Ely Sussman

A postseason berth was not on anybody's mind at the outset of the 2025 Miami Marlins season. Even as the season played out, there were long stretches where it seemed like an impossibility because the team simply wasn't good enough. However, a pair of remarkably hot stretches and the National League's overall mediocrity kept the third Wild Card spot within reach entering Miami's 159th game. Finally on Thursday night, a 1-0 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies mathematically eliminated the Fish. The Marlins have only reached the playoffs four times in franchise history—1997, 2003, 2020 and 2023—and only three times in their 30 full-length seasons. Although ultimately unable to extend their campaign into October, the Marlins have a lot to be encouraged about. They have added 15 wins (and counting) from 2024 to 2025, the third-biggest improvement in MLB behind only the Chicago White Sox and Toronto Blue Jays. They've compiled a ton of starting rotation depth and identified several foundational position players, all of whom still have multiple years of club control remaining. Flirting with a .500 record will be the baseline expectation for 2026 rather than the product of overachieving. Heading into Friday, the New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds, Arizona Diamondbacks, St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants remain in contention for the third Wild Card spot. One of them will join the Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Chicago Cubs to fill out the NL postseason field. The Marlins will wrap up their season by hosting the Mets for a three-game set at loanDepot park. View full article

Here are the latest Miami Marlins game notes, produced by the Marlins communications department and relayed to our loyal readers. These notes apply to the third and final game of Miami's road series against the Philadelphia Phillies. The Marlins must win or else they'll be mathematically eliminated from postseason contention. Starting Lineup CF Jakob Marsee (L) DH Agustín Ramírez 2B Xavier Edwards (S) C Liam Hicks (L) SS Otto Lopez RF Griffin Conine (L) 3B Connor Norby LF Troy Johnston (L) 1B Graham Pauley (L) P Janson Junk Click HERE to download the full game notes (preview below)

Nardi's disappearance was such a big issue this season, and the lack of substantial updates about his rehab throughout the season makes me worry it could be a career-threatening situation. We'll get more info next week. Separate exercise than what you're doing, but I could see a scenario where Thomas White continues getting outs in Triple-A while struggling with control and he gets his feet wet in MLB during the second half of the season as a multi-inning reliever rather than a SP.

Around this time last year, the Miami Marlins selected Jared Serna, Deyvison De Los Santos and Dax Fulton to their 40-man roster to protect them from the upcoming Rule 5 draft. Doing so was a testament to both their perceived talent and major league readiness—it is difficult to navigate an entire MLB season when you're devoting 40-man spots to players who can't contribute yet. As it turns out, none of those prospects played for the Marlins in 2025, nor did they come close to earning an opportunity. Serna endured a particularly disappointing season. Ranked sixth on the Fish On First Top 30 at the time of his 40-man selection, he has since plummeted to 24th after slashing .224/.310/.279 with only three home runs and a 79 wRC+ in 111 upper-minors games. He frequently made contact, just not with much impact. His defense at shortstop and baserunning were merely okay. Very quietly, Serna found consistency at the end of his age-23 campaign. He reached base safely in each of his last 23 MiLB regular season games, posting a 125 wRC+ during that span. He also helped the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp to a Triple-A national championship by going 6-for-16 with two stolen bases during their playoff run. Serna had three weeks to rest between the Jumbo Shrimp's title clinch and the start of the 2025-26 Mexican Pacific Winter League season. He has picked up exactly where he left off (and then some). Entering Sunday, Serna is slashing .400/.514/.633 in nine games played for Charros de Jalisco. His 1.147 OPS is fourth-best in the entire league. The Guaymas native batted eighth in the Jalisco lineup when making his first start of the season on October 17, but this torrid stretch has propelled him to the very top of the order. Keep in mind, Serna is 6.2 years younger than the weighted average age of all hitters in the league, according to Baseball-Reference. One major caveat applies. Jalisco's home ballpark, Estadio Panamericano, is somewhat comparable to Major League Baseball's Coors Field. It's in the city of Zapopan, which is situated nearly a mile above sea level (5,154 ft), allowing batted balls to carry farther than they would have under neutral conditions. To counteract that, Estadio Panamericano has big dimensions—335 feet down both foul lines and 415 feet to straightaway center field. But that means outfielders have a ton of ground to cover. During his five years of winter ball experience (all of them with Jalisco), Serna has a career .358 batting average on balls in play. For context, his career BABIP in the minors is only .289. After leading their league in runs scored in both 2023-24 and 2024-25, Jalisco is tied for first in that category again this season. Marlins fans have seen firsthand how being used out of position can disrupt all aspects of a player's game, but Serna is seemingly unfazed. He's been a full-time middle infielder over the past two seasons when playing affiliated ball. However, Jalisco is mostly deploying him in the outfield, including four consecutive starts in center where he had never previously started in a professional game. From what I have observed, Serna has good range as an outfielder, composure when playing balls off the wall and decent throwing accuracy. His main challenge is compensating for below-average arm strength. merge-knyxk4.mp4 Although defensive versatility is always a positive, the Marlins organization is currently deeper in the outfield than the infield. This experiment doesn't expedite his call-up timeline. For Serna to revitalize his prospect stock this winter, it comes down to continuing to make smart swing decisions and demonstrating that he can slug in Jalisco's road games. View full article

While mourning the end of the Miami Marlins' 2025 playoff push, let's celebrate the burgeoning young talent that will help them compete in 2026 and beyond. The Marlins have announced the following recipients of their Organizational Minor League Awards: Kemp Alderman (Player of the Year); Robby Snelling (Pitcher of the Year); Jakob Marsee (Triple-A Jacksonville MVP); Thomas White (Double-A Pensacola MVP); Karson Milbrandt (High-A Beloit MVP); Eliazar Dishmey (Low-A Jupiter MVP); Nate Payne (FCL Marlins MVP); José Castro (DSL Miami MVP); Luis Cova (DSL Marlins MVP); Jeremy Almonte (Student of the Year) and Angel Espada (Staff Member of the Year). They'll be presented with their hardware during a pregame ceremony at loanDepot park on Saturday. On the field Thursday night, Triple-A Jacksonville clinched the International League championship with a 7-4 win over the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (New York Yankees affiliate). The Jumbo Shrimp took control immediately with a five-run first inning and got five scoreless frames from starter Adam Mazur. If there were such a thing as the ILCS MVP award, it likely would've gone to outfielder Matthew Etzel (5-13, HR, 4 RBI, SB). Jacksonville will take on the Pacific Coast League champs, the Las Vegas Aviators, in Saturday's Triple-A Championship Game. More Marlins news and content below: 🔷 The Marlins lost each of their four series against the Philadelphia Phillies in 2025. The main issue this past series? An inability to score early in games. Miami's offense mustered only one (unearned) run in the 19 combined innings pitched by Cristopher Sánchez, Jesús Luzardo and Walker Buehler. 🔷 Janson Junk was the tough-luck loser in the series finale. Unique season for Junk, who arrived as a minor league free agent signing, only to finish third on the Marlins in innings pitched, refusing to walk anybody upon getting called up. 🔷 This will be the 14th time in the last 15 full-length seasons that the Marlins finish below .500. On the bright side, winning just one of the final three games would set a new franchise record for most wins added from one year to the next (only counting consecutive full-length seasons). 🔷 Lance Brozdowski dove into the Marlins' strategy to call pitches from the dugout and how the algorithmic calls that coaches make may differ from what catchers would've called in the same situations. 🔷 The Prediction Time leaderboard has been updated. Only one series left! Become a SuperSub and we'll keep track of your predictions all season long. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, only the New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks remain alive in the race for the third National League Wild Card spot. There are four teams—the Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Guardians and Houston Astros—jostling for three postseason berths in the AL. The Red Sox and Tigers coincidentally face each other this weekend. The Washington Nationals are hiring Red Sox assistant general manager Paul Toboni to be their new president of baseball operations. Toboni replaces longtime Nats front office leader Mike Rizzo, who was fired in July. Aaron Judge set a new AL single-season intentional walks record, and he is all but assured of being the tallest batting title champ in MLB history. 🔷 Today's MLB game: it's the first of three opportunities for the Marlins to spoil the Mets' season (probable starters RHP Sandy Alcantara and RHP Brandon Sproat). Alcantara is making his 169th and potentially final start in a Marlins uniform. He has a lifetime 2.98 ERA in 17 previous starts against the Mets. First pitch at 7:10 p.m. ET. Marlins podcast episodes View full article

Here are the latest Miami Marlins game notes, produced by the Marlins communications department and relayed to our loyal readers. These notes apply to the second game of Miami's road series against the Philadelphia Phillies. Starting Lineup SS Otto Lopez C Agustín Ramírez DH Heriberto Hernández 3B Connor Norby 2B Xavier Edwards (S) 1B Eric Wagaman CF Jakob Marsee (L) RF Joey Wiemer LF Javier Sanoja P Ryan Weathers Click HERE to download the full game notes (preview below)

You could make a compelling case that Tanner Scott is the best relief pitcher in Miami Marlins history. Scott arrived in 2022 with the ideal pitch mix and temperament for high-leverage situations, and his control improved enough during his time in Miami to reach his full potential. The stoic lefty punched their ticket to the 2023 postseason, represented them at the 2024 MLB All-Star Game and brought back a prospect haul at the subsequent trade deadline. Trading Scott in his walk year was an easy call because as much as the Marlins appreciated his contributions, they were never going to be the top bidder for him in free agency. That statement could apply to most players, but especially relievers—their workloads are so limited and their results so volatile that low-payroll teams must preserve resources to address other positions instead. The Los Angeles Dodgers secured Scott's services on a four-year, $72 million deal. Scott has flopped with the reigning World Series champions. On Tuesday, he fumbled away a 4-3 lead against the bottom of the Arizona Diamondbacks lineup for his MLB-leading 10th blown save of the season. He ultimately surrendered a walk-off RBI single to Geraldo Perdomo, giving the D-backs a huge jolt in the National League Wild Card race. Scott's ERA has nearly tripled from last season and he ranks bottom 10 among all MLB pitchers in win probability added. Contrast that with the current Marlins. Seven of their relievers whose combined salaries are a mere fraction of Scott's allowed only one earned run over seven innings en route to victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. That's just the way it's gonna be—patching games together with a carousel of pre-arbitration arms who may lack marketability and All-Star upside, but still get the job done. There is ample time for Scott to justify his contract. However, his turbulent year on the heels of two dominant ones is the latest example of how difficult it is to project what you're getting out of the bullpen. Down on the farm, Triple-A Jacksonville lost, 5-4. Robby Snelling (5.0 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, 105 pitches/65 strikes) allowed a pair of two-out home runs in the fourth inning, spoiling what was an otherwise good performance. Forgettable night for Kemp Alderman, who struck out in each of his five plate appearances. Facing elimination tonight, the Jumbo Shrimp will turn to Marlins No. 1 prospect Thomas White as their Game 2 starter. Snelling was selected by Baseball America as the Marlins' Minor League Player of the Year for 2025, while Alderman was named a Southern League All-Star. During his 110 games with Double-A Pensacola, Alderman slashed .282/.337/.447 with 15 homers, 20 stolen bases and a 131 wRC+. More Marlins news and content below: 🔷 For the first time in nearly a decade and only the third time ever, the Marlins have gone 11-1 over a 12-game span. The previous occurrences were very early in the 2009 and 2016 seasons. 🔷 Dane Myers suffered a "pretty nasty cut" on his right knee when attempting a leaping catch at the wall in Citizens Bank Park. All signs point to Joey Wiemer coming back up from Jacksonville to take his place on the active roster for the final five games of the season. 🔷 Kevin Barral looks ahead to the opening of the next international signing period in January. Shortstops Santiago Solarte and Ronny Muñoz are among the 19 players who already have agreements in place with the Marlins, sources tell Fish On First. 🔷 I observed that the Marlins have shown by far the most year-over-year improvement among National League teams, and that historically correlates well with winning the Manager of the Year award. McCullough's club has accrued 15 more victories than it did in 2024. 🔷 Happy 25th birthday to Graham Pauley. The Marlins infielder couldn't hit a lick early in the season, but he has turned things around since the All-Star break. In 58 total major league games in 2025, Pauley is slashing .235/.318/.386 with four home runs, two stolen bases, a 96 wRC+ and 1.1 fWAR on the strength of terrific defense. 🔷 Aram Leighton of Just Baseball did a breakdown of Jakob Marsee's swing adjustments. While his current superstar-caliber rate stats are due for some regression moving forward, Leighton still projects him to be "a building block for the future." 🔷 Michael Rosen of FanGraphs looked at Janson Junk's arm angle variation. "Junk was one of the few pitchers with zero relationship at all between his arm angle and fastball vertical movement," he discovered. 🔷 In the race for the third NL Wild Card spot, the Diamondbacks, New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals won on Tuesday, while the Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants lost. The Mets trailed the Chicago Cubs by five runs entering the fifth inning, but rallied back. The Marlins have a "tragic number" of two—that is the combination of Marlins losses and Mets wins required to officially eliminate Miami. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, the Cleveland Guardians have pulled into a tie with the Detroit Tigers atop the AL Central standings. The Guardians trailed by as many as 15.5 games earlier this season and still faced a 10.5-game deficit entering September. For the eighth time in the last nine years, the New York Yankees have clinched a postseason berth. MLB's Joint Competition Committee voted to approve the Automated Ball-Strike challenge system for use in regular season games beginning in 2026. Each team will get two challenges per game, which can only be initiated by a pitcher, catcher or batter. 🔷 Today's MLB game: the Marlins continue their series against the Phillies (probable starters LHP Ryan Weathers and LHP Jesús Luzardo). Luzardo will almost certainly establish new career-highs in innings pitched and strikeouts during the course of the game (surpassing his 2023 totals in both categories). The Marlins have a 31.6% chance to win, per FanGraphs. First pitch at 6:45 p.m. ET. View full article

I believe the organization values Conine much more highly. Similar offensive results so far, but Conine's "style of play" is more appealing to this front office because he hits the ball with elite exit velocities. Johnston has performed well enough to create real trade value. At some point in the offseason, I think they move him for a non-40-man prospect.

Here are the latest Miami Marlins game notes, produced by the Marlins communications department and relayed to our loyal readers. These notes apply to the first game of Miami's road series against the Philadelphia Phillies. Starting Lineup SS Otto Lopez C Agustín Ramírez CF Jakob Marsee (L) 3B Connor Norby DH Heriberto Hernández 2B Xavier Edwards (S) 1B Eric Wagaman LF Griffin Conine (L) RF Dane Myers P Edward Cabrera Click HERE to download the full game notes (preview below)

With ABS coming to Major League Baseball in 2026, here are eight clips of borderline pitches that were challenged during Triple-A Jacksonville games this season. MLB's challenge system will be using the same technology. View full video

With six games still to play, the Miami Marlins have already clinched something. During a down year for the National League as a whole, the Marlins have been a glaring exception. Will their rookie manager, Clayton McCullough, get any credit for the results he's produced with the league's cheapest and one of its least-experienced rosters? Entering 2025, McCullough's front office did not make a serious effort to reinforce a club that finished 62-100 in 2024. Last winter, the Marlins traded away Jesús Luzardo and Jake Burger for prospect packages, only offsetting their departures with minimal free agent signings and waiver claims. The short-term outlook was bleak even before injuries piled up in spring training—Jesús Sánchez, Connor Norby, Ryan Weathers, Edward Cabrera and Andrew Nardi all landed on the IL. Nearly two-thirds of the active players entering the season had never been on an Opening Day roster before. They dumped even more veterans prior to the July 31 trade deadline (Sánchez and Nick Fortes). And yet, the Marlins have added 14 wins (and counting). Their winning percentage has risen 104 points. They are the Senior Circuit's poster child for year-to-year improvement. The Chicago Cubs have made the NL's next-biggest leap, gaining five victories and 52 winning percentage points, and it took the ultimate win-now trade—acquiring pending free agent Kyle Tucker—and a player payroll nearly three times the size for them to take that step forward. For anybody who is unfamiliar, the AL and NL Manager of the Year awards are voted on by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). Thirty writers from various U.S. markets vote in each league. It's an antiquated award at this point. When it was introduced four decades ago, managers had far more influence over roster construction and player usage; today, front offices are "very involved" in those aspects, making it impossible to know how much credit ought to go to the skipper. Unless you're a direct relative of a manager or an agent representing them, you probably don't care enough to campaign for a candidate. That being said, as long as this exercise continues, let's be consistent. The table below contains the last decade of Manager of the Year winners excluding 2020 and 2021, which were outliers due to COVID. These awards were earned over full-length seasons and preceded by full-length seasons. On average, the winners' teams improved by 16 wins from the prior year as shown in parentheses. McCullough fits right in—he'll be at plus-16 if the Marlins go 2-4 this week. Even if the Marlins win out and get to plus-20, their 82-80 record would be the worst for a Manager of the Year's team since Joe Girardi way back in 2006. And even if they win out, they might fall short of a postseason berth, which is usually disqualifying based on this award's recent history. But hey, it's been a highly unusual season in the National League. At the very least, I expect McCullough to place top three in the balloting. View full article

There is a slight tear in Edward Cabrera's right UCL, but the 27-year-old is determined to pitch through it. The Miami Marlins are satisfied with how Cabrera has looked and how his elbow has responded over the past few weeks since being placed on the injured list, so he will be reinstated to start Tuesday's game against the Philadelphia Phillies. It figures to be a shorter outing than usual—Cabrera threw approximately 50 pitches during a simulated game last week and the Marlins only increase a starter's workload in increments of about 15 pitches at a time as they are building back up from an injury. Being cleared to come off the IL is obviously encouraging, but it's premature to declare victory over Cabrera's elbow sprain. Throwing at 100% intensity could exacerbate the physical symptoms, or maybe there is a tentativeness in his delivery that prevents him from consistently executing his pitches. Mapping out their rotation plans even further, Sandy Alcantara will make his final 2025 regular season appearance on Friday. Pushing him back far enough to pitch in front of Miami fans was very likely part of the calculus there. To gather even more information about Cabrera's elbow health, the Marlins could decide to start him again Sunday. Regardless, a decision on whether or not to undergo surgery won't be made until after the season ends. Down on the farm, Triple-A Jacksonville lost their regular season finale, 4-1. In what should be his last minor league rehab game, Griffin Conine went 0-for-2 with two walks. In nine total rehab games, Conine slashed .292/.514/.583 with two home runs and 11 walks. The Jumbo Shrimp will host the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders in the best-of-three International League Championship Series beginning on Tuesday. More Marlins news and content below: 🔷 The Cincinnati Reds and New York Mets are each four games up on the Marlins in the race for the National League's third Wild Card spot with only six games remaining. The Marlins would also have to leapfrog the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants this week to secure a miraculous postseason berth. In all likelihood, it'll require a 6-0 week against the Phillies and Mets, stretching their overall winning streak to 12 games, which is unprecedented in franchise history. 🔷 A former Roberto Clemente Award nominee himself, Jeff Conine told MLB.com's Christina De Nicola about how proud he is of his son's off-the-field impact. As a reminder, you can vote for Griffin to win the award here. Voting closes on Sunday night. 🔷 Son Los Marlins highlighted the Marlins players who best embody their team's "comeback" spirit. 🔷 The Prediction Time leaderboard has been updated. Only two series left! Become a SuperSub and we'll keep track of your predictions all season long. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, Cal Raleigh hit his 58th home run as the Seattle Mariners swept the Houston Astros. The Mariners have won 14 of their last 15 games. The Detroit Tigers continue to implode as they were swept by the Atlanta Braves and have now dropped nine of their last 10. Marlins podcast episodes View full article

This year's Marlins first-round draft pick, Aiva Arquette began his professional career at the High-A level. These were his top moments with the Beloit Sky Carp in 2025. View full video

Here are the latest Miami Marlins game notes, produced by the Marlins communications department and relayed to our loyal readers. These notes apply to the third and final game of Miami's road series against the Texas Rangers. Starting Lineup CF Jakob Marsee (L) DH Agustín Ramírez 2B Xavier Edwards (S) 1B Liam Hicks (L) SS Otto Lopez RF Troy Johnston (L) LF Heriberto Hernández 3B Graham Pauley (L) C Brian Navarreto P Eury Pérez Click HERE to download the full game notes (preview below)

Clayton McCullough managed with an urgency to win on Saturday night and got the desired result. The Miami Marlins placed their most impactful offensive weapon atop the starting lineup, even with their usual leadoff hitter playing as well; the least-established arm in their rotation was kept on a short leash; and soon after taking a lead over the Texas Rangers, they deployed their best reliever and most athletic defenders. It still got extremely dicey at the end, but when the final out settled into Dane Myers' glove, the Marlins celebrated victory for the ninth time in their last 10 games. If Miami's late-September surge falls short, they will regret the numerous instances earlier in the season when the weakest links on the roster were put in positions to fail (and repeatedly did). It's refreshing to see competitiveness take priority over player evaluation at this point. Adam Mazur and Jack Leiter had comparably vanilla outings through four innings, and the contest was fittingly tied at 2-2. But even on the heels of playing 12 strenuous innings the night before, McCullough called upon his bullpen right there. Mazur had thrown only 63 pitches. On the other hand, the Texas lineup was about to flip over for the third time. The Rangers stuck with Leiter into the sixth inning. Troy Johnston and Connor Norby made them regret that decision with back-to-back home runs, which put the Fish in front, 4-2. p9p84v_1.mp4 While he did not directly factor into the game's run production, it's worth noting that leadoff hitter Jakob Marsee worked Leiter for 18 pitches across three plate appearances. This was the first time all year that Xavier Edwards (who batted third) started a game someplace other than the No. 1 spot. Cade Gibson picked up only the ninth win by a Marlins left-handed pitcher this season. He was helped out by a strike 'em out, throw 'em out double play that ended the bottom of the sixth inning. These 2025 Marlins have struggled to control the opposing running game more so than any other team in franchise history, but it's been a different story recently. Just three runners have even attempted to steal against the Fish over the last eight games, with only one of them being successful. Ronny Henriquez is wrapping up his breakout campaign by pitching as well as ever. For the 18th time in his last 19 appearances, he didn't allow any earned runs. On Saturday, he was brought in with two outs in the seventh and the tying run at the plate. After cleaning up that mess, he stayed in to strike out the side in the eighth. Calvin Faucher's 15th save of the season may have been his worst in terms of pitch execution. Faucher surrendered a leadoff homer to catcher Kyle Higashioka and very nearly a walk-off homer to Joc Pederson, which got just far enough inside that Pederson pulled it 399 feet foul down the right field line. Only 13 of the right-hander's 28 pitches landed for strikes, but to his credit, the victory was sealed on a 99 mph fastball that he dotted on the outside corner for a harmless flyout. Entering the final eight days of regular season baseball, Miami's "elimination number" stays at three—that is the combination of Marlins wins and Mets losses needed to officially take them out of the National League Wild Card race. With the Cincinnati Reds, Arizona Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants boasting better records as well, the Marlins' chances of actually making it to October are a mere fraction of one percent. Regardless, they are sprinting to the finish line in impressive fashion. The Marlins, notoriously, have never had a winning streak of double-digit games, which means by going 9-1 lately, they have matched the franchise's best-ever 10-game span. Eury Pérez is the Marlins' probable starter for the series finale at Globe Life Field. Sunday's first pitch will be at 2:35 p.m. ET. View full article

Here are the latest Miami Marlins game notes, produced by the Marlins communications department and relayed to our loyal readers. These notes apply to the second game of Miami's road series against the Texas Rangers. Starting Lineup CF Jakob Marsee (L) C Agustín Ramírez 2B Xavier Edwards (S) DH Liam Hicks (L) SS Otto Lopez LF Heriberto Hernández RF Troy Johnston (L) 3B Connor Norby 1B Eric Wagaman P Adam Mazur Click HERE to download the full game notes (preview below)