Ely Sussman

On Wednesday, Avisaíl García had the Marlins' lone extra-base hit. A.J. Puk improved from his previous start, but was still unremarkable (4.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K). In relief of Puk, Burch Smith and Kent Emanuel allowed the game to get out of hand. Nolan Schanuel extended his on-base streak to 35 consecutive games, which is now the longest active streak in Major League Baseball. The Marlins lost, 10-2, for their most lopsided game result of the season thus far, finishing off a winless seven-game homestand. Down on the farm, Triple-A Jacksonville lost, 6-4. Tristan Gray and Will Banfield each homered for the second night in a row (Banfield's blast was estimated at 436 feet). Jonathan Davis stole his fourth base, one shy of the International League lead. Griffin Conine recorded the hardest-hit ball of the game at 112.2 mph. Here's more Marlins news and content for you: 🔷 We need to get into the sobering stats about this 0-7 stumble out of the starting gate. The Marlins are the first postseason team in MLB history to kick off the following season with such a lengthy losing streak. They are the 10th team in the Wild Card era to lose seven or more games in a row to begin their campaign—none of the others came remotely close to a winning record at season's end (the best of the bunch finished at 74-88). Miami's minus-27 run differential is only the third-worst in the majors, but considering they were the home team for all of these games and got to face relatively soft competition, that is not much of a silver lining. 🔷 Ken Rosenthal and Dennis Lin of The Athletic report that the Padres attempted to trade for Luis Arraez during spring training and also coveted Jesús Luzardo. "The Marlins, with the start of the season approaching, feared they could not adequately replace Arraez" (well yeah, duh). The report just states the obvious: if the Marlins continue to be one of MLB's least-competitive teams, they will have a lot of pieces to potentially sell this summer, and Peter Bendix will not shy away from those painful but necessary moves. 🔷 Glenn Geffner's View from the Bleachers reminds us that things could be much, much worse, retelling the story of the 1988 Baltimore Orioles. 🔷 Watch the full replay of Fish On First LIVE. SuperSubs still have time to submit predictions for the Marlins vs. Cardinals series. 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. 🔷 Jacob Amaya and Vladimir Gutierrez remain in DFA limbo. 🔷 My daily player spotlight is dedicated to Arraez, who's slashing just .185/.333/.222 with a 67 wRC+ this season. He had a two-strikeout game on Wednesday (had only two of those in 2023). Even when making contact, the quality of his has been far below his usual standards—Arraez's 13.6% hard-hit rate is half of his career average. The Marlins need him to snap out of it. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, Shohei Ohtani hit his first home run as a Dodger. After tossing a no-hitter against them on Monday, the Astros limited the Blue Jays to only one hit in their series finale. The Tigers (4-0) are MLB's last remaining undefeated team, though they will be hard-pressed to keep that going with a doubleheader coming up today at Citi Field. 🔷 Today's game: the Marlins (probable starter LHP Ryan Weathers) visit the Cardinals (RHP Lance Lynn) at 4:15 p.m. ET. The Marlins have a 42.4% chance to win, per FanGraphs. Several roster moves are expected prior to first pitch, including the activation of recently acquired infielder Emmanuel Rivera. 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 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.