Ely Sussman

4-game series instead of 3! I'll put you down for Marlins 3/4, but still time to get back to me if you feel otherwise.

Welcome to FOF's 27th Miami Marlins game thread of the 2024 season. Congrats to Anthony Maldonado on making it to the big leagues! He'll serve as the opener for this series opener (two innings max from him). For the 11th time in 14 opportunities, the LoanDepot Park roof is open for a Marlins home game. SuperSubs can access exclusive game notes here. Pregame roster moves: RHP Anthony Maldonado recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville; LHP Jesús Luzardo (left elbow tightness) placed on 15-day injured list. Enjoy live on-site coverage from Kevin Barral 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

Maldonado's well-deserved call-up will unfortunately be overshadowed by news that Marlins starter Jesús Luzardo is dealing with left elbow discomfort. The young right-hander will start in Luzardo's place. The Miami Marlins announced Friday morning that Jesús Luzardo experienced left elbow discomfort, preventing him making his scheduled start against the Washington Nationals. It's another deflating setback in a month that's been full of them for the 6-20 Marlins. On the bright side, as first reported by Fish On First, right-handed reliever Anthony Maldonado is being called up from Triple-A Jacksonville. He'll serve as the club's opener on Friday. Maldonado is FOF's #17 prospect and he had nothing left to prove in the minors. In 57 Triple-A appearances dating back to 2022, he has posted a 1.84 ERA with 109 strikeouts in 78 ⅓ innings. Through eight appearances (11.2 IP) in 2024, he has allowed five hits. The 26-year-old's slider is one of the nastiest pitches at any level of the organization. Maldonado has been developed as a reliever from the get-go, with his only two professional "starts" coming during a minor league rehab assignment. So far this season, he hasn't gone beyond two innings or 40 pitches in any appearance. Similar to Wednesday's Sixto Sánchez-led game, there will be a lot of different arms involved. Maldonado joins fellow 2019 draftees Bryan Hoeing and Andrew Nardi on the current Marlins pitching staff. Overall, eight players from that class have reached the majors, an impressive total (although the quality of their MLB performances thus far have been inconsistent). This may be a short initial stint for Maldonado in The Show. Right-hander JT Chargois is close to returning from the injured list after his bout with neck spasms and Huascar Brazoban (visa issues) seems to be making progress as well. Chargois in particular would take priority over Maldonado considering he's out of minor league options. Elbow problems are unfortunately nothing new for Luzardo. The talented lefty underwent Tommy John surgery in 2016 at the beginning of his professional career. He then missed a chunk of the 2022 season with a left forearm strain. Given that history, with the current season looking unsalvageable and Luzardo holding so much trade value when healthy, expect the Marlins to handle his situation as cautiously as possible. View full article

Watch all 10 strikeouts that right-handed reliever Anthony Maldonado recorded with Triple-A Jacksonville prior to being recalled by the Marlins on April 26. View full video

Marlins news roundup for 4/26/24 On Thursday, the Marlins "activated" Huascar Brazoban from the restricted list. The start of Brazoban's season has been delayed due to visa issues. I'll have to get clarity on the verbiage here because there's no way he is going straight onto the active roster without a rehab assignment first. There also needs to be a corresponding move to get him back on the 40-man roster. Regardless, this news suggests he's been cleared to come to the U.S. Down on the farm, Triple-A Jacksonville won, 9-5. INF Tristan Gray hit his organization-leading ninth home run, OF Dane Myers extended his on-base streak to 20 games and LHP Devin Smeltzer lowered his ERA to 0.84. Double-A Pensacola won, 5-3. C Joe Mack hit his first Double-A homer. High-A Beloit split their doubleheader, winning 8-1 and losing 4-2. DH Jake Thompson continues to rake and show he's overqualified for this level. Low-A Jupiter won, 5-2. RHP Brandon White (6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K) retired the last 13 batters he faced. Here's more Marlins news and content for you: 🔷 I detail Mack's extraordinary start to the season. He may soon re-establish himself as the Marlins' top catching prospect. 🔷 Former Marlins prospect Nasim Nuñez comes to town this weekend to face the Fish for the first time as a big leaguer. Because of his limitations as a hitter, the Nationals have been hiding him in plain sight. 🔷 The latest Fish On First LIVE episode discussed Nuñez, takeaways from the Braves series sweep and more. 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. 🔷 On this day 10 years ago, Jarrod Saltalamacchia's 10th-inning home run capped a comeback against the Mets. 🔷 Judging by this tease, the Marlins seem to be adding a fourth mascot to their sixth-inning Rooster Race (the current competitors are Bobby, Charlie and Pepito). 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, the Astros dropped to 7-19, tying them for the third-worst record in MLB. The son of Hanley Ramírez, 16-year-old Hansel, signed with the Rangers as an international free agent. 🔷 Today's MLB game: the Marlins (probable starter LHP Jesús Luzardo) host the Nationals (RHP Trevor Williams). Miami has dominated the head-to-head matchups between these clubs, posting a 26-6 record against Washington dating back to 2022. The Marlins have a 63.3% chance to win. First pitch at 7:10 p.m. 🔷 Today's MiLB schedule: Triple-A Jacksonville at Memphis, 12:05 p.m. ET Double-A Pensacola vs. Biloxi, 7:05 p.m. ET High-A Beloit at Cedar Rapids, 7:35 p.m. ET Low-A Jupiter vs. Dunedin, 6:30 p.m. ET Marlins podcast episodes View full article

On the heels of an awful 2023 campaign, Mack has started off 2024 with the most productive month of his minor league career. While the Miami Marlins are getting indescribably bad production from their catchers at the major league level, there may finally be homegrown hope on the horizon. Joe Mack's season is off to a sensational start. Mack was selected by the Marlins in Competitive Balance Round A of the 2021 MLB Draft, signing for a $2.5M bonus. Injuries wiped out most of his 2022 season, but after a respectable showing in the Arizona Fall League, he was bumped up to High-A Beloit in 2023. Mack was among the most disappointing performers in the Marlins farm system last season. He slashed .218/.295/.287 (69 wRC+), homering only six times in 120 games. He never sustained hot streaks for extend periods, posting a sub-100 wRC+ every month. Understandably, the Marlins sent him back to Beloit to repeat the level as a 21-year-old. This time around, Mack scorched the Midwest League. The encouraging signs were there immediately as the left-handed-hitter homered off of a lefty reliever in the Sky Carp's 2024 season opener to break a scoreless tie in the eighth inning (he had zero homers vs. lefties in 2023). After reaching base safely in each of his first 13 games while driving in 13 runs, he was promoted to Double-A Pensacola. That on-base streak is still intact and he continues flaunting his power. Mack mashed his first Blue Wahoos homer on Thursday, driving a 2-2 pitch more than 400 feet deep to center field. joe mack RFhnZXFfV0ZRVkV3dEdEUT09X0FBRlpCVndOVndjQVhRUUxVQUFBQlFGVkFBTU5XMWdBQXdZTlZWVlRWd01FQ1FGVw==.mp4 Through 17 games at High-A and Double-A combined, Mack is slashing .339/.442/.585 with all but five of those plate appearances coming against older competition. He's putting balls in play at a career-best rate (15.6 K%) and Marlins fans will be delighted to hear that he has grounded into just one double play. Mack's catching workload is lighter than last year—he's basically alternating starts between catcher and designated hitter. While these offensive numbers would be unsustainable if he were squatting every game, there has been no drop-off in his production so far on days that he's behind the plate. Also, he has thrown out four of the eight runners who have attempted to steal against him. Entering the 2024 season, the Fish On First staff considered Mack to be the organization's third-best catching prospect behind Will Banfield and Paul McIntosh. I would expect him to rise when we reconvene soon to update our rankings. It's difficult to imagine Mack in the majors this year, but he is increasingly looking like a viable 2025 call-up candidate. View full article

The Nationals plucked Nuñez from the Marlins farm system in the Rule 5 Draft, well aware that his bat was far behind his other tools. Nearly a full month into the 2024 regular season, the rookie infielder has stepped to the plate only twice. Barely a week after officially taking over as president of baseball operations for the Miami Marlins, Peter Bendix had roster moves to contemplate. November 14 was the deadline for major league clubs to select Rule 5 Draft-eligible players to their 40-man rosters. The Marlins had several borderline candidates—prospects who would draw interest in the draft, but whose flaws or inexperience might be strong enough to deter the rest of the league from picking them. Nasim Nuñez was the Marlins' most fascinating borderline guy, in my opinion. The 23-year-old had gradually ascended the minor league ladder with excellent shortstop defense, smart swing decisions and aggressive, efficient baserunning. He had the distinction of participating in the 2023 Futures Game and thrived in the spotlight en route to being named MVP of the exhibition. However, unless he was drawing walks or finding the right holes with his grounders, Nuñez was doing virtually nothing at the plate. He had posted a career 89 wRC+ in MiLB competition by exploiting pitchers who couldn't throw strikes and fielders who couldn't make routine plays. His .054 isolated power (the gap between his batting average and slugging percentage) was the lowest among all minor leaguers with 1,500 plate appearances from 2019-2023. It was clear that Nuñez's offensive profile would not translate to success in the majors, at least not immediately. The Washington Nationals rolled the dice on him anyway. It was the first time since 2017 that the Marlins had lost one of their players in the major league phase of the Rule 5. Nuñez got ample reps for the Nats during spring training that seemingly reinforced the general perception about him. He wasn't ready to handle a substantial major league role, but still made the club's Opening Day roster. Rule 5 restrictions require him to either be on the active roster or the injured list throughout the 2024 season, or else be offered back to the Marlins. A month later, Nuñez will face the Marlins for the first time as a big leaguer. Actually, it would be irresponsible of me to assume that he'll play over the next four days. His role with Washington is...unique. Nuñez has been active for all 24 Nationals games, yet he has made seven appearances, sometimes going a full week between them. Only once has his job involved hitting. That aversion to using him at the plate has limited him to 11 defensive innings (most of those coming in his lone start). There is some recent precedent for this kind of prolific bench-warming at the major league level, such as Charlie Culberson on the 2023 Atlanta Braves. However, it's highly unusual to see a young, still-developing player being used so sparingly on a team that isn't near contention (Washington's playoff odds are even lower than Miami's, per FanGraphs). Barring injuries to the middle infielders ahead of him on the depth chart, Nuñez is on pace for only 14 plate appearances all season! What can he really learn when his playing time is so disjointed? To be clear, the Nats are going through the hassle of "hiding" Nuñez in 2024 with the intention of handling him more conventionally in 2025 and beyond (once he can be optioned to the minors). Is he worth it? The Marlins can only hope that their NL East rival grows weary of these circumstances at some point and returns him. View full article

Well this night is slightly different from the rest because Sixto won't be around long regardless due to pitch count restrictions. It will have to be a combined effort.

Welcome to FOF's 26th Miami Marlins game thread of the 2024 season. It's the first true bullpen day of the year for the Fish. Sixto Sánchez gets the start and right-hander Kyle Tyler is likely to make his Marlins debut at some point. With a day off coming on Thursday, Skip Schumaker ought to be managing aggressively in an attempt to salvage the series finale against the Atlanta Braves. SuperSubs can access exclusive game notes here. Pregame roster moves: C Christian Bethancourt returned from rehab and reinstated from the 10-day injured list; C Jhonny Pereda optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville.

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

It's a pleasure having you around, thanks!

Marlins news roundup for 4/24/24 On Tuesday, Trevor Rogers genuinely pitched well, though shaky defense behind him and a sixth-inning home run put a dent in his final line. Max Fried embarrassed the Marlins, inducing an absurd amount of weak, groundball contact and completing the game by himself with ease. The Marlins lost, 5-0. They have not won any of their first eight series this season and haven't scored a run since Sunday. Down on the farm, Triple-A Jacksonville won, 10-1. RHP Yonny Chirinos carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning. RHP JT Chargois continued his rehab assignment with another scoreless inning. INF Jonah Bride's fifth home run raised his season slash line to .375/.514/.750. INF/OF Javier Sanoja made his Triple-A debut, going 0-for-4 with a walk. Double-A Pensacola won, 5-4. INF Jacob Berry stole a base and recorded the walk-off RBI single. High-A Beloit lost, 5-4. OF Mark Coley II keeps on mashing (2-for-4, 1 HR, 3 RBI). Low-A Jupiter won, 4-3. The Hammerheads bullpen held Dunedin hitless from the second inning onward. RHP Nigel Belgrave has enjoyed a near-immaculate season (9.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 6 BB, 13 K). Here's more Marlins news and content for you: 🔷 Braxton Garrett (left shoulder impingement) will make a rehab start with Jacksonville on Friday (approx. four innings/60 pitches). Presumably, he would be making one more start after that to stretch out further, then potentially rejoin the Marlins rotation during the week of May 6. 🔷 Edward Cabrera is an anomaly among MLB starters. I wrote about how he gets away with throwing his fastball less than 20% of the time. 🔷 Nick Gordon has hired Roc Nation Sports to represent him. Gordon's previous agency was Beverly Hills Sports Council, but now he has the same reps as close friend Jazz Chisholm Jr. 🔷 @THOMAS JOSEPH has launched his own Marlins Musings blog within the Fish On First blog section. That section is open to any of our FOF verified members! 🔷 Ryan Schlesinger presents three mock trades that would send out Marlins major leaguers for elite prospects. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, old friend Garrett Cooper was designated for assignment by the Cubs. Listen to today's episode of Big Fish Small Pod for my take on that. The Rangers signed Johnny Cueto to a minor league deal. Mets catcher Francisco Álvarez expects to be out until July following thumb surgery. 🔷 Today's MLB game: the Marlins (probable starter RHP Sixto Sánchez) wrap up their road series against the Braves (RHP Reynaldo López). @Slacker Mills is getting his wish as Sánchez will be making his first start since the 2020 postseason. Christian Bethancourt (viral illness) is expected to be activated from the injured list and catch him. Sánchez is a glorified opener—he is only on three days' rest and hasn't exceeded 34 pitches in any appearance this season, so don't expect more than three innings even if he performs perfectly. The Marlins have a 31.3% chance to win, per FanGraphs. 🔷 Today's MiLB schedule: Triple-A Jacksonville at Memphis, 1:05 p.m. ET Double-A Pensacola vs. Biloxi, 12:05 p.m. ET High-A Beloit at Cedar Rapids, 7:35 p.m. ET Low-A Jupiter vs. Dunedin, 6:30 p.m. ET Marlins podcast episodes View full article

Big Fish Small Pod for Wednesday, April 24 Ely Sussman makes the case for Garrett Cooper and the Miami Marlins to reunite after the Chicago Cubs designated Cooper for assignment on Tuesday. Find Big Fish Small Pod on the Fish On First YouTube channel, our new-look Apple Podcasts channel and wherever else you get your pods. FOF's audio programming also includes The Offishial Show, Fish Unfiltered, Swimming Upstream and more. The Fish On First podcast is now being presented by MPT College Consulting! They pride themselves on helping clients navigate the college application process. This includes preparation for standardized testing, guidance through high school, assistance with essays and applications, and choosing the right college. Visit them today at mptcollegeconsulting.com to learn more about their services and schedule a free consultation. The Marlins shipped Cooper to the San Diego Padres at the 2023 trade deadline. In 53 combined games with the Padres and Cubs, he slashed .247/.328/.409 with five home runs and performed at replacement level overall. Cooper's short-term fit with the Fish would be as a Jake Burger fill-in while Burger rehabs from an intercostal strain. With Christian Bethancourt returning from the injured list on Wednesday, the Marlins could designate third-string catcher Jhonny Pereda for assignment (counting on him to clear waivers and remain in the organization) as a corresponding move to accompany the waiver claim. Otto López could be optioned to Triple-A to create an active roster spot for Coop. Barring setbacks, Burger is expected back in the bigs at some point in May. It would be redundant to have Burger, Cooper, Josh Bell and Avisaíl García crammed onto the same roster, but the Marlins can cross that bridge when they get there. In the meantime, why not do something cheap and easy to boost their competitive chances? Follow Ely (@RealEly) and Fish On First (@FishOnFirst) on Twitter. Join the Marlins Discord server! Complete Miami Marlins coverage here at FishOnFirst.com. View full article