Ely Sussman

When there's still some hope of a competitive game, Garcia batting against a righty under any circumstances is indefensible, yes.

Converted reliever A.J. Puk explains what went wrong during his first start in the Miami Marlins rotation. Puk was knocked out in the third inning on Friday against the Pirates and issued six walks. View full video

Watch every scoring play from the Jumbo Shrimp's 5-4 victory over the Gwinnett Stripers. View full video

As a reminder entering this game, one of my preseason bold predictions was for A.J. Puk to be an All-Star in 2024 😬 Not expecting many starts beyond 5 innings from him, but optimistic that whatever innings he gives will be high quality.

Welcome to FOF's second Miami Marlins game thread of the 2024 season. The roof is open at LoanDepot Park! SuperSubs can access exclusive game notes here. Fair to say this Marlins lineup is not a particularly popular one, huh? Enjoy live on-site coverage via 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... View full article

Marlins news roundup for 3/29/24 On Thursday, 32,564 fans came out to Little Havana for Opening Day. They witnessed Sixto Sánchez's return from a three-year injury hiatus (and his first career blown save), plus the Marlins regular season debuts of Tim Anderson, Christian Bethancourt, Declan Cronin, Vidal Bruján and Jonah Bride. Reigning National League batting champion Luis Arraez had an unprecedented 0-for-6 game and the Marlins as a whole went 2-for-17 with runners in scoring position (so did the Pirates). The Marlins lost to the Pirates, 6-5 in 12 innings. Here's more Marlins news and content for you: 🔷 I have uploaded Cronin, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Loud Miami Fan GIFs from Opening Day to our Fish On First GIF Database. Become a SuperSub for as little as $4 per month to download and use them yourself! 🔷 The Marlins are now 10 years removed from the last time they won a season opener with fans in the stands (excluding 2020). 🔷 Nice to see Bally Sports Florida add instant pitch type identification to their scorebug. 🔷 Four different guests joined myself and the Fish On First staff on the two-hour regular season premiere of FOF LIVE. These were our series predictions. 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. 🔷 Seven Marlins players began the season on the major league injured list: Sandy Alcantara (60-day IL, Tommy John surgery); Edward Cabrera (15-day IL, right shoulder impingement); JT Chargois (15-day IL, neck spasms); Braxton Garrett (15-day IL, left shoulder impingement); Eury Pérez (15-day IL, right elbow inflammation); Josh Simpson (15-day IL, left elbow ulnar neuritis); and Xavier Edwards (10-day IL, left foot infection). 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, the Diamondbacks obliterated the Rockies on the strength of a 14-run third inning. Tyler O'Neill (Red Sox) set a record by homering in his fifth consecutive Opening Day game. Ultra-talented but oft-injured Twins infielder Royce Lewis suffered a quad strain that will probably send him to the IL. 🔷 There are 80 more Marlins home games throughout the rest of the season. Don't go to LoanDepot Park without consulting this new, thorough ballpark guide assembled by Noah Berger. 🔷 First pitch is at 7:10 p.m. ET tonight with probable starters LHP A.J. Puk and LHP Martin Pérez. It will be Puk's first career start in the majors. The Marlins have a 57.8% chance to win, according to FanGraphs. 🔷 Tonight is also the 2024 season opener for the Triple-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (7:05 p.m. ET first pitch), hosting the Gwinnett Stripers (Braves affiliate). Marlins podcast episodes View full article

Big Fish Small Pod for Friday, March 29, 2024 Ely Sussman recaps Thursday's thrilling but ultimately deflating Miami Marlins loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. More insight here from Kevin Barral, who covered the game from the pressbox. 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. 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

And...here...we...go. Welcome to FOF's first Miami Marlins game thread of the 2024 season! SuperSubs can access exclusive game notes here. The staff and I will be livestreaming leading up to first pitch, as will be the case prior to every Marlins series opener. Enjoy live on-site coverage via Kevin Barral, Noah Berger and Danis Sosa (photos).

Player status updates, insightful stats and more information to fully equip you for today's Marlins game. Happy Opening Day! Here are the latest Miami Marlins game notes, produced by the Marlins communications department and relayed to our loyal SuperSubs... View full article

I'll warn you one last time about Sixto: won't be a starter this season! I'll savor every pitch he throws, though.

Marlins news roundup for 3/28/24 For anybody who's unfamiliar, I compose these Marlins news roundups every weekday morning. The 2024 Opening Day edition is particularly meaty... 🔷 A day away from embarking on his sixth season in the Marlins organization, Jon Berti has been shipped to the Yankees as part of a three-team trade. Jonah Bride is expected to slide into his vacated active roster spot, per SportsGrid's Craig Mish. 🔷 Kevin Barral has more on the outfield prospects that the Marlins received in return, John Cruz and Shane Sasaki. Cruz is bigger asset of the two. He'll rank in the top half of our Fish On First Top 30 prospects list when we next update it. 🔷 Here are Marlins season predictions from 15 FOF staffers and contributors. We kept it simple, just forecasting Miami's win-loss record and team MVP. As is typically the case, my prediction was relatively pessimistic. 🔷 The Marlins made another tiny trade with the Rays, acquiring right-hander Burch Smith from the Rays for cash considerations. Smith will be in the Opening Day bullpen, according to Peter Bendix. 🔷 FOF can confirm that Declan Cronin and Bryan Hoeing also earned bullpen jobs, which seeming fills out the roster. Non-roster invitee Vladimir Gutierrez missed the cut, but accepted an assignment to Triple-A (rather than opting out of his minor league contract). 🔷 The Marlins announced a partnership that makes SeatGeek the "official ticketing marketplace" of the team and LoanDepot Park as a whole. Also, the Marlins appointed Myrna Vaca as executive director of the Miami Marlins Foundation. 🔷 The Triple-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp and Double-A Pensacola Blue Wahoos finally announced their coaching staffs. Same managers as last season. Traditionally, minor league coaching staffs are made public before spring training rather than cutting it so close to their season openers. 🔷 Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald details the full-circle journey that has taken Jesús Luzardo from Marlins fan to Marlins ace. 🔷 Son Los Marlins writes about how the Marlins' pitching depth is being tested immediately. 🔷 Nick Gordon and Jazz Chisholm Jr. collaborated on a hip-hop single, "Upset Your Maker." It's...not awful! 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, David Rubenstein received unanimous approval from the other MLB owners to begin new control person of the Orioles. Will Smith (10/$140M) signed a contract extension with the Dodgers that runs through the 2033 season. 🔷 Today's on-site Marlins game coverage will be handled by Kevin Barral and Noah Berger. There is a "parade to the park" starting around 1:00 p.m. at Domino Park. Gates to ballpark open at 2:00 p.m. The roof might be open—we'll find out closer to first pitch. The first 30,000 fans to get there receive rally towels (doesn't seem as though they're going to draw 30,000 anyway). Pregame ceremonies on the field begin at 3:30 p.m. Luzardo and Mitch Keller are the probable starters. 🔷 Can't be there in person? Join us virtually for a two-hour special edition of Fish On First LIVE instead, streaming on YouTube/Twitter/Facebook. In addition to FOF panelists, we're expecting four special guests to drop by. We encourage SuperSubs to make series predictions—we'll track your Prediction Time points on a leaderboard throughout the 2024 season. 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. Marlins podcast episodes View full article

Perfect. Yeah, super simple just like this 👆🏻 for anybody else submitting.

Yes, extremely awkward timing. Actually a good career move for Berti who should get even more playing time initially with the Yankees (mostly at 3B) than he would've in Miami. But you'd like to see a team provide one of its longtime players with more advance notice so it doesn't turn their life upside-down.

My money would be on Vladimir Gutierrez or Mychal Givens, depending on which kind of pitching staff need arises first.

Watch all seven homers that new Marlins prospect Shane Sasaki hit for the High-A Bowling Green Hot Rods in 2023. View full video