Ely Sussman

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 fourth and final game of Miami's home series against the Washington Nationals. Starting Lineup 2B Xavier Edwards (S) DH Agustín Ramírez CF Jakob Marsee (L) LF Heriberto Hernández 1B Eric Wagaman RF Joey Wiemer SS Maximo Acosta C Brian Navarreto 3B Javier Sanoja P Ryan Weathers Click HERE to download the full game notes (preview below)

That's more like it! Monitoring the 2024 Arizona Fall League from a Miami Marlins perspective was frankly a bore—their delegation was mostly comprised of organizational filler types rather than legitimate prospects. Thankfully, the players who are expected to participate in 2025 have a lot of upside. Preliminary AFL rosters were announced on Wednesday. The Marlins plan to send seven farmhands to the Mesa Solar Sox, including one of their former first-round draft picks and a high-profile trade acquisition who was widely regarded as an MLB Top 100 prospect entering this year. Each of these guys spent some portion of the 2025 minor league season on the injured list, so they're using the fall league to partially compensate for the time they missed. Here are my quick hits on each player, listed in order of how I personally rank them as prospects. INF Starlyn Caba Highest level played at: Low-A The centerpiece of last offseason's Jesús Luzardo trade, Starlyn Caba missed two-plus months of his age-19 campaign due to a thumb injury. He got banged up again toward the end of the season just as his bat was coming around. Caba is an excellent defender with the requisite hands, footwork, throwing accuracy and instincts to stick at shortstop. The Marlins' decision on whether Caba should repeat Low-A in 2026 or move up to Beloit will depend on his bat. Even in the power-suppressing Florida State League, a .278 slugging percentage is troubling. The sample size is tiny, but the Dominican switch-hitter has continued to be far more productive from the right side of the plate. Maybe if that trend continues during the AFL, he will ditch his left-handed swing. RHP Karson Milbrandt Highest level played at: Double-A Karson Milbrandt was eased into the 2025 season carefully due to a fluid build-up in his arm. He didn't even reach 60 pitches in any outing until mid-May. As a result, his overall workload was slightly lighter than it had been in 2023 and 2024—AFL participation will allow him to remedy that. By most measures, this was a career year for Milbrandt, though it comes with the caveat that almost all of his production happened at the High-A level where he had already made 33 starts over the previous two seasons. He primarily leans on his mid-90s four-seam fastball and high-80s slider, with occasional changeups and curveballs mixed in. nRAQhAofRl1ZnoTK.mp4 Milbrandt will be eligible for the Rule 5 Draft after the 2026 season. OF PJ Morlando Highest level played at: Low-A Like Caba, PJ Morlando was supposed to experiencing his first full-length MiLB season, but the injury bug bit him multiple times. He posted a 113 wRC+, largely buoyed by his 17.8% walk rate, which was the highest in the entire Marlins organization among players with at least 250 plate appearances. Morlando has performed terribly against breaking balls as a pro, so I will be paying close attention to that while he's in the desert. OF Fenwick Trimble Highest level played at: Double-A By the end of the fall league, I might be ready to flip Morlando and Fenwick Trimble in our prospect rankings. Trimble received just 16% of Morlando's signing bonus coming out of the 2024 draft, but his offensive tools have been louder than expected. During this season alone, he has as many stolen bases as he totaled during three years at James Madison University. I'm intrigued to see how Trimble does defensively in the AFL. He seemed to gradually improve on that side of the ball as the regular season progressed. I currently project him as left field-only in the majors. RHP Aiden May Highest level played at: High-A During a recent media availability at Citi Field, I asked Marlins director of pitching Bill Hezel to identify some under-the-radar pitching prospects who he still had confidence in coming off inconsistent or injury-shortened years. Most of his response focused on Aiden May. Arthroscopic elbow surgery has limited May to 31 innings pitched in 2025. His control is still lacking, but he's been extremely tough to hit (.141 BAA). May's fastball velocity has been sitting around 94 mph and his sweeper is a reliable putaway pitch. The question of whether he's a starting pitcher or reliever long term will largely depend on how the rest of his arsenal develops. RHP Xavier Meachem Highest level played at: Double-A The Marlins have already picked a lane for Xavier Meachem, who's being used exclusively out of the bullpen. Walks have been an issue dating back to his amateur career. The 2023 draftee has a four-seamer/slider/curveball repertoire. Regardless of fall league performance, Meachem figures to begin next season as a member of the Blue Wahoos 'pen. RHP Darwin Rodríguez Highest level played at: Low-A The Marlins know that Darwin Rodríguez will struggle in the AFL. Originally signed as a two-way player out of Venezuela, Rodríguez has posted a gruesome 9.39 ERA and 6.41 FIP in 61 ⅓ innings pitched as a minor leaguer. He only moved up to Low-A during the final two weeks of the just-concluded Hammerheads season. Rodríguez has a talent for spinning the ball, averaging over 2,700 RPM on his curveball. It was previously reported that Griffin Conine would play fall ball as part of his rehab from left shoulder surgery. However, he has progressed ahead of schedule, putting him on track to make it back to the majors before season's end. Managed by Marlins field coordinator Aaron Leanhardt, the Solar Sox will open their regular season on October 7 and play a 30-game schedule. Their roster will also be comprised of players from the Athletics, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees organizations. View full article

The Dominican Winter League (LIDOM) held its annual rookie draft on Wednesday night. Over the course of 16 rounds, the league's six teams took turns selecting players with Dominican roots who have reached the full-season level of Minor League Baseball, acquiring their rights for future seasons should they choose to participate in winter ball later in their careers. Five current Miami Marlins farmhands were picked: OF Esmil Valencia (Round 2, Águilas Cibaeñas) LHP Dameivi Tineo (Round 5, Tigres del Licey) RHP Liomar Martínez (Round 7, Gigantes del Cibao) RHP Michael Pérez (Round 8, Tigres del Licey) RHP Juan Reynoso (Round 15, Gigantes del Cibao) Tineo, Martínez, Pérez and Reynoso were signed by the Marlins as international amateur free agents and have been with the organization ever since. Valencia arrived from the Houston Astros earlier this year in the Jesús Sánchez trade. He ranks 25th on the Fish On First Top 30. It's unlikely that any of these 2025 draftees will appear in LIDOM games during the upcoming season. None of them are older than 22 years old, while the average age for active LIDOM players is about 29. Only Reynoso has experience above the Low-A level. The vast majority of players who appear in regular season games have at least tasted Double-A. The one Marlin who will definitely play during the 2025-26 season is Troy Johnston. He's returning to Toros del Este for a third consecutive year. LIDOM's opening day is October 15. View full rumor

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 game of Miami's home series against the Washington Nationals. Starting Lineup 2B Xavier Edwards (S) CF Jakob Marsee (L) SS Otto Lopez C Liam Hicks (L) 1B Troy Johnston (L) DH Heriberto Hernández RF Joey Wiemer LF Victor Mesa Jr. (L) 3B Maximo Acosta P Eury Pérez Click HERE to download the full game notes (preview below)

Needless to say, Eric Wagaman was being miscast as an everyday player earlier this season—there was a stretch during the first half where he started 23 consecutive Miami Marlins games! That should never happen again. Wagaman was at his lowest point in late July. Having gone nearly a month without driving in a run, the Marlins called up Troy Johnston to serve as his platoon partner. While that has reduced Wags' playing time, facing left-handed pitching in the vast majority of his plate appearances has contributed to a major spike in his production. Since Johnston's debut, Wagaman is slashing .280/.350/.516 in 103 plate appearances. He tied a season-high with three hits in Thursday's win against the Washington Nationals. His 137 wRC+ during that span ranks second on the club (min. 50 PA) behind only Jakob Marsee. For the season overall, Wagaman still nets out as a sub-replacement-level player (-0.5 fWAR). He still struggles with elevated fastballs, and he's below average as both a fielder and baserunner. However, this is a Marlins offense that has been lousy against lefties. Another year of maturation from Agustín Ramírez and the eventual arrival of Kemp Alderman should help. But what was once an inevitability—that Wagaman would get cut this offseason—now seems like a longshot. As long as he doesn't stumble into another slump over these final two-plus weeks, I envision him entering spring training 2026 with a clear path to crack his second straight Opening Day roster. Down on the farm, Triple-A Jacksonville won, 4-3. Rehabbing big leaguers Dane Myers, Connor Norby and Griffin Conine were in the Jumbo Shrimp starting lineup. They'll each need at least one more rehab game before being considered for reinstatement from the injured list. Trade deadline acquisition Matthew Etzel continues to play well, slashing .307/.379/.436 in 28 games as a member of the Marlins organization. Double-A Pensacola lost, 3-2. Will Schomberg (6.0 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 77 pitches/54 strikes) finished his season on a positive note. High-A Beloit lost, 5-3. Peyton Fosher, who had been brilliant since being drafted by the Marlins earlier this summer, chose an inconvenient time for his worst pro outing (though shaky outfield defense behind him was also a factor). The Sky Carp will face the Cedar Rapids Kernels one more time tonight, with the victor advancing to the Midwest League Championship Series. More Marlins news and content below: 🔷 Marlins top prospect Thomas White tells Josh Norris of Baseball America that he has struggled all season to get the desired amount of extension in his delivery. In White's Triple-A debut, he averaged 6.0 feet of extension, which would rank in the 14th percentile among MLB pitchers. He plans to make mechanical adjustments this winter to lengthen his stride and release the ball closer to home plate, giving opposing hitters even less time to react. 🔷 The Marlins expect to rely on internal options at third base in 2026, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports. Connor Norby and Graham Pauley are the main contenders to start at the position, with Maximo Acosta "potentially also getting a look." This season, Norby and Pauley have performed approximately the same as hitters, but the latter has had the clear edge defensively. Each of the three will have minor league options remaining in case they don't crack the club's Opening Day roster. 🔷 Recent Marlins Legends Hall of Fame inductee Luis Castillo is celebrating his 50th birthday. 🔷 The Prediction Time leaderboard has been updated. Only five series left! Become a SuperSub and we'll keep track of your predictions all season long. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, the New York Mets lost their sixth game in a row. Their lead over the Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants for the final National League wild-card spot is down to 1.5 games. Jesús Luzardo had one of the most unusual starts you'll ever see, surrendering four runs in the first inning, then following it up with seven perfect frames. Aaron Judge tied Joe DiMaggio for fourth place on the all-time New York Yankees home run list. Kevin Gausman threw a shutout against the Houston Astros, only the 11th complete-game shutout by a pitcher during this MLB season. 🔷 Today's MLB game: the penultimate Marlins home series of the season gets underway against the Detroit Tigers (probable starters RHP Sandy Alcantara and LHP Tarik Skubal). Skubal has allowed only one earned run over his last four starts combined. The Tigers are aggressive hunting for the platoon advantage, which has led them to pinch-hit more often than any other MLB team this season. The Marlins have a 37.9% chance to win, per FanGraphs. 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 home series against the Washington Nationals. Starting Lineup 2B Xavier Edwards (S) C Agustín Ramírez CF Jakob Marsee (L) SS Otto Lopez DH Heriberto Hernández 1B Eric Wagaman RF Joey Wiemer 3B Maximo Acosta LF Javier Sanoja P Adam Mazur Click HERE to download the full game notes (preview below)

The Miami Marlins are saying goodbye to one of their longest-tenured employees. According to Fish On First's Isaac Azout, they will not be retaining Kevin Randel for the 2026 season. "Smoke" Randel was the franchise's 13th-round pick in the 2002 MLB Draft out of Cal State Long Beach. Playing primarily second base across eight minor league seasons, he slashed .267/.374/.439 with 83 home runs and 82 stolen bases. Randel made it as high as the Triple-A level, then transitioned to coaching after the 2009 campaign. Randel's first opportunity as a manager came with Low-A Greensboro in 2015. Most recently, he led Double-A Pensacola for four seasons. The Blue Wahoos won the 2022 Southern League championship with a roster that included future big leaguers like Eury Pérez, Griffin Conine and Troy Johnston. Randel's 275 total wins from 2021-2024 is an all-time Pensacola team record. Nelson Prada took over as the Blue Wahoos skipper entering 2025, with Randel serving as a roving instructor for the Marlins. That position is being eliminated by the player development department moving forward, per FOF sources. Still only 44 years old, Randel ought to have ample opportunities to continue working elsewhere in coaching/player development if he's interested in doing so. View full rumor

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 home series against the Washington Nationals. Starting Lineup 2B Xavier Edwards (S) CF Jakob Marsee (L) C Agustín Ramírez SS Otto Lopez 1B Liam Hicks (L) DH Heriberto Hernández LF Troy Johnston (L) 3B Maximo Acosta RF Victor Mesa Jr. (L) P Janson Junk Click HERE to download the full game notes (preview below)

The second paragraph has his final line, including the walks! Not trying to hide that issue. If White had advanced control, he would be the best pitching prospect in the world and in the same tier as Eury was before his call-up. Even with that concern hanging over him, he has the other tools to be a great starter long term.

I think so, yes. Still room for him to improve at throwing strikes, so not crazy to imagine him slumping next year because of that. But unless he takes a huge step backwards or suffers a serious injury, he'll earn a call-up at some point in 2026.

FRIENDLY REMINDER: This is a 4-game series! Everything else after this is a standard 3-gamer.

Sunday marked the regular season finale for all Low-A and High-A minor league affiliates. The Beloit Sky Carp will compete in the Midwest League playoffs beginning on Tuesday with a roster featuring many of the Miami Marlins' 2025 MLB Draft selections, but the book has been closed on their official MiLB stats for this year. The tables below show how the draftees have handled their transition to the pros. All 21 of them got their feet wet to various extents with either the Sky Carp or Jupiter Hammerheads. The headliner of the class, Aiva Arquette, reported straight to High-A, where he was approximately a league-average offensive player. Not as much loud contact as the Marlins probably envisioned—only one home run, which was a wall-scraper to right field—but at least defensively, he does look like a viable shortstop. Ignoring draft position and signing bonuses, the most outstanding overall performers thus far have been fourth-rounder Drew Faurot and 19th-rounder Peyton Fosher. Faurot was riding an 11-game hitting streak when Jupiter's season wrapped up. Fosher has retired 37 of the 43 batters he's faced. Down on the farm, Triple-A Jacksonville lost, 9-7. Griffin Conine went 0-for-2 with a walk in the first game of his rehab assignment. Expect him to spend another full week with the Jumbo Shrimp before potentially being reinstated from the injured list. Double-A Pensacola lost, 4-1. High-A Beloit won, 7-5. The Sky Carp had a 68-63 record and plus-16 run differential. They led all High-A affiliates with 334 stolen bases. Echedry Vargas was awful overall, but he wrapped up his regular season on a high note, slashing .314/.385/.514 over his last 10 games. Low-A Jupiter lost, 13-1. The Hammerheads had a 59-72 record and minus-116 run differential. They led all Low-A affiliates in both walks allowed (767) and hit-by-pitches allowed (154) More Marlins news and content below: 🔷 Otto Lopez had a huge day at the plate on Sunday as the Marlins celebrated Childhood Cancer Awareness Day at loanDepot park. MLB.com's Christina De Nicola recapped how Lopez and other members of the team interacted with the cancer patients who attended. 🔷 With his younger brother in the starting lineup, former Marlins prospect Victor Victor Mesa attended Sunday's game with his wife. He went on the field postgame to take photos with Victor Jr. As far as I can tell, Victor Victor still has not been officially released by the Marlins, but he's an inactive player who is two and a half seasons removed from his last game. 🔷 The Marlins had originally projected Kyle Stowers to return from the injured list right around now, but his rehab assignment was paused over the weekend due to "general fatigue." There'll be another update on him this afternoon. 🔷 Kevin Defrank, Adriano Marrero, Pedro Montero, José Paulino and Luis Arana were included among Baseball America's top Dominican Summer League prospects. Following Jakob Marsee's graduation from prospect eligibility, Arana has been added to our Fish On First Top 30 list. 🔷 Continuing my series of MiLB highlight reels, here are PJ Morlando's top plays of 2025. 🔷 The Prediction Time leaderboard has been updated through the first 46 series. Become a SuperSub and we'll keep track of your predictions all season long! 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, a monster day at the plate (2-2, 2 HR, 3 BB) propelled Shohei Ohtani's season OPS back over 1.000. With three weeks left to play, the National League MVP award is his to lose. Aroldis Chapman has made 17 consecutive relief appearances without allowing a hit. The Atlanta Braves got throttled by the Seattle Mariners, 18-2, the franchise's largest margin of defeat in any game since 2003. Nine different Mariners recorded multiple hits. 🔷 Today's MLB game: the Marlins and Washington Nationals kick off a four-game series (probable starters RHP Janson Junk and RHP Cade Cavalli). Junk is back after a minimum-length IL stint for right ulnar nerve irritation. The Marlins have a 48.0% chance to win, per FanGraphs. First pitch at 6:40 p.m. ET. Marlins podcast episodes View full article

Former Marlins first-round draft pick PJ Morlando was slowed by injuries throughout the 2025 season. These were his top moments with Low-A Jupiter. 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 home series against the Philadelphia Phillies. Starting Lineup 2B Xavier Edwards (S) CF Jakob Marsee (L) DH Agustín Ramírez SS Otto Lopez C Liam Hicks (L) LF Heriberto Hernández 1B Troy Johnston (L) 3B Maximo Acosta RF Victor Mesa Jr. (L) P Tyler Phillips Click HERE to download the full game notes (preview below)

After only 10 starts at Double-A, the Miami Marlins promoted their top prospect, Thomas White, to the highest level of the minor leagues. The 20-year-old left-hander looked fully equipped for the assignment. After waiting out a rain delay of more than two hours, White struck out 10 batters and carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning at Truist Field on Saturday night. White's final line: 4.2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 6 BB, 10 K (94 pitches/47 strikes). He was one out shy of qualifying for the win. The Jumbo Shrimp would break things open late in a 11-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox affiliate. Among the 22 total batters White faced, 20 were right-handed. Most of them had prior MLB experience, though they weren't exactly "big names." The most accomplished Charlotte Knight who played was arguably Joshua Palacios, he of a 75 wRC+ in 207 career games. The three runs allowed by White matched a season-high. He was oh so close to silencing the Knights completely. This 95 mph fastball at the knees was his 3-2 pitch to Ben Cowles in the bottom of the fifth inning, which was called a ball by umpire Pete Talkington. It ordinarily would not be worth highlighting a moment like this, but keep in mind, there is an ABS challenge system in place for all Triple-A games. White and catcher Joe Mack declined to challenge in this case. Looks like there was a solid chance that the call would've been overturned into an inning-ending strikeout. Tim Elko followed Cowles by singling to load the bases, prompting a visit from Jumbo Shrimp manager David Carpenter. White convinced Carpenter to let him face one more batter. That didn't work out, as Andre Lipcius unloaded the bases with a double to left field. White's four-seam fastball topped out at 98.5 mph and it accounted for about half of his overall pitch mix. He complemented it with sweepers, changeups and a handful of cutters (though Statcast had a hard time distinguishing the cutter from his other secondary offerings). qquolm.mp4 On four separate occasions, White fell behind in the count 3-0. All of those plate appearances culminated in walks. Sharpening his control ought to be his top priority moving forward. Mack and Nathan Martorella each homered for the Shrimp on Saturday. Kemp Alderman has already amassed 9 RBI through his first seven games with Jacksonville—at this point, he has practically clinched Marlins Minor League Player of the Year honors. White is expected to make two more regular season starts for the Jumbo Shrimp, including his Vystar Ballpark debut next week against the Memphis Redbirds. 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 home series against the Philadelphia Phillies. Starting Lineup SS Otto Lopez C Agustín Ramírez CF Jakob Marsee (L) DH Heriberto Hernández 1B Eric Wagaman RF Joey Wiemer 3B Javier Sanoja DH Troy Johnston (L) 2B Maximo Acosta P Sandy Alcantara Click HERE to download the full game notes (preview below)