Ely Sussman

Today's news roundup also includes the passing of an MLB team's owner and notes about the Marlins pitching staff. For the first time since 2014, Jessica Blaylock will not be covering the Miami Marlins. The longtime pre/postgame host and in-game reporter "would have loved to return, but unfortunately, the decision didn't belong to me," she wrote Monday in a social media post. Shortly after sharing the news, the Marlins removed her blurb from the "broadcasters" page of the website. Blaylock used to cover both the Marlins and Florida Panthers for FanDuel Sports Network Florida (previously known as Bally Sports Florida), but the Panthers left the network for Scripps Sports entering the 2024-25 season and hired her. FDSN Florida "briefly discussed" retaining Blaylock in a role that wouldn't interfere with her Scripps obligations, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Seems as though this was more of a logistical issue than an indictment of her work. Regardless, it's a huge blow to the Marlins' television product. Blaylock consistently brought creativity and humor to her segments. She had a good rapport with players and dug up interesting off-the-field stories about them. She was enthusiastic during many non-competitive Marlins seasons, but not in a cringey way. Her talent and experience will be missed. A formal announcement about the 2025 Marlins broadcast team is expected from FDSN Florida in the coming weeks, but returning talent Craig Minervini and Kelly Saco will help fill the Blaylock void. They can't do it entirely on their own because of additional responsibilities as part-time radio announcers. Barry Jackson mentions Jeremy Taché as "potentially" getting increased TV reps. Marlins Opening Day is 30 days away. More Marlins news and content below: 🔷 Monday's scheduled game between the Miami Marlins and Houston Astros was canceled due to rain. Ryan Weathers got his work in at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium, so the Marlins will skip his spot in the rotation. By the time we see him in a game environment for the first time this weekend, he should be stretched out to go multiple innings. 🔷 Slowed by lower back inflammation, Andrew Nardi has begun to ramp. He got cleared to play catch on Monday. Being a reliever who rarely pitches more than one inning at a time, there's hope he could be at full strength just in time to make the Opening Day roster. 🔷 Any further setbacks to Nardi would help Anthony Veneziano's case for making the roster as a lefty reliever. He spoke to MLB.com's Steve Dorsey about transitioning to the bullpen after mainly being a starter in the minor leagues. 🔷 Weekly reminder that HOMAGE's teal Marlins Starter jacket is still available here in all sizes. Fish On First earns a commission on products purchased through that link. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, Cleveland Guardians owner Larry Dolan passed away at the age of 94. He purchased the franchise in 2000. His son, Paul, has been Cleveland's primary control person since 2013. Sean Manaea (right oblique strain) will be starting the season on the injured list. That's the second Mets starter to suffer a significant spring training injury, joining Frankie Montas (right lat strain). On the position player side, the Mets acquired outfielder Alexander Canario from the Cubs for cash considerations. Good luck to Harold Ramírez, one of my favorite Marlins role players ever, who is continuing his playing career in the Mexican League in 2025. 🔷 Today's Grapefruit League game: the Marlins (probable starter RHP Edward Cabrera) host the Washington Nationals (RHP Trevor Williams). It's only being broadcasted on the Marlins Radio Network. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. View full article

As feared, today's spring game has been canceled 🌧️

Watch all 17 pitches that Sandy Alcantara threw against the New York Mets in his 2025 spring training debut. The Marlins ace faced Luisangel Acuña (lineout), Mark Vientos (single), Brett Baty (groundout) and Jose Siri (strikeout). View full video

Today's news roundup also includes an opportunity to see college baseball at loanDepot park. In his 2025 spring training debut on Sunday, Sandy Alcantara faced Luisangel Acuña (lineout), Mark Vientos (single), Brett Baty (groundout) and Jose Siri (strikeout). He threw 17 pitches in his scoreless inning of work, including nine four-seam fastballs, four sinkers, two sliders and two changeups. His velocity topped out at 99.3 mph, very similar to what we were accustomed to seeing from him prior to undergoing Tommy John surgery. Beyond just the velocity, the quality of Alcantara's stuff was excellent. Both his sinker and changeup had the characteristics of top-of-the-scale 80-grade pitches, according to tjStuff+. Miami Marlins - El Caballo.mp4 Still no home runs for the Marlins this spring, but their offense has just as many walks (11) as strikeouts (11), tied with the Athletics for the best ratio in the majors. Marlins Opening Day is 31 days away. More Marlins news and content below: 🔷 Victor Mesa Jr. (mild right hamstring strain) is 3-4 weeks away from returning to play, the Marlins say. The 23-year-old outfielder was a longshot to crack the Opening Day roster to begin with, but this setback firmly takes him out of consideration. Mesa also suffered a minor injury last spring to his ankle and his 2024 season ended prematurely due to a lumbar stress reaction. Hopefully, he'll be ready for Triple-A Jacksonville's season opener. More injury updates here. 🔷 Louis Addeo-Weiss explains how bad luck distorted Declan Cronin's numbers last season and what Cronin could do to make his own luck in 2025 despite likely being surrounded by a subpar defense again. 🔷 loanDepot park will host a college baseball game on March 4 between the University of Miami and Florida International University. General admission tickets are on sale now for $28.40 apiece. 🔷 BrooksGate created this 26-man all-star team of players who were traded away by the Marlins at some point during their careers. Five of them (Luis Arraez, Josh Naylor, Marcell Ozuna, Tanner Scott and Christian Yelich) were real-life MLB All-Stars in 2024. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, Nicaragua has qualified for the 2026 World Baseball Classic. The winner of Tuesday's game between Spain and Chinese Taipei will qualify as well. 🔷 Today's Grapefruit League game: the Marlins (probable starter LHP Ryan Weathers) visit the Houston Astros (RHP Ronel Blanco). Expect to see a lot of Saturday's starting position players in the lineup again such as Xavier Edwards, Otto Lopez and Matt Mervis. The Astros claim that there will be some sort of free livestream of the game. I don't have the specific link for it yet, but will make it a clickable banner atop the Fish On First website this afternoon when available. Weather permitting, first pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. 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 SuperSubs. These notes apply to Miami's road exhibition game against the Houston Astros. View full article

Player status updates, insightful stats and more information to fully equip you for today's Marlins game. Welcome back, Sandy Alcantara. Here are the latest Miami Marlins game notes, produced by the Marlins communications department and relayed to our loyal SuperSubs. These notes apply to Miami's road exhibition game against the New York Mets. View full article

Player status updates, insightful stats and more information to fully equip you for today's Marlins game. We are so back. For the first time in 2025, here are the latest Miami Marlins game notes, produced by the Marlins communications department and relayed to our loyal SuperSubs. These notes apply to Miami's home exhibition game against the St. Louis Cardinals. View full article

Edward Cabrera has just been announced as Tuesday's SP, which lines him up to be in the #3 rotation spot.

Today's news roundup also includes an addition to Miami's 2025 international signing class. Kevin Barral and Alex Krutchik have your on-site coverage from Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium today as the Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals meet in their 2025 Grapefruit League season opener. Valente Bellozo's first pitch is coming at 1:10 p.m. Listen to the radio call on FOX Sports 940AM. Marlins Opening Day is 33 days away. More Marlins news and content below: 🔷 Go to Fish On First's Instagram or Twitter account to submit your prediction for who will hit the first spring training home run for the Marlins. Two people who get it right will win a glass from Miami Hops. 🔷 Sandy Alcantara starts Sunday for the Fish, followed by Ryan Weathers on Monday, which suggests that Weathers is being lined up to start the second game of the regular season. 🔷 Mexican infielder Juan Alva is the 19th member of this year's Marlins international signing class. Alva got a modest $10,000 bonus, sources tell Fish On First, the maximum amount that a player can receive without counting against a club's bonus pool. According to my calculations, the Marlins have $220,500 remaining in their pool (the signing period runs through December 15). 🔷 The Marlins have hired Nate Medrano as their vice president of ticket sales and service, overseeing Marlins memberships, premium sales, inside sales and membership experience. Medrano previously worked for the Miami Dolphins. The Marlins now have 13 different executives with the VP title. 🔷 Marlins clubhouse attendant José Oviedo manages the music that blares around their spring training complex, curating 15 playlists across various genres, as MLB.com's Christina De Nicola detailed. 🔷 Nicole Cahill of Pitcher List wrote about the unsettling public comments that Bruce Sherman and Peter Bendix made earlier this week. "This city has proven it will show up when you give it a reason to, but the franchise has repeatedly failed to make an effort in good faith." 🔷 Baseball America considers this to be a "critical season" for Marlins OF Dillon Head coming off hip surgery: "Head’s first step is proving he’s fully healthy. Then he’ll need to work on refining bat-to-ball skills that have been fairly inconsistent when he’s been on the field. The Marlins don’t have many close-to-the-majors bats at the top of their system. For their system to take a step forward, players like Head must show progress in 2025 and beyond." For what it's worth, he has looked impressive in early minor league camp. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, the New York Yankees announced an amendment to their longstanding facial hair policy, allowing players and other uniformed personnel to wear beards. They also agreed with Aaron Boone on a contract extension through the 2027 season. Boone is tied for the fifth-longest-tenured manager in MLB, entering his eighth season in the Bronx. For the first time since the 1980s, Major League Baseball may be leaving ESPN after terminating their television rights agreement beyond this season. Marlins podcast episodes View full article

On Nothing Personal with David Samson, former Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez reflects on the challenges he had dealing with star shortstop Hanley Ramírez, especially on May 17, 2010, when Ramírez showed a lack of hustle chasing a ball down the left field line. View full video

The title of "oldest active Miami Marlins player" has changed hands again. Right-hander reliever Seth Martinez, who turns 31 in August, was claimed by the Fish on Thursday. Eury Pérez (Tommy John surgery rehab) was placed on the 60-day injured list to make room for Martinez on the 40-man roster. Martinez had been designated for assignment by the Arizona Diamondbacks earlier in the week, but all of his prior major league experience came as a member of the Houston Astros. He has posted a 3.93 ERA, 4.24 FIP and .240 BAA in 111 MLB appearances (all in relief). He pitched especially well in 2022 (2.09 ERA, 3.32 FIP and .187 BAA in 38.2 IP) and won a World Series ring for his efforts, though the Astros didn't use him in the postseason during that year or any other. After striking out 23.5% of opposing batters from 2021-2023 (approximately league average for a reliever), Martinez's K% plummeted to 16.2% in 2024. His sweeper wasn't generating whiffs as often as it previously did in two-strike counts—I imagine that the Marlins will be focused on finding a fix for that. Like Ronny Henriquez earlier this month, Martinez has used up all of his minor league options. Barring injuries or catastrophic spring training performances, expect to see both of them on the Marlins Opening Day roster. Martinez is still pre-arbitration eligible and under club control through the 2028 season. As for Pérez, his placement on the 60-day IL was inevitable. It officially prevents him returning to the majors before May 26, but he isn't going to be ready until July anyway. By all accounts, his rehab from last April's TJ surgery has gone smoothly thus far. View full rumor

The club's Grapefruit League game coverage will sound a little different this year. The ways that fans can access it have also changed. The five-month drought without Miami Marlins baseball games mercifully ends this Saturday (sort of). They'll be embarking on a series of exhibitions against seven different MLB opponents leading up to Opening Day. Spring training wins and losses are completely inconsequential, but the Grapefruit League at least provides us with a glimpse of the Marlins' future, particularly during the first few weeks of action while so many prospects are still assigned to big league camp. Last season's radio play-by-play announcer, Kyle Sielaff, is making the transition to television in 2025 and the club hired Jack McMullen to fill Sielaff's shoes. With the exception of split-squad road games against the New York Mets (March 3), Washington Nationals (March 10) and Houston Astros (March 22), McMullen will call every spring training game with Stephen Strom hosting a 15-minute pregame show. Those broadcasts can be streamed through the MLB app and MLB.TV. Approximately half of the games are also being carried locally in South Florida on FOX Sports 940 AM Miami—those are the ones that say "WINZ" in the "broadcast" column of the table below. In recent years, the Marlins often set up a camera in the pressbox behind home plate to produce a video feed on Marlins.com that was synced with the radio broadcast's audio. Unfortunately, those streams will not be happening this spring. Radio Mambí 710 AM WAQI will have Spanish broadcasts of nine exhibition games. FanDuel Sports Network Florida—previously known as Bally Sports Florida—will have spring training TV coverage on March 11, March 16, March 17, March 18 and March 20. Only two of those will be conventional Marlins broadcasts featuring Sielaff and an FDSN Florida analyst (3/17 and 3/20). The other three are matchups against the St. Louis Cardinals, which will be shared productions with FDSN Midwest. That includes sharing TV talent by pairing Sielaff with a Cardinals analyst or pairing Chip Caray with a Marlins analyst. Just in time for spring training, FanDuel Sports Network has partnered with Amazon Prime Video, offering a $19.99 per month subscription as an alternative for local fans who don't have cable (or don't have FDSN Florida included in their cable package). That Prime Video add-on will carry the same broadcast that regular TV viewers get. For MLB.TV subscribers, there are five additional games available to watch that'll be produced by the Marlins' opponents: February 23 (Mets), February 28 (Braves), March 6 (Braves), March 9 (Astros) and March 23 (Mets). Out-of-market fans can also find the 2/28 game on MLB Network. Some of the March ones could potentially be shown on MLB Network as well—I'll have confirmation as those dates get closer. View full article

Today's news roundup also includes a new injury and an addition to the team's television broadcast crew. The starting pitchers for the Miami Marlins' first two Grapefruit League games will be Valente Bellozo and Sandy Alcantara on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. No announcement yet from the St. Louis Cardinals or New York Mets regarding their probable starters against Miami. It will be Alcantara's first appearance in a game setting since he made a Triple-A rehab start 17 months ago. SNY is doing a television broadcast that day and Clover Park utilizes Statcast, so we'll have real-time highlights and data to share/overreact to. Marlins Opening Day is 35 days away. More Marlins news and content below: 🔷 Reliever Woo-Suk Go fractured his right index finger. Even if healthy, Go wouldn't have been in the mix for an Opening Day roster spot, but this setback ensures he will begin the regular season on the minor league injured list (either with Triple-A Jacksonville or Double-A Pensacola). As a reminder, bookmark this page for frequent MLB/MiLB injury updates. 🔷 Wednesday's episode of Fish On First LIVE is embedded below. It included an impromptu NRI quiz. Our staffers will be streaming with special guests on a weekly basis throughout spring training. 🔷 Congratulations to Marlins Twitter legend Craig Mish on joining FanDuel Sports Network Florida's rotation of studio analysts. Craig Minervini and Kelly Saco will be the Marlins’ primary TV studio hosts this season, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports, while Rod Allen, Jeff Nelson and Gaby Sanchez will be the primary studio analysts. Mish will no longer be co-writing Marlins columns for the Herald with Jackson like he had been doing since 2021. 🔷 We are still almost three weeks away from FDSN Florida's first spring training broadcast, but I put together a primer on how to watch/listen to games in the meantime. 🔷 The Marlins Radio Network has a weekly show debuting this Sunday called "Clayton's Corner" featuring exclusive interviews with Clayton McCullough. 🔷 The Jumbo Shrimp will use "Honey Drippers" as their alternate identity for four games this season. It refers to "a delicious frozen treat served in a variety of flavors while often including fresh fruit." 🔷 Here is one more plug for HOMAGE's teal Florida Marlins Starter jacket that has been newly restocked with higher-quality fabric. I'm literally wearing mine as I type this. Fish On First receives a commission from that link, so any purchases simultaneously enhance your wardrobe while supporting our hard-working staff. Marlins podcast episodes View full article

Right-hander Valente Bellozo wasn't even in the Miami Marlins organization at this time a year ago. Now, he's been tabbed as the starting pitcher for their 2025 Grapefruit League opener, manager Clayton McCullough announced. The Marlins will face the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday at 1:10 p.m. at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. Traded from the Houston Astros to the Marlins shortly after the 2024 regular season began, Bellozo's workload was split evenly between the minors (66.0 IP) and the majors (68.2 IP). In terms of run prevention, he was significantly better in Miami (3.67 ERA) than he was at Double-A/Triple-A (4.64 ERA). On the other hand, his strikeout rate plummeted against MLB competition—from 25.0% to 14.9%—and he was heavily reliant on fly balls, which makes it difficult to envision the soft-tosser replicating that effectiveness in his sophomore season. He's firmly behind Sandy Alcantara, Ryan Weathers, Cal Quantrill and Edward Cabrera on the current starting rotation depth chart, and likely behind Max Meyer, too. That makes this an appropriate assignment for Bellozo. Even under previous front offices and coaching staffs, the Marlins have consistently maximized Grapefruit League reps for pitchers who are on the Opening Day roster bubble. Jordan Yamamoto started the first spring game in 2020, for example. Daniel Castano did it in 2021, Braxton Garrett in 2023 and Weathers in 2024. (Due to an MLB lockout, 2022 spring training was abbreviated with fewer participating players and roster battles than usual, so the Marlins started Alcantara in that year's opener). Bellozo is only expected to go one or two innings on Saturday, which means a handful of other Marlins pitchers will also make appearances. There will be radio broadcasts on FOX Sports 940 AM Miami and Radio Mambí 710 AM WAQI (Spanish). Fish On First will have on-site coverage as well.