let Bleday's story serve as a reminder that even for the most polished college stars, development is not always quick or linear. The critical question is whether the Marlins—under new baseball operations leadership—are finally equipped to mold young hitters into the best versions of themselves, or if we will continue to see their careers take off only following a change of scenery. View full article

Former Marlins pitcher Dontrelle Willis joined Paul Severino and Rod Allen in the Bally Sports Florida broadcast booth during the second inning of Sunday's game. The fan giveaway at loanDepot park was a D-Train bobblehead. View full video

Welcome to FOF's 65th Miami Marlins game thread of the 2024 season. There is a Dontrelle Willis bobblehead giveaway at loanDepot park and D-Train himself is in the building for it. The roof at loanDepot park is closed. SuperSubs can access exclusive game notes here. Pregame roster moves: none. Enjoy live on-site coverage from Louis Addeo-Weiss and Alex Krutchik.

Player status updates, insightful stats and more information to fully equip you for today's Marlins game. Here are the latest Miami Marlins game notes, produced by the Marlins communications department and relayed to our loyal SuperSubs. Got thoughts about this matchup? Head over to Fish On First's Marlins game thread. View full article

Congrats to Marle and Otto Lopez on the birth of their daughter, Amelia! 🥰

Welcome to FOF's 64th Miami Marlins game thread of the 2024 season. There is a Puerto Rican heritage celebration being held, which has drawn a larger-than-usual crowd to loanDepot park. Otto Lopez (paternity list) and Tim Anderson (bereavement list) remain away from the club, allowing Xavier Edwards to make another start at shortstop. This game is being nationally televised on FOX (no Bally Sports Florida coverage). The roof at loanDepot park is closed. SuperSubs can access exclusive game notes here. Pregame roster moves: RHP Roddery Muñoz recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville; LHP Ryan Weathers (left index finger strain) placed on the 15-day injured list. Enjoy live on-site coverage from Kevin Barral.

Mack should stick at catcher. Only DH-ing so much because Pensacola still wants to give reps to both McIntosh and Hostetler. Not an indictment of Mack, just a consequence of the roster construction.

Player status updates, insightful stats and more information to fully equip you for today's Marlins game. Here are the latest Miami Marlins game notes, produced by the Marlins communications department and relayed to our loyal SuperSubs. Got thoughts about this matchup? Head over to Fish On First's Marlins game thread. View full article

Anderson's perspective is still valued in the clubhouse. He's the most experienced player on the roster following García's departure. His playing time should be reduced a lot from what it has been and I'd be disappointed in the team if that doesn't happen, but it'd be an overcorrection to let kids run the clubhouse entirely.

I was low on Berry entering the season, but still couldn't have envisioned his season going this poorly. Just missed about 2 weeks with a minor injury. Whatever that was, I'll cut him some slack and assume it was contributing to his severe struggles. Even if he gets back to being the player we saw at Double-A last season, he doesn't profile as anything more than a replacement level big leaguer.

Player status updates, insightful stats and more information to fully equip you for today's Marlins game. Here are the latest Miami Marlins game notes, produced by the Marlins communications department and relayed to our loyal SuperSubs. Got thoughts about this matchup? Head over to Fish On First's Marlins game thread. View full article

Your hunch was accurate: Edwards has been called up, with Lopez (paternity) and Anderson (bereavement) both being unavailable this weekend.

Edwards is 8th on our own list. Others that exclude him must be considering him ineligible due to days spent on the active roster. Lopez at this point has spent even more time on the active roster. I see them as similarly valuable overall. Would put Edwards slightly ahead of Lopez.

Yes, already more reps than he had last season. Arm strength remains an issue, but he looks somewhat competent there overall.

Offishial News for 6/7/24 On Thursday down on the farm, Triple-A Jacksonville got swept in their doubleheader, losing 3-2 and 14-9. Great individual effort from OF Griffin Conine, who went 3-for-4 with a home run and three walks. JT Chargois threw another scoreless inning in what figures to be his seventh and final rehab appearance. He'll rejoin the Marlins bullpen in the coming days. LHP Kent Emanuel posted one of the ugliest final lines you'll ever see (2.0 IP, 12 H, 12 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 71 pitches/39 strikes). Double-A Pensacola won, 4-3. C Joe Mack (FOF #25 prospect) hit the go-ahead home run in the sixth inning and also caught two runners attempting to steal. He also homered on Wednesday. The youngest player to suit up for the Blue Wahoos this season, Mack has a 125 wRC+ at the Double-A level as a 21-year-old. High-A Beloit split their doubleheader, losing 4-0 and winning 8-5. Low-A Jupiter lost, 1-0. RHP Eliazar Dishmey (5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K, 68 pitches/47 strikes) was terrific. C Ryan Ignoffo extended his hitting streak to 11 games. FCL Marlins won, 5-4, despite committing five errors in the contest. DSL Marlins won, 4-3. LHP Abraham Hernández went four no-hit innings in his professional debut. Here's more Marlins news and content for you: 🔷 Aimed at college students, the Marlins are debuting Pro Ball Prep on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. ET. It's a virtual series where the team's front office members, analysts and coaches will provide career advice. Here is the sign-up form. 🔷 Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs updated his Marlins top prospects list. Longenhagen's spiciest take was ranking DSL RHP Yohanfer Santana as Miami's No. 5 prospect, with the same 45+ grade as LHP Thomas White and OF Dillon Head. Santana has pitched poorly through his first 11 MiLB appearances (7.52 ERA and 7.91 FIP), but Longenhagen gushes about his projectability and how the 6'7" Dominican's velocity has spiked since 2023. 🔷 Darragh McDonald of MLB Trade Rumors details how Ryan Weathers has emerged as the "rock" of the Marlins starting rotation this season. 🔷 Join us for a new episode of Fish On First LIVE tonight from 6:00-7:00 p.m. ET on YouTube/Twitter/Facebook. 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. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, the White Sox have lost a franchise-record 14 games in a row. Pablo López issued a career-worst six walks against the Yankees. His ERA has soared to 5.45. Mariners RHP Bryan Woo has a 1.07 ERA through his first six starts of the season. 🔷 Today's MLB game: the Marlins (probable starter LHP Ryan Weathers) host the Guardians (LHP Logan Allen). It's the first trip that the Guardians have ever made to Miami (the franchise rebranded in 2022). The Marlins have a 48.7% chance to win, per FanGraphs. First pitch at 7:10 p.m. 🔷 Today's MiLB schedule: Triple-A Jacksonville at Charlotte, 7:04 p.m. ET Double-A Pensacola vs. Mississippi, 7:05 p.m. ET High-A Beloit vs. Lake County, 7:35 p.m. ET Low-A Jupiter at Lakeland, 6:30 p.m. ET FCL Marlins at FCL Cardinals, 12:00 p.m. ET DSL Marlins vs. DSL NYY Yankees, 11:00 a.m. ET DSL Miami at DSL NYY Bombers, 11:00 a.m. ET Marlins podcast episodes View full article

I found that eyebrow-raising as well. They're too stubborn to pull the plug on Anderson at this stage, so don't get your hopes up about that. Would have to be something else.