Ely Sussman

Today's news roundup also includes the emergence of a fascinating pitching prospect. I am not ready to overreact and make the case that the Miami Marlins are seriously going to compete for anything as currently constructed, but it's clear I underestimated their entertainment value. This edition of the club is far more than a dreary tank job. Their inexperience is part of the charm—classic rookie manager mistakes, reliance on a catcher who never previously played above Double-A, trying to protect late leads without any relievers who have had meaningful closer reps, etc. My primary concern was that the Marlins would rarely be able to overcome those quirks because of an anemic offense. The inability to score is the ultimate bore. While they've already been shut out twice in the early going, the depth of their lineup has made things interesting far more often than not. For the first time on Sunday, they genuinely drubbed an opponent, racking up 11 runs on 14 hits. Practically everybody has stepped up in some high-leverage situation, with Matt Mervis and Kyle Stowers doing so repeatedly. Great individual numbers are fun and Mervis is complying with a .735 slugging percentage—if he had sufficient playing time to be a qualified hitter, that would rank second in Major League Baseball behind only Aaron Judge. Other teams are trying to neutralize Stowers with left-handed pitching and he's burning them for doing so, going 8-for-15(!) with two walks off of lefties. A season of constant losing revolving around Sandy Alcantara trade rumors would have sucked. Thankfully, the 2025 Marlins are already proving to be more nuanced than that. Down on the farm, Triple-A Jacksonville won, 4-3, their eighth consecutive victory. The game featured rehab appearances from Jesús Sánchez, Connor Norby and Declan Cronin, each of whom were playing on back-to-back days. Maximo Acosta had the walk-off RBI single. Double-A Pensacola won, 4-3. Kemp Alderman (1.182) and Joe Mack (1.179) rank second and third, respectively, among Southern League qualifiers in OPS. High-A Beloit lost, 10-7. That's despite stealing 11 bases without being caught. Low-A Jupiter lost, 10-2. Carter Johnson had his third multi-hit game in a row. Marlins affiliates have combined for 139 stolen bases this season; no other MLB farm system has even reached 100! More Marlins news and content below: 🔷 Which player's success has surprised you the most during Miami's 8-7 start to the season? Cast your vote in our Twitter poll. 🔷 Some combination of Sánchez, Norby and Cronin will be reinstated from the injured list prior to the start of the next series. It's highly likely that Graham Pauley and George Soriano will be optioned to the minors in corresponding roster moves. Which other position player is getting squeezed off the active roster? I wanted to raise the possibility that the Marlins may kick that can down the road by placing Dane Myers (sore left foot) on the injured list and backdating his IL stint as many days as possible. 🔷 As I did for much of the 2024 season, there will be new prospect spotlight episodes of Big Fish Small Pod on Mondays. This one features Liomar Martínez (Jupiter), Yiddi Cappe (Beloit), Kemp Alderman (Pensacola) and Jakob Marsee (Jacksonville). Find the latest episode embedded below. 🔷 Alex Carver reports on Martínez's fascinating origin story. The converted shortstop has taken huge strides on the mound here in his fourth season with the Marlins organization. 🔷 Kyle Stowers and Xavier Edwards will be using torpedo bats on a regular basis moving forward, and Derek Hill was quietly the first Marlin to try one out earlier this season, MLB.com's Christina De Nicola details. 🔷 The Prediction Time leaderboard has been updated through the first five series. @THOMAS JOSEPH and @Lucas are currently tied for the top spot. Become a SuperSub and we'll keep track of your predictions all season long! 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, Chicago Cubs left-hander Justin Steele will undergo season-ending elbow surgery. Garrett Crochet carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning against his former team, the Chicago White Sox. Coincidentally, one of the players he was traded for, Chase Meidroth, was responsible for breaking up the no-no. Jazz Chisholm Jr. homered to snap out of a career-long 24 at-bat hitless streak. Marlins podcast episodes State of the Fish - April 13, 2025 View full article

On Monday episodes of the Small Pod, we will be shining a spotlight on notable prospects from each of the Miami Marlins' minor league affiliates. Ely Sussman begins with RHP Liomar Martínez (Jupiter), INF Yiddi Cappe (Beloit), OF Kemp Alderman (Pensacola) and OF Jakob Marsee (Jacksonville). View full video

Player status updates, insightful stats and more information to fully equip you for today's Marlins game. 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 Washington Nationals. Starting Lineup SS Xavier Edwards (S) 2B Otto Lopez RF Kyle Stowers (L) 1B Matt Mervis (L) CF Derek Hill DH Jonah Bride LF Griffin Conine (L) 3B Javier Sanoja C Rob Brantly P Cal Quantrill Click HERE to download the full game notes (preview below) View full article

Player status updates, insightful stats and more information to fully equip you for today's Marlins game. 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 SS Xavier Edwards (S) RF Kyle Stowers (L) 2B Otto Lopez 1B Matt Mervis (L) DH Eric Wagaman LF Griffin Conine (L) CF Derek Hill C Liam Hicks (L) 3B Graham Pauley (L) P Sandy Alcantara Click HERE to download the full game notes (preview below) View full article

As long as you beat the first pitch, yeah!

Player status updates, insightful stats and more information to fully equip you for today's Marlins game. 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 SS Xavier Edwards (S) 2B Otto Lopez RF Kyle Stowers (L) DH Eric Wagaman CF Derek Hill 1B Jonah Bride C Liam Hicks (L) LF Javier Sanoja 3B Graham Pauley (L) P Edward Cabrera Click HERE to download the full game notes (preview below) View full article

This article has been updated with the news of Nick Fortes' oblique strain. Fascinating plot twist!

Thank you for mentioning that about Bride. I felt certain for some reason that he still had an option left, but you're correct. Pauley probably goes down when Norby returns. I think he continues playing 3B vs. righties until then.

Fish On First's third-ranked prospect is ready to hit in the majors and the Marlins have kept him in the minors long enough to gain an additional year of club control. Ely Sussman discusses why Agustín Ramírez doesn't fit in Miami quite yet. View full video

By having Ramírez spend the first 15 days of the MLB season at Triple-A, the Marlins have ensured that he will not reach free agency until he's 30 years old. A call-up is not imminent, but the possibility should now be on everybody's radars, because as of Friday, it's no longer possible for minor leaguers to debut and accrue a full year of MLB service time in 2025. There are 171 days left in the MLB regular season and players need at least 172 to be credited with a full year of service. Among all players in the Miami Marlins organization, the passage of this "deadline" is most applicable to Agustín Ramírez, Fish On First's third-ranked prospect. Ramírez performed great in spring training, slashing .235/.381/.647 (158 wRC+) with two home runs and only two strikeouts in 21 plate appearances. With a week remaining in big league camp, the Marlins optioned him to Triple-A Jacksonville, where he has since slashed .279/.333/.488 (123 wRC+) with one home run and 14 strikeouts in 48 plate appearances. It was a straightforward decision for the Marlins to have Ramírez begin this season in the minors considering his great offensive upside and the lack of pressure on Miami to win games at the major league level in 2025. He is crucial to their long-term success, and now, his earliest opportunity to test free agency won't come until after the 2031 season. That does not mean this is an example of "service time manipulation." Ramírez is currently the 40th overall MLB prospect on FanGraphs, but outside of the Top 100 in the eyes of Baseball America and MLB Pipeline due to his defensive shortcomings. When the Marlins acquired Ramírez last summer in the Jazz Chisholm Jr. trade, they hoped that he would eventually develop into a usable part-time catcher in the majors. The 23-year-old is making some progress, but still has a lot to prove in terms of receiving and controlling the running game. Ramírez has already been charged with five passed balls this season in Jacksonville, which leads all of Minor League Baseball. He has thrown out only two runners on stolen base attempts so far. Sending Ramírez to Jacksonville has given the Marlins an opportunity to evaluate Rule 5 Draft pick Liam Hicks. He has caught nearly half of the team's innings so far while showing some promise with the bat as well. They're in no hurry to get rid of him. Barring a significant injury to Hicks or Nick Fortes, Ramírez is an awkward fit with the current Marlins roster because all of his appearances have been at catcher or designated hitter dating back to spring training. As fate would have it, hours after this article was originally published, Fortes was placed on the 10-day IL with a left oblique strain. Veteran journeyman Rob Brantly was selected from Triple-A in a corresponding move. Would it be that farfetched to add Ramírez as a third active catcher? If he were to replace the slumping Jonah Bride or Eric Wagaman on the roster, there'd be plenty of plate appearances available at the DH spot on days when Hicks or Brantly are behind the plate. Maybe the Marlins simply want to see more defensive improvement before calling Ramírez up. The projected Super Two cut-off also has to be on the Marlins' mind. Holding off until mid-June would push back Ramírez's arbitration eligibility until 2029. Unless he truly forces the issue with stellar Triple-A performance, the front office is likely to prioritize those future cost savings over getting him immediate big league experience. View full article

Today's news roundup also includes more positive developments on the injury rehab front. Miami Marlins outfielder Jesús Sánchez is recovering right on schedule from the oblique strain that he suffered during spring training. He could potentially be back in Miami's lineup during next week's series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The club has fared better than expected in Sánchez's absence, but one position player must be squeezed off the roster to make room for him. The most straightforward possibility would be highly unpopular: optioning Griffin Conine. That swaps one left-handed-hitting corner outfielder for another. Conine's been impacting the ball hard and playing well defensively, but only has a 86 wRC+ to show for it. With center field experience and slightly more speed, Kyle Stowers meshes better with Sánchez. However, if Sánchez is going to frequently be the designated hitter (as he should, in my opinion), demotions would be easier to justify for Eric Wagaman or Jonah Bride. Wagaman is hitting into some bad luck; Bride has been the weakest link by any measure, but demonstrated what he's capable of throughout the second half of 2024. I think Wagaman is more likely to get sent down in that scenario. The Marlins could roll with a Matt Mervis/Bride platoon at first base and a Graham Pauley/Javier Sanoja platoon at third base until Connor Norby gets back. On Thursday down on the farm, there was an organizational sweep! Triple-A Jacksonville won, 8-5. To kick off their rehab assignments, Sánchez went 2-for-4 with a stolen base and Declan Cronin retired the side in order in the first inning. Jakob Marsee, Minor League Baseball's stolen base leader, hit his first home run of the season. Double-A Pensacola won, 8-5. Shane Sasaki and Harrison Spohn combined to drive in seven of those runs. High-A Beloit won, 8-7. Low-A Jupiter won, 3-2. Dillon Head hit his first home run as a member of the Marlins organization and Micah McDowell recorded the walk-off RBI single. More Marlins news and content below: 🔷 Sandy Alcantara, whose daughter was born on Monday, has been reinstated from the paternity list. In a corresponding move, Valente Bellozo was optioned to Triple-A, where he will continue working as a starting pitcher. Alcantara is Miami's probable starter for Saturday's game, according to Craig Mish of FanDuel Sports Network Florida. 🔷 Let the Agustín Ramírez call-up watch begin: the Marlins have kept him in the minors long enough to gain an extra year of club control (through the 2031 season). 🔷 Ryan Schlesinger analyzes the early-season performances of Nick Fortes, Xavier Edwards and Lake Bachar. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, longtime Marlins executive Michael Hill has been named general manager of Team USA for the 2026 World Baseball Classic. An eight-game losing streak has put the Chicago White Sox in an all-too-familiar place: sole possession of the worst record in the majors. 🔷 Today's MLB game: the Marlins open up a three-game series against the Washington Nationals (probable starter LHP Mitchell Parker). Edward Cabrera is expected to be reinstated from the injured list and make his Marlins season debut. First pitch at 7:10 p.m. 🔷 Prior to the game, Fish On First LIVE will preview the series beginning at 6:00 p.m. ET. FOF LIVE is presented by About The Fans. Check out our new merchandise collection (coupon code fof10 for 10% off). 🔷 Today's MiLB schedule: Triple-A Jacksonville vs. Charlotte, 7:05 p.m. ET Double-A Pensacola vs. Montgomery, 7:05 p.m. ET High-A Beloit at Cedar Rapids, 7:35 p.m. ET Low-A Jupiter vs. Dunedin, 6:30 p.m. ET Marlins podcast episodes View full article

Yes, there is no light at the end of the tunnel until a truly great hitter emerges. Agustin Ramirez has a chance to be that guy.

From Low-A to Triple-A, Marlins MiLB affiliates are stealing with incredible frequency and efficiency early in 2025. The Miami Marlins have reloaded their farm system over the last year and a change with the help of nearly a dozen trades that directly swapped big leaguers for prospects. Even so, that talent infusion alone cannot fully explain this. Marlins minor league affiliates are playing a completely different brand of baseball than other organizations so far in 2025—and the early returns are encouraging. The Triple-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp enter Thursday leading the minors in stolen bases. The High-A Beloit Sky Carp rank second. The Low-A Jupiter Hammerheads are tied for third. This is out of 120, mind you. In 2024, the High-A Aberdeen IronBirds (Baltimore Orioles org) established a new single-season minor league record with 363 steals, averaging 2.75 per game. Marlins affiliates are combining to average 3.34 per game. What?! The Jumbo Shrimp stole 86 bases in 149 games last season, the second-lowest output among Triple-A teams. Personnel changes have contributed to the base-stealing boost—Troy Johnston is their only active position player who spent the full 2024 season in Jacksonville. Promoted to the Shrimp late last summer, outfielder Jakob Marsee has racked up 12 steals through 10 games this season. All by himself, he has out-stolen 98 of the 120 MiLB teams. Emaarion Boyd (Beloit) swiped six bags on Wednesday without recording a hit. Abrahan Ramírez was an on-base machine in the Florida Complex League last season (.447 OBP), yet stole only six bases. Ramírez got halfway to matching that in a single Hammerheads game on April 6, as you can see here: merge-d1uel2.mp4 Marlins minor league baserunners have the eternal green light. It might stay that way if they keep succeeding at such an outstanding rate. Jacksonville, Beloit, Jupiter and Double-A Pensacola are a combined 87-for-101 on steal attempts (86.1 SB%). Meanwhile, the big league Marlins are currently below average at base-stealing in terms of both volume and efficiency. Will they be more aggressive once some of these speedsters earn promotions to the majors? Probably to some extent, though the mind-blowing MiLB numbers are undoubtedly being juiced by inferior defense (neglectful pitchers allowing good jumps and catchers with inaccurate arms). President of baseball operations Peter Bendix has spoken repeatedly about the importance of being innovative to stand a chance of competing with organizations that have more resources than the Marlins do. This appears to be a prime example. View full article

Player status updates, insightful stats and more information to fully equip you for today's Marlins game. 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 New York Mets. Starting Lineup SS Xavier Edwards (S) RF Kyle Stowers (L) 1B Jonah Bride DH Matt Mervis (L) CF Dane Myers LF Griffin Conine (L) C Nick Fortes 3B Graham Pauley (L) 2B Javier Sanoja P Max Meyer Click HERE to download the full game notes (preview below) View full article