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 SuperSubs. These notes apply to the second and final game of Miami's home series against the Washington Nationals. View full article

I fully agree on Pache: he brings nothing interesting to the table. Otto is in a different category. While he clearly is not going to be an everyday player moving forward, it is worth continuing to gather info on him. Sometime before next season begins, a choice likely needs to be made between him and Bruján for a single spot. Unfortunately, Troy's oblique injury is believed to be season-ending. Sounds as though the team wasn't interested in using him anyway, but the injury officially shut the door.

That means you get to witness an Adam Mazur start. He's been brilliant the last 2 times. If Bellozo struggles again for the big league team, I think it's a real possibility that they swap places next week.

Forgot to mention this. Daniel Castano called it a career a few days shy of his 30th birthday...

Offishial News for 9/4/24 On Tuesday, Max Meyer surrendered a career-high nine hits, most crucially a three-run home run to Joey Gallo. Following a stolen base, Jesús Sánchez exited the game with a mild back muscle spasm. Griffin Conine came off the bench and flew out in his first game at loanDepot park. The Marlins lost, 6-2. Through eight head-to-head matchups, the Nationals remain undefeated against the Fish this season. Down on the farm, Triple-A Jacksonville won, 4-3. RHP Elvis Alvarado (2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, 34 pitches/19 strikes) continues to dominate out of the Jumbo Shrimp bullpen. INF/OF Javier Sanoja went 3-for-5 on his birthday. Double-A Pensacola won, 5-1. OF/C Paul McIntosh had his third straight multi-hit game. LHP Luis Palacios (5.1 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 88 pitches/54 strikes) is quietly leading the Marlins farm system in innings pitched, just like he did in 2023. High-A Beloit lost, 3-0. RHP Karson Milbrandt (3.2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 82 pitches/52 strikes) made what was likely his final appearance of the season. He didn't record a win in any of his last 17 starts. Low-A Jupiter won, 5-2. Ryan Weathers (3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 43 pitches/27 strikes) pitched in an official game for the first time since suffering a finger injury in June. He'll make another rehab start or two before being reinstated from the IL. Here's more Marlins news and content: 🔷 More waiver claims! The Marlins added RHP Lake Bachar from the Padres and LHP Anthony Veneziano from the Royals. Bachar has already been assigned to Jacksonville. Veneziano, who is better suited to provide length in low-leverage situations, could be joining the big league team shortly. 🔷 In corresponding roster moves, Kent Emanuel, Emmanuel Ramírez and Ali Sánchez were designated for assignment. Of the trio, Sánchez had the longest stint on the active roster this season. He was one of MLB's worst hitters dating back to June 22 without enough defensive impact to make that tolerable. 🔷 Is now the right time to call up Agustín Ramírez for his major league debut? I wrote about the cases for and against doing so. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, Kyle Schwarber went 5-for-6 with three home runs against the Blue Jays, including a game-winner in the top of the ninth inning. Wyatt Langford hit a walk-off grand slam against Clay Holmes (Holmes' 11th blown save of the season). Shohei Ohtani played his first game at Angel Stadium as a visiting player. The Royals have lost seven straight games. 🔷 Today's MLB game: the finale of this brief series between the Marlins (probable starter RHP Valente Bellozo) and the Nationals (LHP MacKenzie Gore). Gore threw seven innings of one-run ball with 10 strikeouts vs. Miami on June 14, but he has a 5.89 ERA since then. The Marlins have a 42.2% chance to win, per FanGraphs. First pitch at 6:40 p.m. 🔷 Today's MiLB schedule: Triple-A Jacksonville at Louisville, 6:35 p.m. ET Double-A Pensacola at Birmingham, 8:00 p.m. ET High-A Beloit at Quad Cities, 7:30 p.m. ET Low-A Jupiter vs. Palm Beach, 6:30 p.m. ET Marlins podcast episodes View full article

Ramírez is deserving of strong consideration, but which course of action would be most beneficial to his development and the Marlins organization as a whole? It's admittedly a very tough call. I don't know what the Miami Marlins should do with Agustín Ramírez during the final month of the 2024 season. Let's talk through the predicament. Fish On First's fourth-ranked Marlins prospect, Ramírez has been assigned to Triple-A Jacksonville since being acquired in the Jazz Chisholm Jr. trade. He has no major league experience, but already holds a spot on the 40-man roster. Ali Sánchez was designated for assignment on Tuesday, leaving Nick Fortes and Jhonny Pereda as the two catchers occupying active roster spots. Designated hitter reps are being split among several players. Is it time for Ramírez to get his feet wet at the highest level or should the promotion wait until next year? The case for calling up Ramírez Ramírez has had an excellent season offensively. The soon-to-be 23-year-old has done it while facing much older competition in the upper minors (divided evenly between Double-A and Triple-A). Among all minor leaguers who primarily play catcher, he ranks third with 23 home runs and tied for fifth with 20 stolen bases. He's the only one with at least 20 of both. He's showing himself to be a consistent, well-rounded hitter. Ramírez owns a 131 wRC+ overall in 2024 (100 represents league average), never dipping below a 94 wRC+ in any individual month. Fatigue is not a concern—his max exit velocity as a Triple-A player (112.6 mph) was just recorded Tuesday night on a single. In April, 11 years into his professional career, Pereda made his major league debut. As heartwarming as that moment was, the Marlins have not at any point considered him to be part of their future plans at the catching position. His current presence on Miami's active roster is to serve as a placeholder while the last-place club plays out the string. There is no downside to promoting Ramírez at his expense. There would also be a bit more playing time available at the DH spot if Jesús Sánchez's back injury proves to be significant. For the moment, it's seemingly a day-to-day issue, but the club has every reason to be cautious with Sánchez at this stage of the season. With just 26 days left in the regular season, Ramírez's rookie eligibility will roll over into 2025 no matter what. If he makes next year's Opening Day roster and goes on to win the National League Rookie of the Year, he could potentially earn the Marlins an additional MLB Draft pick via the relatively new Prospect Promotion Incentive (PPI) system. That is contingent on being considered a preseason Top 100 prospect via at least two of Baseball America, MLB.com or ESPN. Ramírez is just outside each Top 100 list right now. His best chance at raising his stock down the stretch would be impressing against MLB opposition. On the flip side, Ramírez slumping during his first cup of coffee would be innocuous. Each loss brings the Marlins closer to locking in the highest odds of winning the next draft lottery. Getting first-hand experience could help him design an offseason plan tailored toward addressing his deficiencies, begin building relationships with teammates and come into '25 knowing what to expect. The case against calling up Ramírez Ramírez is struggling behind the plate, particularly in regards to receiving and blocking. It's hard to detect from looking at his individual stats because only 10 of these miscues in 2024 have been scored passed balls, but in every game that I've analyzed Ramírez's defense, including those before and after the trade, he has missed balls that practically any MLB backstop would smother. For example, here is the "wild pitch" that got past Ramírez on Tuesday, allowing a strikeout victim to reach first base: R1pQTkxfV0ZRVkV3dEdEUT09X1UxZFNWUUFIVndvQVcxc0NBQUFBQjFOV0FGZ0FWVklBVmxCVUNBWUhCZ1ZTVWxNRA==.mp4 Big leaguers collectively throw their pitches harder and spin them with more ferocity than Triple-A hurlers. Catching them would only exacerbate this flaw in Ramírez's skill set. It is not realistic to count on improvement in such a brief sample. Meanwhile, putting him in that situation right now would risk damaging his confidence and frustrating his battery mates. A Ramírez call-up would take a bite out of Nick Fortes' playing time. The defensive-minded veteran has had an uneven 2024 campaign, looking like a midseason demotion candidate before faring much better during the second half. It's already clear that Ramírez is part of what Miami is building next year. Why not continue to maximize September reps for Fortes to help Marlins decision-makers reach a consensus on whether or not they want him back? Perhaps Ramírez earning a PPI pick is too much of a pipe dream to bother chasing. The prudent move for a low-revenue franchise would be to delay the start of his major league career until mid-April to ensure club control over him extends through the 2031 season. It goes without saying that an Agustín Ramírez call-up would make these 51-87 Marlins more interesting for my staff to cover and more compelling for fans to watch. However, the front office doesn't take that into account (nor should they). To accept Ramírez as the centerpiece of the Chisholm trade, the Marlins must believe he has immense long-term potential. Does a September 2024 debut put him on the best path to realizing that potential, or would it actually hinder his chances? I can see both sides of it. 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 the first game of Miami's home series against the Washington Nationals. View full article

Offishial News for 9/2/24 (Happy Labor Day!) On Sunday, Darren McCaughan's spot start began inauspiciously, allowing a home run and two hit-by-pitches in the very first inning. However, the Marlins offense broke through against Logan Webb during the middle innings. Nick Fortes drove in Miami's first run with an RBI single in the top of the fifth and Kyle Stowers added three more on a 439-foot homer. Griffin Conine went 2-for-4 to raise his batting average to an even .300. José Devers made his 2024 season debut and played second base. The final four relievers that the Marlins used (three of whom were recent waiver claims) pitched flawlessly. The Marlins won, 7-5. It was their first series victory since the trade deadline. Down on the farm, Triple-A Jacksonville won, 2-1. LHP Patrick Monteverde recovered from a leadoff home run to have an excellent outing (5.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, 100 pitches/64 strikes). INF Javier Sanoja had the walk-off infield single. Double-A Pensacola lost, 9-3. 1B Nathan Martorella homered for the sixth time in his last 11 games. Monteverde was named Southern League Pitcher of the Week for the start he made for the Blue Wahoos on Tuesday prior to his promotion. High-A Beloit won, 6-2. RHP Josh Ekness extended his scoreless streak to 14 innings. Low-A Jupiter won, 5-4. Although he's been a below-average hitter overall with a .237/.283/.301 slash line, SS Carter Johnson continues to excel with runners in scoring position (.333/.379/.519 in 29 PA). Here's more Marlins news and content: 🔷 In addition to McCaughan, the Marlins used their other September roster expansion spot on Jhonny Pereda. My expectation is that either he or Devers will be sent down once Xavier Edwards is ready to return from the injured list. Jonathan Bermúdez remains in DFA limbo. 🔷 Another roster decision is on the horizon. This is the 28th day of Josh Simpson's minor league rehab assignment. The maximum length is 30 days. The Marlins either need to recall him to the majors, option him to Triple-A or designate him for assignment. 🔷 Through 44 Marlins series, here's an updated look at the Prediction Time leaderboard. With eight series left, the top 15 participants are still mathematically alive. Make series predictions with us all season long when you become a Fish On First SuperSub. 🔷 I wrote about Devers' frustrating career path, missing chunks of every season due to injury. 🔷 Connor Norby discussed his multi-sport background and the significance of his tattoos with MLB.com's Christina De Nicola. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, with four full weeks still to play, the White Sox set a single-season franchise record by suffering their 107th loss. Across town, the Cubs are very much alive in the NL Wild Card race thanks to an 8-1 road trip. Their offense scored 14-plus runs four separate times during that span. Alex Cobb carried a perfect game into the seventh inning for the Guardians. Josh Jung hit a three-run, walk-off homer against Mason Miller. 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 the third and final game of Miami's road series against the San Francisco Giants. View full article

Devers' first major league season was cut short by injury. Unfortunately, that's been a running theme throughout his professional career. With Vidal Bruján still bothered by a nagging right shoulder injury, the Miami Marlins placed the utilityman on the injured list prior to Saturday's game. José Devers was selected from Triple-A Jacksonville to fill his shoes. Yes, the wiry infielder who was acquired in 2017's Giancarlo Stanton trade is still around! Devers emerged as one of the organization's top position player prospects in 2019, earning a Florida State League All-Star selection and participating in the Arizona Fall League while still a teenager. Because COVID canceled the 2020 minor league season and delayed the start of it in 2021, Devers made the highly unconventional jump from High-A to the majors. He debuted for the Fish on April 26, 2021 and had two stints as a part-time player during the first half of that season. How ironic that his career was halted by a right shoulder injury and now another one has opened the door for him to finally make it back up to The Show. During the interim, durability has continued to be Devers' main issue. He has averaged merely 63 MLB/MiLB regular season games played over the last four seasons. Even when active, he hasn't developed as hoped. Once a plus runner, the 24-year-old seldom steals bases anymore. In 2024, he's hitting balls in the air frequently (36.2 GB%), but not with enough impact for it to matter—his 85.4 mph average exit velocity would rank in the bottom 5% of MLB players and his 1.9 Barrel% is Tim Anderson-esque. Devers is still a good bet to make contact against both right-handers and left-handers. Defensively, he is best suited for second base, but can also man shortstop or third base when necessary. cmV5djFfV0ZRVkV3dEdEUT09X1ZGQUVVRmRXVVFNQURBY0FYZ0FBQVFSZkFGaFdCMWNBVVZNR1ZnSURBd1lBQWxkUw==.mp4 The Marlins will need to make a corresponding roster move next week when reinstating shortstop Xavier Edwards from the injured list, so Devers' latest major league stint could be extremely brief. Even if he does manage to stick around throughout September, this is likely to be his final month with the organization. Fellow infielders Deyvison De Los Santos, Jared Serna and Javier Sanoja are simply better players at this point and require 40-man roster spots this offseason to be protected from the Rule 5 Draft. In the meantime, Devers could become a small part of history. Upon making his 2024 Marlins debut, he'll become the 66th different player used by the Marlins this season. The MLB single-season record of 69 set by the 2021 Chicago Cubs is well within reach. View full article

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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 the second game of Miami's road series against the San Francisco Giants. View full article

Today's news roundup also includes MLB postseason updates and a debate about how Giancarlo Stanton would be depicted in Cooperstown. Two more Marlins players made their Dominican Winter League season debuts on Thursday. For Gigantes del Cibao, 1B Deyvison De Los Santos went 0-for-3 and RHP Austin Roberts pitched a scoreless inning of relief while also earning the win. Out in the desert, OF Kemp Alderman went 1-for-3 with a walk. It's fair to feel a bit worried about RHP Jun-Seok Shim, who looked awful in his second Arizona Fall League appearance (0.2 IP, 2 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 0 K, 27 pitches/12 strikes). Five of the six batters Shim faced reached safely and he generated only one whiff, and even that was a foul tip rather than a pure swing-and-miss. Peoria lost their fifth consecutive game, 11-6. You can watch the full game broadcast here. Here's more Marlins news and content: 🔷 Tigers bench coach George Lombard and Giants assistant coach Alyssa Nakken have emerged as candidates in the Marlins managerial search, according to Fish On First's own Isaac Azout. Lombard previously interviewed for the job two years ago, while Nakken would become the first female manager in MLB history if hired. As FOF previously covered, the Marlins are also very interested in Guardians bench coach Craig Albernaz. They have now asked Cleveland for permission to formally interview him, per ESPN's Buster Olney. 🔷 On the Baseball Tonight podcast, former Marlins manager Skip Schumaker told Buster Olney that he's "talking with a couple clubs" about potential jobs (though he understandably didn't elaborate on what the clubs or positions were). In reflecting on the disappointing 2024 season, he said, "I never wanted to have a culture where there was finger-pointing or the blame game and we didn't have that, and that was a test for sure...Our process never changed, which it could have, and I'm grateful that we stayed the course." Schumaker reiterated his love for managing, comparing the role to "holding your own baby." 🔷 The second part of the Swimming Upstream season-in-review super-pod is embedded below. Alex Carver and Kevin Barral discussed standout prospects who played for Double-A Pensacola and Triple-A Jacksonville during the 2024 season. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, the final few innings of the Yankees vs. Guardians game were as scintillating as anything we've seen this postseason. Emmanuel Clase has now allowed more earned runs in October than he did throughout the entire regular season. However, David Fry bailed him out and delivered a walk-off two-run home run in the 10th inning. In the National League, the Dodgers scored early and often against the Mets to move within one win of clinching a World Series berth. Max Muncy is the NLCS MVP frontrunner, upping his slash line to .500/.722/1.100. 🔷 Giancarlo Stanton continues to bolster his Hall of Fame candidacy with excellent, clutch production in the playoffs, so Nate Karzmer asks whether his HOF plaque would depict him in a Marlins or a Yankees hat. Voting so far has been split pretty evenly. 🔷 Today's MLB postseason schedule: Los Angeles Dodgers vs. New York Mets, 5:08 p.m. ET (NLCS Game 5) New York Yankees vs. Cleveland Guardians, 8:08 p.m. ET (ALCS Game 4) 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 the first game of Miami's road series against the San Francisco Giants. View full article

Offishial News for 8/30/24 On Thursday, the Marlins set a new season high with 18 hits (a collective .400 BA). Thank you very much, Coors Field. Derek Hill hit two home runs—both against right-handed pitchers—and Kyle Stowers boosted his 2024 stat line closer to respectability by going 8-for-17 during the series. Connor Norby now has the third-longest hitting streak to begin a Marlins career, trailing only the 12-game streaks of Gary Sheffield (1993) and Juan Pierre (2003). Predictably, Valente Bellozo's heavy reliance on fly balls did not mix well with the high altitude (4.0 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 74 pitches/46 strikes). The Marlins won, 12-8. Down on the farm, Triple-A Jacksonville lost, 12-7. 1B Deyvison De Los Santos doubled and homered, his 36th long ball of the season. RHP Emmanuel Ramirez allowed seven runs (six earned) in his relief appearance to let the game get out of hand. LHP Josh Simpson pitched on back-to-back days in what should mark the end of his rehab assignment. Simpson isn't yet back to his pre-injury form, so I think the most likely outcome is him getting optioned to the minors (wouldn't be completely shocked if he was designated for assignment). Double-A Pensacola won, 8-7. INF Jared Serna (2-3, HR, BB) continues to thrive. C Joe Mack and 1B Nathan Martorella also homered off of David Fletcher's knuckleball. High-A Beloit won, 6-2. 1B Brock Vradenburg (4-4, 2 HR, 5 RBI) had the best game of his professional career and LHP Thomas White (5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, 84 pitches/50 strikes) continues to be incredibly consistent. Low-A Jupiter won, 3-2. The Florida Complex League announced its 2024 season awards. Luis Dorante Sr. was named FCL Manager of the Year while RHP Juan De La Cruz and LHP Manuel Medina were All-Star selections. After allowing an earned run in his season debut, Medina didn't allow another over his last 19 ⅓ innings pitched. Here's more Marlins news and content: 🔷 The Marlins are sending LHP Justin King to the Arizona Fall League, Fish On First has learned. Alex Carver named six more players who could benefit from getting extra reps in the desert. 🔷 Jake Burger is a borderline candidate for Super Two status this offseason. I explained what that means and projected how his 2025 salary could be impacted. 🔷 Former Marlins president David Samson was our special guest on The Offishial Show. Samson tells us that he'll be in attendance at loanDepot park next week to support newly recalled Griffin Conine. 🔷 Through 43 Marlins series, here's an updated look at the Prediction Time leaderboard. Make series predictions with us all season long when you become a Fish On First SuperSub. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, Tommy Pham, Thairo Estrada and Taylor Rogers are among the veteran players who have been placed on waivers. They would be postseason eligible if claimed by other teams on Saturday. The Reds won a wild game despite the best efforts of Athletics outfielders JJ Bleday and Lawrence Butler, who combined for four homers and a spectacular double play. Blue Jays RHP Bowden Francis has been practically unhittable over his last four starts (6 H in 29.0 IP). 🔷 Today's MLB game: the Marlins (probable starter RHP Adam Oller) take on the Giants (LHP Blake Snell). Snell is coming off a messy six-walk outing, but in eight starts prior to that, he was MLB's hottest pitcher (1.03 ERA and 70 K in 52.1 IP). The Marlins have a 30.8% chance to win, per FanGraphs. First pitch at 10:15 p.m. ET. 🔷 Join us for a new episode of Fish On First LIVE today from 9:00-10:00 p.m. ET on YouTube/Twitter/Facebook. FOF LIVE is presented by Berger & Hicks. If you’ve been injured as a result of somebody else’s negligence, give them a call at (305) 670-7050. 🔷 Today's MiLB schedule: Triple-A Jacksonville vs. Norfolk, 7:05 p.m. ET Double-A Pensacola vs. Mississippi, 7:05 p.m. ET High-A Beloit vs. Peoria, 7:35 p.m. ET Low-A Jupiter at St. Lucie, 6:10 p.m. ET Marlins podcast episodes View full article