Ely Sussman

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 Los Angeles Dodgers. Starting Lineup SS Xavier Edwards (S) CF Jesús Sánchez (L) DH Agustín Ramírez LF Eric Wagaman RF Kyle Stowers (L) 3B Connor Norby 1B Matt Mervis (L) 2B Otto Lopez C Liam Hicks (L) P Cal Quantrill Click HERE to download the full game notes (preview below) View full article

The Marlins will take the field in their "City Connect 2.0" unis for the first time on Saturday. The "Retrowave" era has begun. As unveiled on Wednesday, the Marlins describe their new City Connect jersey as "a symbol of Miami’s identity—bold and united. It’s a blend of history and hope, tradition and innovation." "We aimed to celebrate our club’s storied past and special moments made in the teal, while looking forward to a bright future, all woven in a style that embodies the spirit of South Florida," president of business Caroline O’Connor added. Sandy Alcantara, Eury Pérez, Xavier Edwards, Connor Norby, Max Meyer, Jesús Sánchez, Otto Lopez, Kyle Stowers, Nick Fortes and Dane Myers are among the Marlins players who were featured in photos and hype videos as part of the big release. 0nwdjs.mp4 The "MIAMI" woodmark is meant to be reminiscent of the "FLORIDA" lettering that the franchise used before rebranding and moving south to loanDepot park. Here's how they compare (using an old Gary Sheffield photo as an example): This is the first instance in MLB history of a team displaying their city's area code on a hat, the Marlins say. During the previous four seasons (2021-2024), the original Marlins City Connects paid homage to the Cuban Sugar Kings of the 1950s. Those red uniforms were worn for most Saturday home games. I will reserve final judgement until seeing the on-field debut, but my first impression is that the Retrowave uni is a significant downgrade from the Sugar Kings one. If the Marlins wanted to genuinely embrace the franchise's history, they could have made teal the primary color rather than black. The horizontal pinstripes allegedly "reflect Miami’s ever-evolving culture, moving to a unique beat that embodies purpose and uniqueness." Meh. I get that they were going for a contemporary style, but stopping the pinstripes from actually covering the entire width of the jersey just makes them less noticeable. To be clear, the Marlins—as well as the other MLB teams that debuted their City Connects in 2021—were contractually obligated to come up with new designs this year for Nike to manufacture and sell. It's not like they went out of their way to end the Sugar Kings era. The current Marlins uniform rotation includes white jerseys for weekday home games, blue for Sunday home games, black for Fridays and gray for all other road games. Retrowave is now the fifth variant, to be worn 11 times during the 2025 season: May 3 vs. Athletics May 17 vs. Rays May 31 vs. Giants June 21 vs. Braves July 5 vs. Brewers July 19 vs. Royals August 2 vs. Yankees August 23 vs. Blue Jays September 6 vs. Phillies September 13 vs. Tigers September 27 vs. Mets Jerseys, caps and other Retrowave-related merchandise will be first available at the Marlins team store at loanDepot park on Saturday at 10 a.m. Marlins Members have priority access beginning at 9 a.m. View full article

Today's news roundup also includes a breakdown of Miami's glaring defensive weakness. The Miami Marlins were widely expected to be one of the worst teams in baseball in 2025. For the first time, their season-to-date performance is reflecting that. Tuesday's lopsided loss puts the Fish on a 67-95 pace. They reside in last place in the National League East division and have a minus-46 run differential, which is third-worst in the majors. Starting rotation struggles have caught up to them. Any chance they have of proving the naysayers wrong hinges on Sandy Alcantara snapping out of his career-worst slump and internal replacements stepping in, whether that be those coming back from injuries or coming up from the minor leagues. But the point is, we live in a short attention span society. Whatever the Marlins may think that they "accomplished" early on has been fully undone. If they want to be respected for what they're building, they'll have to get back to earning it on the field. Down on the farm, Triple-A Jacksonville lost, 3-2. Joe Mack provided the only offense with a two-run homer. Mack has been the best hitting catcher in the minor leagues this season in terms of wRC+. Valente Bellozo pitched 2 ⅓ hitless innings in an abbreviated start. Bellozo should be a call-up candidate for this weekend, especially if the Marlins bullpen is leaned on heavily again today. Double-A Pensacola won, 3-2. Jacob Miller carried a shutout into the seventh inning. The Blue Wahoos got the W despite recording just two hits. High-A Beloit won, 13-9. It was the Sky Carp's highest-scoring game of the season. Fenwick Trimble drove in four runs, stole his 12th base of the season and raised his on-base percentage to .400. Low-A Jupiter won, 14-1. Andrew Salas and PJ Morlando were particularly outstanding, combining to go 6-for-7 with two walks and four runs driven in. More Marlins news and content below: 🔷 I detailed the immense struggles that the Marlins have had allowing stolen bases (17 more than any other MLB team). 🔷 In advance of Saturday's on-field debut, the Marlins are on the verge of unveiling their new City Connect uniforms. 🔷 Jamie Gatlin of Beyond the Monster spoke to Adam Mazur about lessons learned from his first major league opportunity and adding a sweeper to his arsenal. 🔷 Want to look ahead to the Marlins' May schedule? Aaron has you covered. (Let this double as a reminder that FOF has a Bluesky account!) 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, there was a chaotic finish in Philadelphia. With the Washington Nationals down to their final strike, Nathaniel Lowe mashed a go-ahead three-run home run, only for the Phillies to walk off on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth. The Colorado Rockies suffered their 10th straight series loss to begin the season. The New York Mets' top left-handed reliever, A.J. Minter, is potentially facing season-ending surgery on his lat. Aaron Judge is hitting .412, giving him a 49-point lead on the next-best qualified MLB hitter. 🔷 Today's MLB game: the Marlins (probable starter RHP Cal Quantrill) wrap up their road trip this afternoon against the Dodgers (RHP Tony Gonsolin). This marks Gonsolin's return from Tommy John surgery. His final major league appearance before the injury coincidentally came against the Marlins—they scored 10 runs that night on the strength of five long balls. The Marlins have a 35.1% chance to win, per FanGraphs. First pitch at 3:10 pm ET. 🔷 Today's MiLB schedule: Triple-A Jacksonville at Durham, 6:35 pm ET Double-A Pensacola at Birmingham, 12:00 pm ET High-A Beloit at Peoria, 7:35 pm ET Low-A Jupiter at Fort Myers, 12:05 pm ET Marlins podcast episodes View full article

Through the first month-plus of the 2025 season, Miami's opponents have been testing their batteries twice per game and succeeding on nearly 90% of stolen base attempts. The Miami Marlins played one of their most fascinating games of the season on Monday. Fascinating, but not fulfilling because they ultimately fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers on a 10th-inning walk-off. Understandably overshadowed by higher-leverage moments, Shohei Ohtani's steal of second base way back in the first inning likely made the difference between winning and losing. Ohtani took off in a 1-2 count on an Edward Cabrera breaking ball. An amazing throw would have been required of Agustín Ramírez and he wasn't up to the task (well below-average pop time of 2.06 seconds). If not for the steal, Ohtani would've been stuck at first on Mookie Betts' flyout. Instead, he easily tagged up and advanced to third. That allowed him to score easily on Freddie Freeman's subsequent single and give the Dodgers an early 1-0 lead. MDRXcnhfWGw0TUFRPT1fVUZSWVZWRUJBRkVBQ0FjSEF3QUhBd1pYQUFCUlUxRUFDMVZVQlZFSEJ3SUdCZ0ZT.mp4 Cabrera's pitching performance was mediocre in this outing against a deep Dodgers lineup. The Marlins would have been playing from behind for much of the game regardless. However, if they had done enough to deter Ohtani from stealing in that situation so that he gets left on base and the rest of the game's events were unchanged, it would've been a 5-4 Miami victory in nine innings. The Marlins are currently on pace for 95 losses despite seemingly playing at a higher level than that. Their lack of control of the running game is consistently coming back to bite them in close contests. The Marlins defense leads Major League Baseball by a wide margin with 53 stolen bases allowed. The majority of other MLB teams haven't even allowed half as many! This is very much a collective issue. Five different Miami pitchers have been victimized at least six times in 2025, led by Sandy Alcantara with 11; no other MLB team has more than two such pitchers. Each of the catchers that the Fish have used—Ramírez, Liam Hicks, Nick Fortes Rob Brantly—have been behind the plate for at least nine steals and each of them individually owns a caught stealing rate that is worse than league average. Opponents have been able to exploit the Marlins' weakness so often because they are getting more stolen base opportunities against them than any other team, according to Baseball Savant. The blame for that falls squarely on the pitching staff and their inability to throw strikes. They are handing out the most combined walks and hit by pitches in the league (averaging five per game). Once runners get on, they can attack Miami's pitchers with confidence. Beyond being slow to the plate, this group has not picked off anybody this season (the Athletics are the only other team without a successful pickoff). That's why you see Marlins opponents gaining an average of 4.1 feet from the start of the pitcher's delivery to when the ball is released. Cabrera and Alcantara (both 5.7 feet) yield more ground than any other MLB starters. It is inherently easier for left-handed pitchers to hold runners at first because they can monitor them while working out of the stretch, whereas righties are facing the opposite direction. That is where the Marlins' roster composition comes into play. Anthony Veneziano has been the only southpaw with a steady job on their active roster. Including mop-up appearances by Cade Gibson and Patrick Monteverde, 18 of the club's innings have been pitched by left-handers, the third-lowest total in MLB. One of the six caught stealings for the Marlins was a gift. Tyrone Taylor bolted for second base prematurely and Valente Bellozo stepped off and threw with barely enough time to record the out. Two of the others were attempts to steal third, which is a higher degree of difficulty for the runner because the catcher has a shorter throw to make. That leaves just three examples of Miami batteries executing a classic caught stealing at 2B (final example required a managerial challenge to overturn): 6angr1.mp4 cfga9a.mp4 rkck98.mp4 Recent MLB rule changes that limited pitcher disengagements from the rubber and enlarged the bases were meant to incentivize base-stealing. Even so, that has resulted in only one team surpassing 200 SB attempts allowed (2023 Chicago White Sox, 205 attempts). The Marlins have given up a staggering 59 attempts through 29 games played, putting them on pace for 330 attempts allowed. A key reinforcement is on the way. Lefty Ryan Weathers, who suffered a flexor muscle strain in spring training, has allowed only nine stolen bases during parts of four major league seasons. He tied for second among MLB pitchers with six pickoffs in 2023. NFg3d1FfVjBZQUhRPT1fVlFkWUJ3VU5CRmNBQUZKUVV3QUFCZ0pUQUFCUkJRSUFDZ2RXVVFBTUFBUlhVZ0JV.mp4 Weathers is expected to make his next rehab start in the coming days, then one additional start after that to build up his pitch count. He's on track to rejoin the Marlins rotation during the week of May 12. Adam Mazur could potentially provide a boost, too. Since Mazur was acquired by the Marlins last summer, there's been just one steal attempt off of him in 63 innings pitched at Triple-A. On the other end of the spectrum, there is Eury Pérez (projected to come off the IL in June). The long-limbed right-hander was very susceptible to stolen bases during his otherwise excellent rookie campaign in 2023. Perhaps Pérez used his Tommy John surgery hiatus to make some strides in that department, although we've seen that was not the case with Alcantara. 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 road series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Starting Lineup SS Xavier Edwards (S) C Agustín Ramírez CF Dane Myers 1B Eric Wagaman 3B Connor Norby 2B Otto Lopez RF Jesús Sánchez (L) DH Ronny Simon (S) LF Javier Sanoja P Sandy Alcantara Click HERE to download the full game notes (preview below) View full article

We'll put up an extended article on Marsee soon because it is a pretty fascinating progression. The current version looks a lot like the player I thought they were getting at the time of the trade.

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 road series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Starting Lineup SS Xavier Edwards (S) CF Jesús Sánchez (L) LF Eric Wagaman C Agustín Ramírez RF Kyle Stowers (L) 1B Matt Mervis (L) 2B Otto Lopez DH Ronny Simon (S) 3B Graham Pauley (L) P Edward Cabrera Click HERE to download the full game notes (preview below) 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's featured players this week: INF/OF Andrew Salas (Jupiter), C Ryan Ignoffo (Beloit), LHP Adam Laskey (Pensacola) and RHP Adam Mazur (Jacksonville). View full video

Today's news roundup also includes a great development for a rehabbing Marlins starter. The Miami Marlins allowed a season-worst 25 runs during their series against the Seattle Mariners...and still came very close to winning two out of the three games. Agustín Ramírez capped off his otherworldly debut week by homering twice on Sunday. Connor Norby drove in three runs with his first long ball of the season. Max Meyer's control was lousy throughout the day (4.0 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 4 BB, 6 K, 86 pitches/51 strikes) as the Mariners held on for a 7-6 victory. Ramírez has accrued 0.6 fWAR in five games, tied with Kyle Stowers for the team lead among position players (Stowers has played in 26 games). He's up to seven extra-base hits, which tops the combined total of all other Marlins catchers. His batted ball data largely backs up his production—Ramírez's .796 expected slugging percentage is above Aaron Judge (.764 xSLG) or any other qualified MLB hitter. And he earns style points in the process, edging out Jesús Sánchez for Miami's highest average bat speed. Down on the farm, Triple-A Jacksonville won, 3-2. A few days after I wrote about his lack of home runs this season, Deyvison De Los Santos drilled a walk-off solo shot. Joe Mack posted a 1.057 OPS during his first week with the Jumbo Shrimp. Jack Winkler is quietly thriving at the plate, slashing .333/.370/.510 and settling in as the team's main third baseman. Double-A Pensacola lost, 7-4. Josh Zamora went 3-for-3 with a walk. High-A Beloit won, 4-3. Garret Forrester made his first start of the season at catcher and drove in two runs. Low-A Jupiter won, 3-2. Ryan Weathers (left flexor muscle strain) was perfect in his three-inning rehab start, striking out six and pitching with the same velocity he previously had during spring training. Victor Mesa Jr. played another partial game in center field—his rehab assignment figures to continue into the next series. The Hammerheads came three outs away from a combined no-hitter. More Marlins news and content below: 🔷 There is a vacancy in the Marlins starting rotation while Weathers continues to build up his pitch count. Connor Gillispie, who had only one effective outing in six attempts, was optioned to Jacksonville. Luarbert Arias was recalled in a corresponding move to help out the bullpen for the rest of the road trip. He's just a stopgap until Gillispie's old rotation spot comes up again on Friday. The most sensible replacement is Adam Mazur, Fish On First's 11th-ranked prospect. In 13 Triple-A appearances since being acquired by the Marlins last summer, Mazur has a 3.71 ERA and 4.18 FIP in 63 innings pitched. He's been especially effective here in 2025 by leaning more heavily on his signature slider. 🔷 One-sixth of the way through the Marlins season, they still have never reused a batting order. The Chicago White Sox are the only other team in the majors to constantly tinker to that extent. 🔷 Hector Rodriguez did a prospect profile on Kayson Cunningham, an undersized though exceptional pure hitter who'll come off the board early during the 2025 MLB Draft. 🔷 Congrats to Stephanie and Andrew Nardi on the birth of their daughter, Elouise May. 🔷 The Prediction Time leaderboard has been updated through the first nine series. @Gabriel Revilla had perfect picks for the Mariners series. Become a SuperSub and we'll keep track of your predictions all season long! 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, the New York Mets blew a 7-1 lead in their loss to the Washington Nationals, though they still own the best record in MLB (19-9). They've just called up old friend José Ureña. The Mets will be the sixth different MLB team that Ureña has pitched for in four-plus seasons since his Marlins tenure ended. The league-worst Colorado Rockies have lost 14 of their last 15 games. 🔷 Today's MLB game: the Marlins (probable starter RHP Edward Cabrera) visit the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers (RHP Dustin May). The Marlins have a 31.0% chance to win, per FanGraphs. First pitch at 10:10 p.m. ET. 🔷 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). Marlins podcast episodes 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 Seattle Mariners. Starting Lineup SS Xavier Edwards (S) CF Jesús Sánchez (L) DH Agustín Ramírez LF Eric Wagaman RF Kyle Stowers (L) 1B Matt Mervis (L) 3B Connor Norby C Liam Hicks (L) 2B Otto Lopez P Max Meyer Click HERE to download the full game notes (preview below) View full article

Watch all 19 pitches that Miami Marlins right-hander Eury Pérez threw while rehabbing with the Low-A Jupiter Hammerheads on Saturday. Pérez faced four batters, allowing a single and recording two strikeouts in his scoreless inning of work. 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 second game of Miami's road series against the Seattle Mariners. Starting Lineup SS Xavier Edwards (S) RF Jesús Sánchez (L) C Agustín Ramírez LF Kyle Stowers (L) 1B Eric Wagaman 2B Otto Lopez DH Matt Mervis (L) 3B Connor Norby CF Dane Myers P Connor Gillispie Click HERE to download the full game notes (preview below) View full article

I hope Agustín can prove me wrong and settle in as a decent defensive player. He is a foundational piece for his bat alone, but it opens up more roster construction possibilities if he doesn't clog up the DH spot. I think the Marlins would only see him as a long-term extension candidate if grows a bit on that side of the ball.