Ely Sussman

Wednesday's GamesRECAP: KC 1, MIA 6 (by Kevin Barral) https://mlb-cuts-diamond.mlb.com/FORGE/2023/2023-06/07/68fa17cf-b761dead-33a39928-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_16000K.mp4Marlins Podcast Episodes Wednesday's Marlins MiLB notes: Jeff Lindgren (Jacksonville) threw a seven-inning complete game and Xavier Edwards was the only Jumbo Shrimp player to record hits in both games of the team's doubleheader. Evan Fitterer (Pensacola) set a new career high with nine strikeouts (6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K, 1 HR). Yiddi Cappe (Beloit) went 4-for-5 with two stolen bases. Paul McIntosh (Jupiter) still needs time to shake off the rust on his rehab assignment—he has struck out in six of his first eight plate appearances. Ronald Hernández (FCL Marlins) is leading the Florida Complex League with six walks.Luis Arraez's updated batting average is .403. Do you think he'll hold on to set a new Marlins single-season record by topping Hanley Ramírez's .342 mark from 2009?Edward Cabrera exited after five efficient innings due to a blister on his pitching hand. That's been a recurring issue during his career.Poor Jordan Lyles suffered his 10th losing decision (no other major leaguer this season has lost more than seven times).Revisiting our Marlins vs. Royals series predictions, every single Prediction Time participant earned points. Romeo Rodriguez and Devin W. made perfect picks (Series MVP honors went to Jesús Sánchez) and there's now a four-way tie atop the 2023 season leaderboard. If you want to make predictions with us prior to every Marlins series opener, please consider becoming a Super Subscriber for as little as $3 per month. You also get access to all of our homemade GIFs to save and use as you desire.The Marlins not only swept the Athletics and Royals, but won most of those games by comfortable margins. That's rare! Their plus-30 run differential across the two series is tied for the fifth-highest for any six-game stretch in franchise history. Elsewhere around the majors, the Phillies and Yankees both postponed their home games due to unsafe air quality. Elly De La Cruz's first career home run traveled 458 feet to the final row of seats at Great American Ball Park. Michael Harris II hit a go-ahead, two-run, eighth-inning homer as the Braves maintained the best winning percentage in the National League. Phase 1 of MLB All-Star voting continues through June 22. You can vote up to five times per email address each day—take advantage of it! Triple-A Jacksonville (7:05 p.m. ET), Double-A Pensacola (7:35 p.m. ET), Low-A Jupiter (6:30 p.m. ET), FCL Marlins (12:00 p.m. ET) and DSL Miami (11:00 a.m. ET) are at home, while High-A Beloit (7:35 p.m. ET) and DSL Marlins (11:00 a.m. ET) are on the road. Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald writes about Jesús Sánchez's development into a "complete hitter." One of his only weaknesses entering play on Wednesday was production against changeups, and then he crushed one for a three-run home run off of Lyles. Via Glenn Geffner's View from the Bleachers, Bruce Sherman reluctantly accepted Derek Jeter's plea for the Marlins to sign Avisaíl García in free agency. "That, along with revenues falling well short of Jeter’s expectations…was at the core of Sherman’s dissatisfaction with Jeter," Geffner reports, leading to Jeter's departure before García even played his first Marlins game. Their breakup was "more nuanced" than Sherman's desire to pinch pennies—Jeter insisted their player development department would be able to produce homegrown impact bats and he wasn't able to deliver on that, leaving free agency as the last resort. On this day 25 years ago, the Marlins outlasted the Blue Jays in a controversial 17-inning marathon. With news breaking that soccer legend Lionel Messi is on his way to join Inter Miami CF, Marlins players Arraez, Yuli Gurriel and Jazz Chisholm Jr. recorded a video welcoming him with a custom No. 10 jersey. Featured image courtesy of Miami Marlins Latest from Fish On First

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Tuesday's GamesRECAP: KC 1, MIA 6 (by Noah Berger) https://mlb-cuts-diamond.mlb.com/FORGE/2023/2023-06/06/c637c22f-850375f7-7233ee29-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_16000K.mp4Marlins Podcast Episodes Tuesday's Marlins MiLB notes (buckle up): Great diving catch by Jake Mangum in center field (Jacksonville). Xavier Edwards went 4-for-5. Yiddi Cappe (Beloit) homered for the first time since April 26. Paul McIntosh (Jupiter) began a rehab assignment after being sidelined for more than a month with a groin injury. Jorge Caballero went 2-for-4 and continues to lead Florida State League qualifiers with a .357 batting average. The FCL Marlins put up 13 runs and drew 15(!) walks in their season opener and right-hander Juan De La Cruz shoved five scoreless innings in his stateside debut. Yoffry Solano (DSL Marlins) hit his first professional home run.There's concern for Dax Fulton, per Alex Carver of Fish on the Farm, who's being evaluated further for a left arm injury. Jazz Chisholm Jr. (right turf toe) has begun baseball activities. Find all of the latest Marlins MLB/MiLB injury updates here.Luis Arraez raised his batting average to .401 and the Marlins recorded their 20th home win, tied for the most in the National League. Chipper Jones (2008) is the last qualified hitter to be above .400 this deep into his team's season.Elsewhere around the majors, electrifying infielder Elly De La Cruz made his major league debut as the Reds came back from a 8-3 deficit to top the Dodgers. Jacob deGrom will undergo Tommy John surgery. He's hoping to return to the Rangers before the end of next season. Liam Hendriks recorded his first save since returning from cancer. One of MLB's elite starters in 2022, Alek Manoah is going through a full reset: the Blue Jays optioned him all the way down to the Florida Complex League.Phase 1 of MLB All-Star voting continues through June 22. You can vote up to five times per email address each day—take advantage of it!The Marlins have a 63.7% chance to win their series finale against the Royals, per FanGraphs. The start time is half an hour earlier than originally scheduled to minimize the overlap with the Miami Heat NBA Finals game. Triple-A Jacksonville (doubleheader starting at 12:05 p.m. ET), Double-A Pensacola (7:35 p.m. ET), Low-A Jupiter (6:30 p.m. ET) and FCL Marlins (12:00 p.m. ET) are at home, while High-A Beloit (12:05 p.m. ET) is on the road.Fish On First's Noah Berger has established a 2023 Marlins uniform tracker. He'll update it daily.Skip Schumaker and the Marlins suspected way back in Spring Training that this Andrew Nardi breakout season was coming, writes Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald.Bob Nightengale of USA Today wrote about the alarming frequency of elbow injuries among pitchers. Jesús Luzardo told him part of the problem is players being encouraged to throw too hard and too often at a young age ("looking back, I do probably regret all of those throws early’’).On this day 15 years ago, Cody Ross hit a walk-off home run against the Reds.Lastly, Johnny Cueto cut off his signature dreadlocks.https://www.instagram.com/reel/CtAg_UcsG3o/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==Featured image courtesy of Miami Marlins Latest from Fish On First

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Sunday's GamesRECAP: MIA 7, OAK 5 (by Louis Addeo-Weiss) https://mlb-cuts-diamond.mlb.com/FORGE/2023/2023-06/04/1d93fa25-d54e0980-f138fe56-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_16000K.mp4Marlins Podcast Episodes Sunday's Marlins MiLB notes: Trevor Rogers (Jacksonville) tossed five scoreless innings during his latest rehab start, retiring 15 of 17 batters he faced. He leaned heavily on his four-seam fastball (53 of his 70 total pitches). Kahlil Watson (Beloit) snapped an 0-for-30 slump with a home run. Making his first minor league appearance since August 2021, Jake Eder struggled with his control (2.0 IP, 1 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 1 HBP, 1 WP).Luis Arraez's go-ahead infield single brought his batting average up to .392. There is a 61-point gap between him and the next-best MLB qualifier.The Marlins batted in 24 innings during the Oakland A's series and scored 23 runs. That'll play!Avisaíl García halted his rehab assignment due to a "minor" setback. Frankly, it was difficult to see how he'd fit on the current roster anyway.Elsewhere around the majors, the Cardinals got swept by the Pirates and are back to having the worst record in the National League. Jake Burger hit a walk-off grand slam for the White Sox (cancer survivor Liam Hendriks earned his first win of the season in the process). Nathan Eovaldi is undefeated in his last nine starts with five scoreless outings during that span. Revisiting predictions from the Marlins vs. Athletics series, almost everybody foresaw a winning series for the Fish. Congrats to Romeo and Paolo on their perfect picks (Luis Arraez won Series MVP honors again). Our new Prediction Time leaderboard is now up. Participate prior to every Marlins series opener (and support the FOF staff) by becoming a Super Subscriber.We've got a new episode of Fish On First LIVE tonight at 5:30 p.m. ET on /Twitch/Twitter. Special guest: Loud Marlins Fan. With chiropractic care and functional health, La Pop takes a preventative approach that optimizes wellness and quality of life for all ages. Find out more here! The Marlins enter this new week with 41.0% odds of making the playoffs, per FanGraphs. They have a 54.3% chance to win their series opener against the Royals. DSL Miami open their 2023 regular season at home (11:00 a.m. ET), while the DSL Marlins are on the road (11:00 a.m. ET).Check out the DSL Miami and DSL Marlins rosters, and here's FCL Marlins (season opener on Tuesday).John Turlington's latest revisits Jorge Soler's walk-off home run against the Nationals. Fish On First's Noah Berger has established a 2023 Marlins uniform tracker. He'll update it daily.Kim Ng addressed the media for the first time in several weeks...and didn't reveal much (h/t Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald). Ng says there are no ongoing contract extension talks with Arraez and Soler and she didn't tip her hand regarding how the Marlins will align their starting rotation once Trevor Rogers is full stretched out.In a new Eury Pérez mini documentary, we see glimpses of his offseason in the Dominican Republic, his first big league spring training and his major league debut.LoanDepot Park ranks as MLB’s second-most affordable ballpark for families, according to SportingPost. Jayson Stark of The Athletic finds statistical similarities between Luis Arraez and Willie Keeler, Richie Ashburn, Garry Templeton and Ichiro Suzuki.Arraez shared in April that he and his wife were expecting another child. Now we know it's a girl. This past weekend, the Marlins surprised him with a gender reveal at the ballpark. Featured image by Danis Sosa/Fish On First Latest from Fish On First

Temporarily, it'd make some sense for the Miami Marlins to add Trevor Rogers to their current rotation to form a six-man starting staff, as Ely Sussman explains. Enjoy Episode #198! The key word here is temporary. A six-man starting rotation is not sustainable nor particularly desirable for long periods, but it could suit the Marlins for the next couple weeks. Jesús Luzardo, Braxton Garrett, Edward Cabrera and Eury Pérez are each currently on pace to go far beyond their previous single-season highs in innings pitched. Also, there isn't an obvious "weak link" of the group at the moment. Maybe there will be soon. Maybe Rogers is the weak link! The best way to determine that is by having them all competing at the same level. While Matt Barnes is on the injured list (left hip impingement), the Marlins only have seven healthy relievers who unequivocally merit active roster spots anyway. At least until he's ready to return, why not roll with a rotation alignment like this? The Marlins continue to insist on Jacob Stallings catching every start made by Sandy Alcantara and Cabrera. Respecting those wishes, this schedule would allow Nick Fortes to be behind the plate for the others (four out of every six games overall). What do you think? Let us know in the comments. Follow Ely (@RealEly) and Fish On First (@FishOnFirst) on Twitter. Complete Miami Marlins coverage here at FishOnFirst.com. Our Fish On First podcast programming includes The Offishial Show, Fish Unfiltered, Fishology, State of the Fish and What a Relief. All new episodes are posted to FishOnFirst.com/category/podcasts. You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Podbean, Megaphone or wherever you normally get your pods from.

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This season's Miami Marlins roster features many of the same players from 2022. However, through two-plus months of regular season action, their results show more promise. The Marlins enter Saturday at 30-28, tied for a National League Wild Card spot, and that's despite getting less production than anybody anticipated from faces of the franchise Sandy Alcantara and Jazz Chisholm Jr. I wouldn't blame fans from wanting to focus fully on the here and now, but it's periodically worth checking in on former Fish players and contemplating how different things may have been had they remained in Miami. In alphabetical order, let's browse through the 2022-23 offseason departures who took at least 100 plate appearances or faced at least 100 batters for last year's Marlins. Brian Anderson (Milwaukee Brewers) 2023 stats: .233/.329/.413, 104 wRC+, 0.8 fWAR in 55 G The first thing that sticks out is the availability. BA was hampered by left shoulder issues for much of 2021 and 2022. Now, he's leading the Brewers in games played. Defensively, the 30-year-old is splitting time between third base and right field (just like he did with the Fish). He's got arguably the best throwing arm in baseball. The Marlins would be better off right now with Anderson instead of, say, Jean Segura. Keep in mind, though, his offensive numbers are inflated by a hot start—dating back to mid-April, his bat has been well below league average. JJ Bleday (Oakland Athletics) 2023 stats: .217/.308/.406, 104 wRC+, 0.2 fWAR in 23 G https://sporty-clips.mlb.com/6f64dd8d-bcb7-4bad-a5b1-018c344dc2a1.mp4Improvement was inevitable for Bleday. Of course, that speaks more to the severity of his 2022 struggles than it does to his current performance. As a pull-heavy lefty, he's benefiting from MLB's new shift restrictions (BABIP up from .216 to .240). The former top draft pick is rounding into a run-of-the-mill platoon corner outfielder. The Marlins aren't losing any sleep over that considering what they've been getting from A.J. Puk. Richard Bleier (Boston Red Sox) 2023 stats: 5.85 ERA, 5.43 FIP, -0.2 fWAR in 19 G/0 GS A career-low groundball rate is contributing to Bleier's career-high earned run average. He's currently on the injured list with left shoulder inflammation. The Red Sox have a $3.75 million club option on him for 2024. Kinda doubt they'll be picking that up. Jeff Brigham (New York Mets) 2023 stats: 3.98 ERA, 5.15 FIP, -0.2 fWAR in 20 G/0 GS Brigham has a new cutter in his arsenal. Nobody has gotten a hit against it yet. The right-hander is generating more whiffs than ever, but also getting barreled frequently (5 HR in 20.1 IP). Lewin Díaz (Baltimore Orioles) 2023 MiLB stats: .272/.376/.491, 116 wRC+ in 51 G (Triple-A Norfolk) The slick-fielding Díaz is raking at Triple-A, but we already knew he could do that. His International League production is right in line with what he did for the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp from 2021-2022. Perhaps worth noting, he's walking at a 14.8% rate (his highest rate since rookie ball in 2014). The Orioles have Ryan Mountcastle manning first base for them in the big leagues. Although Mountcastle's bottom-line results have been replacement level so far, his batted ball quality suggests brighter days ahead. Díaz is blocked for the time being. Elieser Hernandez (New York Mets) Yet another arm issue for the Venezuelan right-hander. I never understood why Hernandez was deemed to have positive trade value despite being so susceptible to home runs and injuries. Barring setbacks, Hernandez will likely make his Mets debut later this month. Pablo López (Minnesota Twins) 2023 stats: 4.54 ERA, 3.78 FIP, 1.2 fWAR in 12 G/12 GS López began his Twins tenure with back-to-back-to-back-to-back great outings—one of those against his former employer—leading to a four-year, $73.5 million contract extension. But since then? He has plummeted back to his career norms. There is the potential for the 27-year-old to reach new heights. He's throwing harder than ever (averaging 95.0 mph on his four-seamer) and using a new sweeper to register more strikeouts. On the other end of the blockbuster deal, however, Luis Arraez has been more consistently impactful. The Marlins are missing Pablo, to be clear. There's substantial value in eating six innings per start and intangible value in having his cheery disposition around your clubhouse. Cody Poteet (Kansas City Royals) 2023 stats: N/A Poteet underwent Tommy John surgery last August. The Royals signed him with the understanding that he might not pitch at all in 2023. Doesn't seem as if he is particularly close to making it back. Nonetheless, shout out to a versatile right-hander who contributed to the Marlins over the previous two campaigns. Miguel Rojas (Los Angeles Dodgers) 2023 stats: .209/.244/.252, 36 wRC+, -0.3 fWAR in 36 G A 2022 midseason wrist injury sapped Rojas of his power (not that he had much in the first place). It was reasonable to count on his offense improving once fully recovered. That has not been the case. Miggy Ro is hitting just as poorly as Jean Segura. It's been nearly a full calendar year—114 games played—since he last homered (though he mashed a couple in Spring Training). His shortstop defense is still sharp enough for him to fill a role on a contending Dodgers team. That being said, he wasn't going to be the Marlins' full-time solution at the position moving forward. Jacob Amaya, who they acquired in the Rojas trade, has a chance to be. Cole Sulser (Arizona Diamondbacks) 2023 stats: 6.23 ERA, 9.51 FIP, -0.2 fWAR in 3 G/0 GS Mere days after the MLB regular season began, Sulser suffered a right shoulder strain. Luke Williams (Los Angeles Dodgers) 2023 stats: .100/.100/.100, -53 wRC+, -0.2 fWAR in 4 G Rojas' understudy, Williams is the playing shortstop regularly for Triple-A Oklahoma City.

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