Ely Sussman

On Tuesday, Tyler Anderson flummoxed the Marlins lineup, working seven scoreless, efficient innings. Jesús Luzardo faired well except when facing Aaron Hicks, whose solo home run gave the Angels an early lead that they held the rest of the night. The Marlins lost, 3-1. As Glenn Geffner points out, they're in danger of joining the 1988 Braves as the only teams in MLB's modern era to open a season with a winless homestand of seven or more games. Down on the farm, Tristan Gray and Will Banfield (AAA) hit their first homers of the season and Anthony Maldonado sealed a 5-3 win for Jacksonville with two scoreless innings of relief. Double-A Pensacola's exhibition game against Sultanes de Monterrey of the Mexican League ended in a 1-1 tie. Here's more Marlins news and content for you: 🔷 Transactions: The Marlins traded cash considerations to the Diamondbacks for Emmanuel Rivera. Rivera is expected to meet the team in St. Louis and handle a lot of the duties that were originally supposed to belong to Jon Berti. Think of Rivera as a slower version of Berti with two extra years of club control. Prospect Jacob Amaya was designated for assignment in a corresponding move. Amaya joins Vladimir Gutierrez in DFA limbo. 🔷 Read more from Louis Addeo-Weiss about Rivera's fit with his new team and from me about the bizarre sell-low approach they're taking with Amaya. 🔷 Zach Neto has made his presence felt during the ongoing series against the Angels. The Miami native plays with "a little edge" when back in his hometown, he tells Kevin Barral. 🔷 Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald is already looking ahead to the tough decisions that the Marlins could face at the trade deadline. 🔷 Recently recalled Kent Emanuel was once the poster child for college baseball's pitcher overuse problem, explains Michael Baumann of FanGraphs. 🔷 My daily player spotlight is dedicated to Bryan Hoeing. He's made two great long relief appearances so far this season. After yielding a .980 OPS to left-handed batters in 2023, he has retired all seven that he's faced in 2024. For better or worse, I'll spotlight a different Marlins player in each Offishial News article moving forward. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, old friend Garrett Cooper was a single shy of the cycle for the Cubs and even played left field in the final innings of a blowout win. Another old friend, Jorge Soler, mashed his first home run as a member of the Giants. Entering Tuesday without any hits this season, Bryce Harper homered three times against the Reds. Through his first two starts in 2024, Shane Bieber still hasn't allowed a run, striking out 20 batters while only walking one. 🔷 Today's game: the Marlins (probable starter LHP A.J. Puk) host the Angels (LHP Patrick Sandoval) at 1:10 p.m. ET. The Marlins have a 53.7% chance to win the series finale, per FanGraphs. Then again, their model has favored them in each of the last six games as well and gone 0-for-6. 🔷 Unconventional Fish On First LIVE schedule for us this week due to afternoon series openers. Our Cardinals series preview show will be streaming tonight at 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. Marlins podcast episodes

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.

In a depleted Miami Marlins farm system, Jacob Amaya stood out for his solid shortstop defense and well-rounded plate approach...and the Marlins could potentially lose him for nothing? They surprisingly designated Amaya for assignment on Tuesday as the corresponding 40-man roster move for Emmanuel Rivera, who has been acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks. Quite frankly, I don't get it. Fish On First was higher than most outlets on Amaya entering the 2024 season, ranking him as our No. 7 Marlins prospect. Not by much, though: MLB Pipeline ranked him ninth and Baseball America ranked him 11th. Conceding that Yiddi Cappe is destined to move off of shortstop, Amaya was seemingly the top internal option that the Marlins had at the position. In 2023, his first season in the Marlins organization, Amaya played 128 games for Triple-A Jacksonville, slashing .252/.345/.407 (89 wRC+) with 15 home runs and six stolen bases. That included 117 starts at shortstop. b25Ld1FfV0ZRVkV3dEdEUT09X1VsVURBVjBHVWdjQURsb0FCQUFBQmdSZUFBQldCbFlBQlZ3R1ZRUUFWQUJXQ0FGZg==.mp4 Amaya earned his first MLB call-up in June, though stuck around for only four games. The Marlins entrusted the shortstop position to veterans instead (Joey Wendle, Jon Berti and Garrett Hampson). After being optioned, he OPS'd just .700, which translates to a mediocre 81 wRC+ in the offensively charged International League. Fast-forward to this spring, Amaya did not get substantial reps in Grapefruit League play and was optioned back to Jacksonville two weeks in advance of Opening Day. When the Marlins traded Berti on March 27, Jonah Bride was recalled to take his spot over Amaya. Amaya has his warts, including below-average athleticism which hinders his batted ball quality and baserunning value. In the minors, his production has been underwhelming against right-handed pitching. It was difficult to envision him as a true everyday starter in the majors. Even so, Baseball Trade Values estimated that he had $6.7M in median surplus value, far above what we typically see for a DFA'd player (and far above several other Marlins 40-man players). Clearly, the Marlins did not value him as highly internally. Current Marlins shortstop Tim Anderson is only signed through this season and it's still premature to say that he'll rebound from his abysmal 2023 campaign. Berti has been dealt and slick-fielding Nasim Nuñez, who wasn't protected from the Rule 5 Draft, remains with the Washington Nationals. What is the team's plan moving forward to address this crucial position? Why the rush to DFA Amaya at this early stage of the season? In the short term, Tristan Gray and José Devers should get most of the shortstop reps for the Jumbo Shrimp. I'll wait to see where Amaya lands and what the Marlins get in return for him before rushing the judgement, but this looks on the surface like an unforced sell-low situation.

On Monday, the Marlins jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning of Max Meyer's return from Tommy John surgery. Meyer was solid (5.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 1 HR), but Mike Trout tagged him for one of the longest home runs in LoanDepot Park history. The bullpen was horrible behind Meyer with Tanner Scott walking the bases loaded, enabling the game-winning run to score on a grounder to Luis Arraez. Arraez reached base safely five times (2-for-2, 3 BB), but only scored the first time as this offense continues to be impotent against opposing relievers. The Marlins lost, 7-4, and they're in the midst of their first season-opening, five-game losing streak in franchise history. Here's more Marlins news and content for you: 🔷 It's the same s*** as 2023 with regards to grounding into double plays. The Marlins have hit into 10(!) of them through five games, which is most in Major League Baseball. They led MLB last season with 159 GIDP. 🔷 Nice milestone for Meyer, of course, but his changeup still looks fringy at best. That's the pitch Trout took deep 473 feet, and most other times Meyer threw it, the result was non-competitive balls. 🔷 On the bright side, Monday was the best defensive game that the Marlins have played so far this season. Still a long way to go for them to be competent in that area. 🔷 Transactions: Kent Emanuel was selected from Triple-A Jacksonville to serve as a fresh arm in place of Vladimir Gutierrez, who was designated for assignment. Can't say I agree with that one. Would have made more sense to call up a reliever who's already on the 40-man roster rather than risk losing Gutierrez off waivers. Gutierrez still has minor league options left. 🔷 Injury updates: Braxton Garrett (shoulder) will go three innings/50 pitches in extended spring training today. He and Edward Cabrera (shoulder) are on very similar trajectories, due back in the Marlins rotation in late April. Josh Simpson (elbow) is also throwing in extended spring today. The lefty reliever could be activated from the IL even sooner barring setbacks. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, Ronel Blanco threw a no-hitter for the Astros. Francys Romero notes that Blanco was originally signed by Astros scouts Oz Ocampo and Roman Ocumarez, who are now in charge of the Marlins' international scouting department. Mike Clevinger (1/$3M) re-signed with the White Sox. Aside from the Marlins, the White Sox and Mets are MLB's only remaining winless teams. 🔷 Today's game: the Marlins (probable starter LHP Jesús Luzardo) host the Angels (LHP Tyler Anderson) at 6:40 p.m. ET. I suspect an Avisaíl García start. 🔷 The Marlins have updated the pageskins on the desktop version of their website. They now feature Luzardo, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Jake Burger. In 2023, Chisholm, Sandy Alcantara and Jorge Soler were featured. Marlins podcast episodes

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.

On Sunday, the Marlins blew an early 5-0 and lost to the Pirates in 10 innings. Jazz Chisholm Jr. accounted for most of their offense with a grand slam, Avisaíl García tacked on a solo homer and Nick Gordon forced extras with a pinch-hit blast off of David Bednar. However, Miami's pitching and defense continue to disappoint, plus Skip Schumaker deployed newly promoted long man Vladimir Gutierrez to preserve a late-inning lead rather than pursue a victory with more urgency. The club's 0-4 record is the worst in the National League and the worst start to any Marlins season since 2001. Here's more Marlins news and content for you: 🔷 The Friday-Sunday games were played with the roof open. Chisholm said "it was kinda hard to adjust to" the shadows considering that the Marlins play the vast majority of their home games with the roof closed. Extremely weak excuse. 🔷 García responded to the loud boos he's been receiving from Marlins fans. The latest Big Fish Small Pod episode includes my take on that situation. Please subscribe to Fish On First wherever you get your podcasts! 🔷 Edward Cabrera (right shoulder impingement) made his first rehab start with Triple-A Jacksonville: 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 2 K (43 pitches/20 strikes). Expect him to make two or three more appearances there to fully stretch out as a starter and to sharpen his control. 🔷 Sunday's State of the Fish call-in show was more fun than I anticipated despite the team's lousy circumstances. Join us throughout the season on Sundays at 6:00 p.m. ET. 🔷 Every Monday (until they are firmly out of contention), I will update the Marlins' playoff odds. Per FanGraphs, those have been cut in half over the last week, from 28.7% to 14.4%. 🔷 Also every Monday, I'll highlight the top performers with Marlins minor league affiliates. It isn't crazy to ponder the possibility of Griffin Conine getting called up at some point in 2024. Kevin Barral went deeper on who else stood out for Triple-A Jacksonville during their opening weekend. 🔷 Sixto Sánchez pitched twice against the Pirates, his first-ever major league regular season appearances with fans in attendance. "I'm going to give all I've got to show them who I can be," he told Christina De Nicola of MLB.com. Sánchez is still searching for his first strikeout of the season. 🔷 Today's game: the Marlins (probable starter RHP Max Meyer) host the Angels (Chase Silseth). Alex Krutchik spoke to Meyer about making his "second debut" as a big leaguer after his 2022 MLB stint was cut short by an elbow injury and subsequent Tommy John surgery. 🔷 Fish On First LIVE has returned to its twice-a-week schedule as we stream prior to every Marlins series opener. Join us tonight from 5:30-6:30 p.m. ET on YouTube/Twitter/Facebook. SuperSubs are encouraged to make 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. Marlins podcast episodes

Every Monday during the 2024 Minor League Baseball season, I'll be checking in with the top performers across all Miami Marlins minor league affiliates. Triple-A baseball has gotten a head start on the other full-season affiliates, so this first installment has only three Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp games to work with. The Pensacola Blue Wahoos, Beloit Sky Carp and Jupiter Hammerheads will begin their campaigns in time for next week's roundup. Highlighted names in the tables below are players ranked on our Fish On First Top 30 prospects list. Pitcher notes Yonny Chirinos carried a no-hitter through five innings during his start on Saturday before a rough third trip through the Gwinnett Stripers lineup left a dent in his final line. Rehabbing Edward Cabrera kept runs off the board, but it wasn't a particularly impressive performance. He threw only 46.5% of his pitches for strikes. Position player notes Griffin Conine was the only player to record hits in each of the first three Jumbo Shrimp games. Conine hit just .225 when he got his first taste of the Triple-A level last season, but he received high praise around Marlins camp this spring for the adjustments he's made since then. It will be important to monitor how the lefty-swinging Conine does against a larger sample of left-handed pitching considering that the Shrimp strictly platooned him in 2023.

Ely Sussman discusses the comments made by Miami Marlins outfielder Avisaíl García and the root of fans' dissatisfaction with him. Here is the Miami Herald article containing the García quotes referenced on the pod. 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.

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.