Ely Sussman

Highlights of the performances that earned Griffin Conine (first team), Yiddi Cappe (second team) and Thomas White (second team) selections to the inaugural All-Spring Breakout Team. View full video

One of the most impressive swings of the entire spring when accounting for the pitch location and count. I don't think he would've been able to do that last year. His ABs vs. RHP look so much better right now, even ignoring results.

Highlights and observations from an eventful Monday afternoon in Jupiter. These are merely exhibition games, but Jake Burger has been lost at the plate for the Miami Marlins throughout spring training. Burger entered Monday's game against the Houston Astros with a repulsive .121/.147/.152 slash line in 34 Grapefruit League plate appearances. He wasn't passing the eye test, either—he has frequently been late on fastballs and caught guessing on secondary stuff. Given his relatively brief track record of MLB regular season success, it was reasonable to be a bit worried about whether the corner infielder can pick up where he left off in 2023 as an everyday, middle-of-the-order run producer. Well, Burger is still plenty capable of punishing mistakes. He ripped a 432-foot solo shot to left field off of venerable closer Josh Hader in the bottom of the sixth inning. The context is rather important here. Hader was not his usual self, struggling with both fastball velocity and location on Monday. Jazz Chisholm Jr. took him yard in the very next plate appearance, also against a 94 mph fastball that Hader misplaced. Hader proceeded to allow two more hits and got yanked before completing the inning. That being said, it's reassuring to have some evidence that the Burger hasn't been sapped of his outstanding raw power. The Marlins added a third long ball in the bottom of the ninth when Dane Myers delivered a walk-off solo blast off of Cole McDonald. elpLZDVfVlZjPV9Wd2dEQndGV1Z3SUFYbEFCWGdBQVVBVlRBQUFFQWxrQVZnUlVBZ0VFVlFJSEFRRUM=.mp4 Does Givens get a spot? Also worth noting from the 6-5 Marlins win, recently signed righty reliever Mychal Givens pitched in his first spring training game. Givens has more major league experience than any other pitcher in Marlins camp and numerous injuries have seemingly created an opening for the non-roster invitee. The question is how much of his stuff and command can he recapture after being derailed by injuries of his own in 2023. Givens matched up against Astros minor leaguers in the top of the fifth. His scoreless inning included a Will Wagner groundout, a David Hensley single, a Trey Cabbage lineout, a Tommy Sacco Jr. walk and a César Salazar strikeout. He used his full arsenal (four-seamer, sinker, changeup and slider). There's time for Givens to make two more Grapefruit League appearances, ideally against stronger competition. Astros lift off vs. birthday boy Celebrating his 28th birthday, Darren McCaughan replaced Marlins scheduled starter Bryan Hoeing on relatively short notice. The Astros lineup did not take it easy on the soft-tossing right-hander. McCaughan (3.1 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 1 HR, 65 pitches/40 strikes) allowed eight Houston baserunners, including a home run to Trey Cabbage. He worked a clean third inning, but was otherwise pitching with constant traffic around him. Hoeing later entered out of the bullpen and handled the sixth and seventh innings. Latest camp cuts Prior to the game, the Marlins reassigned NRIs C Will Banfield, INF Tristan Gray, INF/OF Javier Sanoja and LHP Devin Smeltzer to minor league camp. Banfield was the most productive of the bunch in Grapefruit League action. Our 20th-ranked Marlins prospect, Banfield's biggest flaw has been his lack of plate discipline, so it was highly encouraging to see him strike out only once in 17 plate appearances (albeit while primarily facing minor league backups). He is well-positioned to make his MLB debut at some point in 2024 if either Christian Bethancourt or Nick Fortes miss time due to injuries. Banfield could even overtake Fortes on the depth chart if there isn't an early-season uptick in his offensive production. Sanoja (FOF's #23 prospect) likewise excelled in the bat-to-ball department this spring, but that was to be expected of him. He also dabbled at five different defensive positions. Gray came to Jupiter as a sleeper to earn an active roster spot. The Tim Anderson signing halted his momentum. Gray's approach vs. left-handed pitchers still needs improvement. Smeltzer has not cracked 90 mph with any of the 149 pitches he's thrown this spring. The Marlins would have to be really desperate for a fresh arm to call him up during the season. What's next? The Marlins will be playing split-squad road games on Tuesday against the St. Louis Cardinals (1:05 p.m.) and Houston Astros (6:05 p.m.). Yonny Chirinos is Miami's probable starter vs. St. Louis while A.J. Puk gets the nod for the night game. Fish On First's Noah Berger will be on the scene for both contests. View full article

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 3/18/24 Fish On First is providing extensive coverage on location throughout Marlins spring training. Click here to keep up with our latest updates. 🔷 On Sunday, Dane Myers went 3-for-4 with an opposite-field home run, raising his Grapefruit League slash line to .407/.467/.667. Sixto Sánchez tossed two perfect innings and he did it on only three days' rest (uncharted territory for somebody who previously worked on a starter's schedule). The Marlins lost, 7-6, on a José Iglesias walk-off home run. 🔷 Every Sunday throughout the 2024 season, we'll be hosting State of the Fish on the @MarlinsSpaces Twitter account, taking your questions about the Marlins. Fish On First SuperSubs get top priority! Here is the full recording of the latest episode. 🔷 We are bracing for bad news about Eury Pérez, who is being evaluated by doctors after experiencing right elbow soreness. Pérez had been attempting to pitch with a broken fingernail during his previous few appearances. 🔷 In Pérez's absence, there are four left-handed pitchers firmly locked into the Marlins starting rotation. Over the course of the season, we are likely to see a new franchise record set for most starts made by lefties. 🔷 Jolly Olive chronicles the rise and sudden fall of Josh Johnson. He's still the Marlins' all-time leader in career wins above replacement (both fWAR and bWAR). 🔷 From Christina De Nicola of MLB.com: with the Marlins pitching staff thinned by injuries, look out for Ryan Weathers, George Soriano, Sixto Sánchez, Mychal Givens and Bryan Hoeing. 🔷 Today's game: the Marlins (RHP Darren McCaughan) host the Astros (RHP Hunter Brown) at 1:10 p.m. No television coverage. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, the Cardinals signed manager Oli Marmol to a two-year contract extension. Marlins podcast episodes Fish On First podcast (presented by MPT College Consulting): From the rest of the community: View full article

Big Fish Small Pod for Monday, March 18, 2024 After spending a full week around Miami Marlins spring training, Ely Sussman came away impressed by Sixto Sánchez, in awe of Luis Arraez and disappointed with the Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium fan experience. 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

At least for the early portion of the 2024 season, southpaws are projected to start the vast majority of Miami's games. In society at large, only about one of every 10 people are left-handed. Baseball isn't representative of the entire population, though. While throwing righty is a pre-requisite for playing second base, third base, shortstop and catcher, all other positions welcome a diversity in handedness. Batters can track a righty's pitches from the mound to home plate with greater clarity when standing on the opposite side of the plate. To counteract that, every MLB team uses lefty arms to reclaim the platoon advantage in some of those situations. During the 2023 season, 48,691 of 184,110 total MLB plate appearances (26.4%) involved left-handed pitchers. The Miami Marlins were especially lefty-reliant. Braxton Garrett and Jesús Luzardo were constants in their starting rotation. Several of the club's most-trusted relievers also operated from the left side. Overall, lefties combined to work nearly half (45.7%) of their plate appearances. After coming up just shy of setting a handedness-related franchise record last year, the Marlins could shatter it in 2024. Garrett, Luzardo and various other southpaws combined to make 71 starts in 2023. The Marlins' single-season record is 72 starts made by lefties, according to Stathead, set by the 2007 Fish and matched in 2008. That looks extremely beatable this season, in large part due to injuries. Nearly half of last season's Marlins starts went to right-handers Sandy Alcantara (28 starts), Edward Cabrera (20), Eury Pérez (19) and Johnny Cueto (10). Alcantara is expected to miss all of 2024 due to Tommy John surgery rehab, while Cabrera and Pérez will miss an undetermined amount of time with arm injuries of their own. Cueto's major league career appears to be over. Even Miami's most-used opener, JT Chargois (five starts), is going to be on the IL early on. Who will fill in for them? Primarily lefties A.J. Puk, Ryan Weathers and Trevor Rogers. Puk is making the transition from reliever to starter and I'm very optimistic about how he'll handle his new role. Weathers is a former first-round draft pick who the Marlins acquired from the San Diego Padres last year. Injuries limited Rogers to only four starts in 2023. Barring any additional health hiccups during the final week of Grapefruit League action, the Marlins' Opening Day rotation will include Luzardo, Puk, Weathers and Rogers. The fifth and final spot will likely go to a righty such as Max Meyer or Bryan Hoeing, but Garrett (shoulder soreness) is on track to be stretched out as a starter by mid-April. Looking beyond the 40-man roster, lefties Patrick Monteverde, Devin Smeltzer, Kent Emanuel and Luis Palacios could potentially be called upon for spot starts over the course of the season. In case you're curious, the all-time single-season record for left-handed pitcher starts by an MLB team is 127 by the 1983 New York Yankees. While I don't foresee the Marlins challenging that mark, they could plausibly reach triple digits. Coincidentally, the 2018 Boston Red Sox were the last team whose LHPs made 100-plus starts, and they rode those arms to a World Series title. View full article

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

The Marlins' sophomore right-hander now has injury concerns that go far beyond a broken fingernail. The Miami Marlins' pitching depth has gradually dried up over the course of spring training, but Saturday brought the most deflating setback of them all: Eury Pérez experienced right elbow soreness following his most recent start (as first reported by the New York Post's Jon Heyman). He'll be visiting Dr. Keith Meister to be evaluated further. Pérez lived up to his top prospect hype during his rookie season, posting a 3.15 ERA, 4.11 FIP and 1.4 fWAR in 19 major league starts last year. After logging 128 total innings between Double-A and MLB, the hope was he'd be able to stick in Miami's rotation for practically all of the 2024 campaign. Instead, he'll join Braxton Garrett (left shoulder soreness) and Edward Cabrera (right shoulder impingement) on the season-opening injured list. The 20-year-old Pérez was unable to take part in the 2023 Marlins postseason run due to SI joint inflammation. However, he seemingly reported to spring training in perfect health. He exited his March 2 start prematurely after suffering a broken fingernail. He completed 3 ⅔ innings on March 8, relying almost exclusively on fastballs and curveballs to avoid aggravating the injury. Aiming to pitch even deeper into his start this past Wednesday, Pérez recorded only one out before being taken out. At the time, the Marlins described it as a precautionary decision related to his nail. Dr. Meister is a renowned orthopedic surgeon. He performed Tommy John surgery on Sandy Alcantara last October. It's not yet clear whether Pérez has any UCL damage. The projected Marlins rotation was previously expected to include Pérez and left-handers Jesús Luzardo, A.J. Puk, Ryan Weathers and Trevor Rogers. Among 40-man roster arms, right-hander Max Meyer ought to be first in line for a starting opportunity. If the Marlins insist on sticking with their original plan to option Meyer to Triple-A Jacksonville, that cracks the door open for non-roster invitees such as Yonny Chirinos, Vladimir Gutierrez and Devin Smeltzer. Although the revival of Sixto Sánchez has been an inspiring storyline this spring, he's only being viewed as a reliever for the time being. View full article

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

And regarding Duvall, I would have absolutely topped that Braves offer and given him Avi's job.

Puk is the only player on the team who has significantly altered my opinion of him this spring. Until he arrived at camp, there wasn't a true way of gauging how useful his additional pitches would be (the pitches he shelved when working in relief). But now, he's showing that he can locate them and use them in complementary ways. The unknowable element is whether he can physically handle an extreme uptick in workload.

Marlins news roundup for 3/15/24 Fish On First is providing extensive coverage on location throughout Marlins spring training. Click here to keep up with our latest updates. 🔷 On Thursday, A.J. Puk and Sean Manaea started a sim game on the Marlins backfields, facing mostly Triple-A-bound Mets and Marlins hitters. Puk's final line: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K (threw somewhere in the neighborhood of 70 pitches). His build-up from reliever to starter continues to go smoothly. 🔷 Alex Carver details the professional development and burgeoning friendship between Noble Meyer and Thomas White. 🔷 Kevin Barral writes about why Mychal Givens signed with the Marlins and what made him an effective reliever prior to his injury-riddled 2023 season. 🔷 We asked Fish On First members to rank their top 30 Marlins prospects. Here's what they came up with. 🔷 Today's games: Marlins prospects (LHP Thomas White) vs. Cardinals prospects (RHP Tink Hence) in the seven-inning Spring Breakout showcase at 2:05 p.m., followed by the regularly scheduled Marlins (LHP Ryan Weathers) vs. Cardinals (LHP Steven Matz) Grapefruit League game at 6:05 p.m. Watch Spring Breakout on ESPN+ or MLB Network. The night game will be televised on Bally Sports Florida with Marlins play-by-play announcer Paul Severino on the mic for the first time this spring. You could also make the trip to Jupiter! I'll be in attendance. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, Adam Duvall (1/$3M) signed with the Braves. It continues a trend of reputable veterans with plenty left in the tank having to settle for extremely cheap free agent deals. Duvall OPS'd .834 last season! Gerrit Cole's worrisome elbow injury will not need season-ending surgery, though he's expected to miss at least one-quarter of the regular season. 🔷 Sandy Alcantara has been an avid gamer for years and he'll have ample time for it throughout this season while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. Alcantara will now be streaming his gaming sessions via the @Sagamingg22 Twitter account. Marlins podcast episodes View full article

Here's who you think the top prospects in the Miami Marlins organization are entering the 2024 season. Ranked Prospects Noble Meyer Thomas White Max Meyer Victor Mesa Jr. Luis Cova Xavier Edwards Dax Fulton Jacob Amaya Troy Johnston Yiddi Cappe Karson Milbrandt Andrés Valor Dane Myers Jacob Berry Patrick Monteverde Jacob Miller Juan De La Cruz Anthony Maldonado Will Banfield Kemp Alderman Josh Simpson Javier Sanoja Fabian López Jancory De La Cruz Brock Vradenburg Tristan Gray José Castro Evan Fitterer Sixto Sánchez Ike Buxton

After what he's been through, how can you have any confidence in him being able to physically handle a starter's workload? That is the main reason for my continued skepticism. Even when he's performing well, how long will it last until his shoulder barks again? His most recent game does help legitimize the notion of him having enough stuff and command to get outs in real competition. I'd still insist on tempering expectations.