Ely Sussman

Although Luzardo is under club control through the 2026 season, MLB insider Ken Rosenthal expects the Marlins to expedite their rebuild by moving him within the next two months. The Miami Marlins will be trade deadline sellers this year—that much we already knew. With their 2024 postseason aspirations quickly turning into a pipe dream, the only question has been how much veteran talent Peter Bendix would be willing to unload during his first season in charge of baseball operations. Wednesday on Foul Territory, Ken Rosenthal singled out left-hander Jesús Luzardo as the "the single player most likely to be traded" (not only on the Marlins, but among all 30 teams). "The Marlins are going to keep going," Rosenthal continued. "They traded (Luis) Arraez, they're gonna trade Luzardo as long as he stays healthy—he had a little flare-up physically earlier, but he's gone." Rosenthal is being hyperbolic here. Selling teams have the strongest incentives to trade pending free agents and red-hot relief pitchers. Tanner Scott, for example, fits in both of those categories and would undoubtedly have more value to a contender in August-October than he would to his current employer. It's a lower-stakes, more straightforward negotiation for "rentals" like him. Rosenthal presumably means Luzardo is the most available big-name player. Through his reporting as well as the Miami Herald and other outlets, we've heard that the Marlins had offseason talks with the Baltimore Orioles, San Diego Padres and Kansas City Royals regarding the 26-year-old. They could not reach an agreement and anointed Luzardo their Opening Day starter. As alluded to in Rosenthal's quote above, Luzardo was sidelined for three weeks earlier this season due to a left flexor muscle strain, but has pitched well since being reinstated from the injured list on May 11. Through nine total starts in 2024, he has posted a 4.18 ERA, 3.63 FIP and 1.2 bWAR, averaging more than 5 ⅔ innings per outing. This comes on the heels of a great 2023 campaign (3.58 ERA, 3.55 FIP, 4.0 bWAR in 178.2 IP) in which he set a Marlins single-season record for strikeouts by a left-hander (208). Luzardo may not be quite as famous as Arraez, but he would bring back even more talent in return. He's less expensive this season ($5.5M salary) and has an extra year of arbitration eligibility remaining (both 2025 and 2026). His player profile—a hard-throwing lefty starter with good control who consistently generates whiffs with his secondary stuff—has universal appeal. Understandably, the Marlins have set a sky-high asking price. My quibble with Rosenthal's report is, if nobody meets that price, Bendix has the leverage to stand pat and resume Luzardo negotiations during the winter. If Luzardo continues to start every fifth Marlins game, that would give him 10 more opportunities between now and July 30 to "audition" for buyers. View full article

Offishial News for 5/30/24 On Wednesday, seven different Marlins players recorded multiple hits! That included Jesús Sánchez snapping a 35-day homerless drought. Braxton Garrett (5.0 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 88 pitches/56 pitches) was solid and has issued only three walks through his first four starts of the season. Nick Gordon assisted him with an incredible play in left field to throw out Fernando Tatís Jr. The Marlins won, 9-1. It was tied for their second-largest margin of victory this season. Down on the farm, Triple-A Jacksonville lost, 12-1. Rehabbing Avisaíl García played the full game as the Jumbo Shrimp designated hitter, striking out three times and drawing a walk. INF Xavier Edwards went 2-for-3 with a walk and turned three double plays at shortstop. Double-A Pensacola won, 1-0, courtesy of a ninth-inning RBI single from INF/C Bennett Hostetler. High-A Beloit played 19 innings of baseball, winning 6-5 and losing 2-0. Batting leadoff for both games of the doubleheader, INF Yiddi Cappe went 5-for-10 at the plate. Low-A Jupiter won, 13-8. Lots of offensive standouts, especially C Ryan Ignoffo (3-for-4, 2 BB). FCL Marlins lost, 2-1. RHP Jesse Bergin returned to game action for the first time since September 2021. RHP Juan De La Cruz (3.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K) ought to be on his way up to the Hammerheads very soon. Here's more Marlins news and content for you: 🔷 The Marlins have a 10-8 record in series finales this season compared to 10-29 in all other games. Particularly when wrapping up a road series, they have thrived, going 7-2 under those circumstances with blowout wins in St. Louis, Oakland and now San Diego. 🔷 Through 18 Marlins series, @Nicholas Milton has gained sole possession of first place on the Prediction Time leaderboard. Make series predictions with us all season long when you become a Fish On First SuperSub. 🔷 Jacksonville RHP Elvis Alvarado, one of the hardest throwers in the Marlins organization, struggled early in the season, but has since thrown 10 consecutive no-hit innings. Alvarado suffered an apparent injury on Tuesday. Still, I like his chances of debuting for the Fish before season's end. 🔷 TicketRev and the Marlins announced a multi-year extension to their Make Your Pitch partnership. New for the 2024 season, fans can upgrade their current seats to an improved location on the day of a game through technology that "prioritizes fan flexibility and team profitability." 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, old friend Jorge López was designated for assignment by the Mets after tossing his glove into the stands and showing no remorse during his postgame interview. López had been performing very well prior to his last three outings, so I would not be shocked if another team claims him off waivers. Longtime infielder David Fletcher made his first professional start as a pitcher for Triple-A Gwinnett and it actually went okay (5.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 72 pitches/48 strikes). He threw 83% knuckleballs. The White Sox have lost eight in a row. Their 15-42 record is five games worse than the Marlins or any other MLB team. 🔷 Today's MiLB schedule: Triple-A Jacksonville vs. Durham, 7:05 p.m. ET Double-A Pensacola at Biloxi, 7:35 p.m. ET High-A Beloit vs. Dayton, 7:35 p.m. ET Low-A Jupiter at Daytona, 6:35 p.m. ET FCL Marlins at FCL Mets, 12:00 p.m. ET Marlins podcast episodes View full article

Welcome to FOF's 57th Miami Marlins game thread of the 2024 season. Tim Anderson takes a seat for the first time since returning from the injured list. SuperSubs can access exclusive game notes here. Pregame roster moves: none. Louis Addeo-Weiss will be writing the game recap.

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

Spread out over nine relief appearances, the Triple-A Jacksonville right-hander recorded 27 consecutive outs without allowing a hit. It could be a while until he pitches again, unfortunately. This was supposed to be a classic hype article about a red-hot Miami Marlins minor leaguer, an introduction to Elvis Alvarado for the many readers out there who have never even heard of the guy. Given Alvarado's recent success at the highest level of the minors, it was only natural to ask how close he might be to receiving his first career call-up. Alas, injuries suck, and the timing of Alvarado's was particularly cruel. Last week, I had taken notice of the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp reliever's extended hitless streak. He had not allowed a hit dating back to April 27, spanning 8 ⅔ consecutive innings. I tuned into Jacksonville's MiLB.TV broadcast on Tuesday night to see if he could record the final out to complete a "hidden no-hitter." Alvarado did it in the top of the seventh, painting a 99 mph sinker on the outside corner for a called third strike. Watch the whole faux no-no for yourself. However, watch until the very end and you can clearly see Alvarado reach for his right hamstring following the strikeout. (If I saw that from 1,000 miles away, how come the Jumbo Shrimp staff couldn't?) He continued pitching, facing three more batters—groundout, walk, groundout—to complete the inning. Then, the Shrimp sent Alvarado back out there for the eighth inning. He induced a pop out, he issued a walk, and then after delivering his first pitch to the next batter, he hobbled off the mound in pain. That ended the 25-year-old's outing and he walked gingerly to the dugout. Alvarado's hitless streak is now at 10 innings, but who knows how long it'll be before he has a chance to add to it. The streak on its own is not all that meaningful (Devin Smeltzer had a similar one for Jacksonville last season). Context is everything. Alvarado faced 34 batters to get through the first nine innings, striking out half of them, the vast majority on the strength of his sizzling fastball which accounts for 78% of his pitch usage. His average fastball velocity is 97.2 mph, which is higher than anybody on the Marlins major league pitching staff this season. He has thrown 13 pitches at or above 100.0 mph; meanwhile, no member of the 2024 Marlins has touched that mark. Watching every out of the streak, Alvarado didn't need much help from his defense. The balls put into play against him were largely uneventful, with the exception of a 105 mph lineout to second baseman Cristhian Rodriguez on May 12. Signed as a minor league free agent in January, Alvarado did not have any prior experience above the Double-A level. His transition to Triple-A was understandably turbulent. This hitless streak actually began on the same day that he was pecked hard by the Memphis Redbirds (1.1 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 2 K). He finished April with a 10.00 ERA, 7.56 FIP and more walks than strikeouts. In an attempt to improve his control, the Jacksonville coaching staff convinced Alvarado to "simplify" his delivery, per Jumbo Shrimp broadcaster Scott Kornberg. Based on my video review, he's been using the new delivery since April 25. Although his walk rate remains high, he's now getting ahead in the count more frequently, hence the big uptick in K's. 6xtpkz_1.mp4 The Marlins bullpen has performed solidly in recent weeks and JT Chargois' imminent return from the injured list will only make it more crowded. Especially in the aftermath of Alvarado's injury, now is not the time to guesstimate when his opportunity could come. I'm just saying, don't be fooled by the underwhelming overall numbers (4.82 ERA, 5.22 FIP, 1.61 WHIP in 18.2 IP). Alvarado is showing a lot of promise. View full article

Offishial news for 5/29/24 On Tuesday, Matt Waldron (7.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K, 85 pitches/67 strikes) baffled the Marlins lineup with his knuckleball. Josh Bell accounted for half of Miami's six hits. The Marlins lost, 4-0. Their streak of four consecutive winning series has been snapped. Down on the farm, Triple-A Jacksonville won, 8-3. Avisaíl García began his rehab assignment by going 1-for-4 and playing seven innings in right field. Fellow rehabber JT Chargois threw a perfect inning and looked sharp doing it. RHP Elvis Alvarado completed a "hidden no-hitter" dating back to April 27—he has now recorded 30 straight outs since allowing his last hit. Double-A Pensacola won, 3-0. C Joe Mack (FOF #25 prospect) hit his fifth home run of the season. RHP Jonathan Bermúdez (5.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 5 K, 88 pitches/50 strikes) is up to 50 strikeouts, which leads all Marlins minor leaguers. The 2024 Dominican Summer League schedule has been posted. DSL Marlins and DSL Miami both open their regular season on Monday. Here's more Marlins news and content for you: 🔷 Pictured above, Luis Arraez gifted Jake Burger one of his signed Marlins jerseys with the inscription: "To my brother Burger, I love you." 🔷 On this day in 2004, Mike Lowell’s walk-off blast in the 10th inning lifted the Marlins past the Mets. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, in the opening game of their 2023 World Series rematch, the Rangers beat the Diamondbacks, 4-2. The Phillies are in the midst of their first three-game losing streak of the season. The Guardians scored a season-high 13 runs and their sophomore sensation David Fry (3-for-5, HR, 3 RBI) was right in the middle of it. Fry's 212 wRC+ is the best in the majors among all hitters with at least 100 plate appearances. 🔷 Liván Hernández had the honor of banging the drum for the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena. The Panthers beat the Rangers to even up the Eastern Conference Final at 2-2. 🔷 Today's MLB game: the Marlins (probable starter LHP Braxton Garrett) take on the Padres (RHP Yu Darvish) to wrap up their road trip. The Marlins have a 41.5% chance to win, per FanGraphs. First pitch at 4:10 p.m. ET. 🔷 Today's MiLB schedule: Triple-A Jacksonville vs. Durham, 7:05 p.m. ET Double-A Pensacola at Biloxi, 7:35 p.m. ET High-A Beloit vs. Dayton, 5:00 p.m. ET (doubleheader) Low-A Jupiter at Daytona, 6:35 p.m. ET FCL Marlins at FCL Nationals, 12:00 p.m. ET Marlins podcast episodes View full article

Spread out over nine relief appearances, flame-throwing Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp right-hander Elvis Alvarado pitched nine innings without allowing a hit. Watch all 27 outs here. View full video

Welcome to FOF's 56th Miami Marlins game thread of the 2024 season. Jesús Luzardo enters this contest with a 14-inning scoreless streak and he's facing a San Diego Padres offense that's far weaker against left-handers (90 wRC+) than righties (118 wRC+). SuperSubs can access exclusive game notes here. Pregame roster moves: none. Nate Karzmer will be writing the game recap.

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

Offishial news for 5/28/24 On Monday, Trevor Rogers (5.1 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 90 pitches/52 strikes) had sharp command during his good outing against the Padres. For the first time this season, Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a home run and stole a base in the same game. Tim Anderson made two errors in the bottom of the seventh inning—the second one was especially egregious—that set up Jake Cronenworth's go-ahead RBI walk. Luis Arraez went 1-for-4 against his former team. The Marlins lost, 2-1. Down on the farm, less than a year after being drafted out of high school, LHP Thomas White and RHP Noble Meyer have both been promoted from Low-A Jupiter to High-A Beloit. White and Meyer are ranked as Fish On First's No. 1 and No. 2 Marlins prospects, respectively. LHP Keyner Benitez is moving into Jupiter's starting rotation in a corresponding move (learn more about Benitez here). On the field, Jupiter won, 5-1. C Ryan Ignoffo went 2-for-5 with a solo homer. FCL Marlins won, 4-0. Six pitchers combined for a one-hit shutout, led by LHP Luis Cesar (4.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K). Here's more Marlins news and content for you: 🔷 The Marlins brought back Xavier Edwards (left foot infection) from the injured list and optioned him to Triple-A Jacksonville, designating reliever Eli Villalobos for assignment in order to give Edwards his 40-man roster spot back. Also, it's looking like Avisaíl García (left hamstring strain) could be back on the Marlins active roster next week as he's beginning a Triple-A rehab assignment tonight (JT Chargois is scheduled to make another rehab appearance for the Jumbo Shrimp tonight as well). A reminder to bookmark our Marlins injury/rehab tracker for daily updates! 🔷 Hector Rodriguez unveiled the first version of his 2024 Marlins mock draft, simulating the first three rounds (first four selections) from Miami's perspective. 🔷 On the latest episode of Fish On First LIVE, we talked about the main weakness of San Diego's lineup, the prospects that the Marlins received in the Arraez trade, Ronald Acuña Jr.'s season-ending injury 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. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, notorious umpire Ángel Hernández has retired. Known for having an inconsistent, pitcher-friendly strike zone and frequently making himself the center of attention, Hernández had been umping MLB games since 1991. The Rockies snapped the Guardians' nine-game winning streak, though José Ramírez is now up to 54 RBI this season, seven more than any other big leaguer. The White Sox became the first MLB team this season to reach 40 losses. They are on pace to lose 118, which would shatter their single-season franchise record. 🔷 Today's MLB game: the Marlins (probable starter LHP Jesús Luzardo) visit the Padres (RHP Matt Waldron). The Marlins have a 47.1% chance to win, per FanGraphs. First pitch at 9:40 p.m. ET. 🔷 Today's MiLB schedule: Triple-A Jacksonville vs. Durham, 7:05 p.m. ET Double-A Pensacola at Biloxi, 7:35 p.m. ET High-A Beloit vs. Dayton, 7:35 p.m. ET Marlins podcast episodes View full article

Welcome to FOF's 55th Miami Marlins game thread of the 2024 season. This will be Luis Arraez's first time playing against the Marlins since 2019. SuperSubs can access exclusive game notes here. Pregame roster moves: INF Xavier Edwards returned from rehab, reinstated from 60-day IL and optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville; RHP Eli Villalobos designated for assignment. Kevin Barral will be writing the game recap.

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

Garrett is the posterchild for why it's important to look under the hood at FIP. His ERA has been bloated by inherited runners who scored after he exited his start, whereas a starter's FIP is unaffected by how the relievers behind him perform. On the other hand, Sánchez is an example of how FIP can also be misleading. He fares well in this stat because he prevents homers. Still, he makes a lot of mistakes over the heart of the plate and consistently gets hit hard. FIP treats this as bad luck rather than recognizing his stuff is simply more hittable than his peers.

You picked a smart game to go to. For whatever reason, they have played their best this season in series finales (9-8 record in those situations).

Big Fish Small Pod for 5/27/24 Ely Sussman shares recent stats and observations about prospects from each full-season level of the Miami Marlins farm system: Triple-A Jacksonville OF Griffin Conine, Double-A Pensacola 1B Nathan Martorella, High-A Beloit RHP Nigel Belgrave and Low-A Jupiter OF Colby Shade. 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. Griffin Conine has spent nearly four years in the Marlins org after coming over from the Blue Jays in the 2020 Jonathan Villar trade. He's streaky at the plate and this is one of his fiery stretches, with a 1.015 OPS over his last three series. That raises his slash line this season to .237/.349/.466, almost perfectly aligned with his minor league career averages. Conine's 29.8% strikeout rate in 2024 is on pace to be his lowest since short-season ball in 2018, and it marks a significant improvement from his 38.5 K% at Triple-A last season. Nathan Martorella (FOF #9 prospect) was acquired from the San Diego Padres in the Luis Arraez trade. Surprisingly, he's being utilized more often in left field (11 starts) than first base (seven starts). Martorella is in the midst of a deep slump, recording hits in only three of his last 40 at-bats. His groundball rate (25.5%) is lower than anybody else's in the Marlins org who's gotten comparable playing time this season and he's frequently pulling the ball, yet it has not led to any homers. A 2023 Marlins draft pick, Nigel Belgrave is seemingly on the fast track to joining Miami's big league bullpen. Split evenly between Low-A and High-A, he has posted a sparkling 1.11 ERA and 0.74 WHIP this season. Belgrave's slider is quickly emerging as a plus-plus pitch, proving to be especially dominant against righties. He could rise to Double-A by season's end. Another recent draftee, Colby Shade is serving as Jupiter's everyday center fielder. He has gone 16-for-17 on stolen base attempts on a Hammerheads team that leads all Low-A affiliate with 106 steals. Although he's homered only twice in 150 plate appearances, that's tied for the team lead! 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