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 first game of Miami's road series against the Los Angeles Angels. Starting Lineup DH Agustín Ramírez 1B Eric Wagaman SS Otto Lopez 3B Connor Norby LF Kyle Stowers (L) C Nick Fortes CF Derek Hill RF Jesús Sánchez (L) 2B Javier Sanoja P Sandy Alcantara Click HERE to download the full game notes (preview below)

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 Chicago Cubs. Starting Lineup RF Jesús Sánchez (L) C Agustín Ramírez 1B Eric Wagaman LF Kyle Stowers (L) SS Otto Lopez 3B Connor Norby DH Matt Mervis (L) 2B Graham Pauley L) CF Derek Hill P Max Meyer Click HERE to download the full game notes (preview below)

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 Chicago Cubs. Starting Lineup RF Jesús Sánchez (L) DH Agustín Ramírez CF Kyle Stowers (L) 1B Matt Mervis (L) LF Eric Wagaman 2B Ronny Simon (S) 3B Graham Pauley L) C Nick Fortes SS Javier Sanoja P Ryan Weathers Click HERE to download the full game notes (preview below)

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 Chicago Cubs. Starting Lineup RF Jesús Sánchez (L) C Agustín Ramírez 2B Otto Lopez LF Kyle Stowers (L) 1B Eric Wagaman 3B Connor Norby DH Liam Hicks (L) CF Derek Hill SS Javier Sanoja P Edward Cabrera Click HERE to download the full game notes (preview below)

Miami Marlins everyday shortstop and leadoff hitter Xavier Edwards has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a left mid back strain. Edwards was off to an underwhelming start this season, slashing .263/.337/.292 with zero home runs, 11 stolen bases and poor SS defense. Still, he was a constant presence in the lineup, so his absence creates interesting ripple effects. It is good news for the longevity of Clayton McCullough's streak of batting order alterations. Through 45 games, the Marlins have used 45 different orders. The absurdity of that almost makes it seem intentional. Fish On First's Isaac Azout believes Agustín Ramírez could be Miami's leadoff hitter against left-handed starters, though that theory won't be tested until the Los Angeles Angels series this weekend. On the other hand, it is bad news for Edwards' pursuit of 60 steals. Even if cleared to return by the end of this month, he would have to average approximately one SB every other game through season's end to get there. Otto Lopez returned from the IL in a corresponding roster move, immediately contributing to Sunday's win. Reading between the lines of Sunday's postgame comments, it sounds like Lopez and Javier Sanoja will start most games at second base and shortstop, respectively, with Lopez handling SS and Ronny Simon filling in at 2B on days when Sanoja sits. Down on the farm, Triple-A Jacksonville lost, 6-5. Jacob Berry extended his hit streak to five games and homered for the first time since April 30 as he gradually digs out of a season-opening slump. Double-A Pensacola won, 5-1. Nathan Martorella went 3-for-3 with a hit by pitch. High-A Beloit won, 8-6. Payton Green has recorded multiple hits in six of his last seven games. Gabe Bierman picked up the save and has gone 16 ⅓ consecutive innings without allowing an earned run. Low-A Jupiter lost, 8-4. Dillon Head finished the series 8-for-8 on stolen base attempts. He's gone 17-for-19 this season overall. More Marlins news and content below: 🔷 We have to talk about Liam Hicks, who continues to prove me wrong. When Nick Fortes was reinstated from the IL, I expected Hicks to be buried on the bench. Instead, he has added another dimension to his game by popping three homers since then to boost his season slash line to .282/.352/.487 (130 wRC+). The Rule 5 rookie has not struck out in more than a month!!! Hicks gained some experience at first base with his previous organizations. The Marlins should be using him there occasionally to keep his bat in the lineup. 🔷 Check out Sunday's State of the Fish show, featuring Kevin Barral, Louis Addeo-Weiss and I. 🔷 Christina De Nicola of MLB.com handed out awards for the first quarter of the Marlins season. She selected Kyle Stowers for MVP, Ronny Henriquez for Cy Young, Agustín Ramírez for best rookie and Hicks for best newcomer. 🔷 The Prediction Time leaderboard has been updated through the first 15 series. The Rays series was picked perfectly by @Richard. Become a SuperSub and we'll keep track of your predictions all season long! 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, Philadelphia Phillies star reliever José Alvarado has been suspended 80 games for a positive PED test. He'll also be ineligible for the postseason should the Phillies qualify. Former Phillies first-round draft pick Mick Abel tossed six scoreless innings in his major league debut. The Los Angeles Dodgers released Chris Taylor, who played more than 1,000 games with them and was named MVP of the 2017 NLCS. The reigning champs were shockingly swept at home by the Angels in a three-game set. Jack Leiter carried a no-hitter through 6 ⅔ innings against the Houston Astros, but had to settle for a no-decision when the Texas Rangers bullpen faltered. Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Jared Jones is likely to undergo Tommy John surgery. 🔷 Today's MLB game: it's a rematch between the Marlins (probable starter RHP Edward Cabrera) and Chicago Cubs (RHP Ben Brown). Cabrera will take the mound on eight days' rest after experiencing a fluid build-up in his fingernail. Should the issue resurface early in the game, Valente Bellozo is available to provide length out of the bullpen. The Marlins have a 44.3% chance to win, per FanGraphs. First pitch at 6:40 p.m. ET. 🔷 Today's MiLB schedule: FCL Marlins at FCL Mets, 12:00 p.m. ET Marlins podcast episodes

Peter Bendix has crammed a lot of transactions into his brief tenure as Miami Marlins president of baseball operations, including six moves on the day of the 2024 MLB trade deadline. None of them were as popular among Marlins fans in the moment as the deal sending left-hander Trevor Rogers to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for infielder Connor Norby and outfielder Kyle Stowers. It doesn't take an industry insider to see a robbery in broad daylight. Squint very hard and you can see the Orioles' vision (sort of). They had to try something at the deadline to bolster their perpetually shaky starting rotation. The defending American League East division champions were clinging to a half-game lead over the New York Yankees, but the market was thin on starters who had multiple years of club control remaining. They settled for Rogers and had a plan for maximizing his potential after several seasons of injuries and mediocrity. And the O's were justified in viewing Norby and Stowers as expendable assets. They already had bigger and better versions of them in Coby Mayo and Heston Kjerstad. Both Mayo and Kjerstad were consensus top-50 MLB prospects entering the 2024 season and had been performing as such with Triple-A Norfolk, each with an OPS in the high .900s at the time of the deal. Rogers had posted a 4.53 ERA, 4.43 FIP and .276 BAA for the Marlins that season, averaging five innings per start. He couldn't even reach that level in Baltimore (7.11 ERA, 5.01 FIP and .338 BAA with 4.75 IP/GS), striking out fewer batters than any other comparable stretch of his career. The Orioles optioned him to Triple-A after only four outings and did not recall him the rest of the year. They finished three games behind the Yankees and got knocked out in the opening round of the postseason, swept by the visiting Kansas City Royals in the AL Wild Card Series. As disappointing as that was, Rogers' contractual situation still gave the Orioles hope of salvaging the trade entering 2025. The 27-year-old settled for a modest $2.6 million to avoid arbitration and had a full winter to put the club's fresh ideas into practice. It turns out he made it only most of the way through the winter before suffering a right knee dislocation. Rogers was behind schedule this spring and had to be placed on the injured list. He began a minor league rehab assignment on April 23. His first four starts on the farm looked a lot like his last four big league starts of 2024, so they formally optioned him again on May 11. An Orioles pitching staff with a 5.52 ERA (ranked 29th in MLB) does not view this version of Rogers as a clear reinforcement? Yikes. Regardless, the Orioles' ultra-talented lineup would be productive enough to keep them in contention this season, right? Not even close, as it turns out. All-Star third baseman Jordan Westburg regressed and suffered a left hamstring strain in late April. There is no timeline for his return following a recent setback. His understudy, Coby Mayo, was called up, only to be jettisoned back to Norfolk less than a week later. In 21 career MLB games dating back to the Rogers trade, Mayo has an inconceivably bad .094/.186/.094 slash line with strikeouts in nearly half of his plate appearances. Meanwhile, manning the same position, Norby has been a league-average bat with his new team. The O's also figured that the corner outfield spots were accounted for. They already had Kjerstad and 2024 AL Rookie of the Year runner-up Colton Cowser. Moreover, their largest position player expenditure of the offseason was inking Tyler O'Neill to a three-year, $49.5 million free agent contract. Kjerstad, Cowser and O'Neill have combined to hit .195 with seven home runs. All by himself, Stowers is hitting .305 with 10 homers. Stowers' 1.3 fWAR in 2025 easily clears anybody on Baltimore's roster. 886a8e41-bf144095-5db4725e-csvm-diamondgcp-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4 Despite spending more than twice as much on their payroll this season as the Marlins, the Orioles' record is three games worse. They have just fired manager Brandon Hyde for shortcomings that were very clearly beyond his control. The front office could have capitalized on the prospect hype surrounding Mayo or Kjerstad (or both) to trade for a true top-of-the-rotation starter, rather than a reclamation project like Rogers. Jesús Luzardo's value was dinged coming off an injury-riddled 2024 campaign—the O's easily had enough ammunition to outbid the Philadelphia Phillies, but didn't. The silver lining for Orioles GM Mike Elias is his team has cratered so badly, they are in contention for one of the top picks in the 2026 MLB Draft. Elias has consistently turned early-round picks into quality big leaguers, even if the process takes awhile as it did for Stowers. However, if next season's results are anything like what we're currently witnessing, he won't remain employed long enough to oversee the development of that draft class.

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 Tampa Bay Rays. Starting Lineup RF Jesús Sánchez (L) DH Agustín Ramírez 3B Connor Norby CF Kyle Stowers (L) 1B Matt Mervis (L) LF Eric Wagaman 2B Otto Lopez C Liam Hicks (L) SS Javier Sanoja P Cal Quantrill Click HERE to download the full game notes (preview below)

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 Tampa Bay Rays. Starting Lineup RF Jesús Sánchez (L) DH Liam Hicks (L) 3B Connor Norby CF Kyle Stowers (L) LF Eric Wagaman 2B Ronny Simon (S) 1B Matt Mervis (L) C Nick Fortes SS Javier Sanoja P Sandy Alcantara Click HERE to download the full game notes (preview below)