Ely Sussman

I believe the leading factor contributing to the increase is a cultural change within baseball. Pitchers are incentivized from a young age to throw with max effort on every pitch. They are willing to risk severe injury because they'll still be coveted if the quality of their stuff is exceptional enough. On the position player side, teams are more willing than they used to be historically to allow guys a couple weeks to fully heal rather than rushing them back within a couple days.

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 game of Miami's home series against the Philadelphia Phillies. View full article

Having just turned 22 earlier this week, Sanoja would be easily the youngest player used by the Marlins in 2024. He's a rare recent example of a homegrown hitting prospect panning out. One of the Miami Marlins' most fascinating prospects, Javier Sanoja, was selected from Triple-A Jacksonville on Saturday, as first reported by Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase. Among the club's many pregame roster moves, outfielder Derek Hill was placed on the 10-day injured list with a left shoulder impingement. One of the many separators between Sanoja and Hill is durability. Sanoja has played 257 MiLB games over the last two seasons alone, most among all Marlins minor leaguers during that span. Another factor distinguishing Sanoja from his peers is his stature. The Venezuelan infielder/outfielder is only 5'7". By listed height, he will be the shortest position player in Marlins history! The lone Marlins major leaguer to measure less than 67 inches tall was right-handed reliever Richie Lewis (5'6"), who pitched for the Fish from 1993-1995. The shape of Sanoja's journey has been uncommon as well. Currently Fish On First's 16th-ranked Marlins prospect, he received a modest $90k signing bonus in 2019. Due to the impact of COVID, he had to wait until July 12, 2021 to make his official minor league debut. Now, less than three years removed from facing fellow teenagers in the Dominican Summer League, he is on the verge of debuting in The Show. In 110 games with Triple-A Jacksonville this season, Sanoja has slashed .294/.357/.435 (106 wRC+) with six home runs and 14 stolen bases. His strikeout rate is even more diminutive than his body—Sanoja's 6.4 K% (Jacksonville and Double-A Pensacola combined) is the best of any qualified MiLB hitter to play at a full-season level in 2024. He sacrifices quality of contact in order to make contact with virtually everything, though he is capable of crushing balls in certain situations with a respectable max exit velocity of 109.3 mph. He is also somewhat disciplined with nearly as many career walks as strikeouts. The distribution of Sanoja's defensive reps has been unlike anything the Marlins have done with their other notable prospects. With the Jumbo Shrimp, he has played 300-plus innings at second base, shortstop and center field, practically an even three-way split between those positions. He isn't a plus fielder, but that versatility is obviously valuable. I want to emphasize how rare it is that a position player originally signed/drafted by the Marlins has reached the big leagues with them. Sanoja will be joining Nick Fortes as the only "homegrown" hitters to appear in a game for the Fish this season. It shouldn't be that hard! This speaks to how inadequate the organization has been at hitting development, necessitating all the personnel turnover we've seen throughout the last calendar year. Sanoja was not in the Marlins starting lineup against the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday, but likely will be for Sunday's series finale. 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 second game of Miami's home series against the Philadelphia Phillies. 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 Philadelphia Phillies. View full article

Offishial News for 9/5/24 On Wednesday, the smallest loanDepot crowd of the season (announced attendance of 6,156) witnessed great pitching from Valente Bellozo and MacKenzie Gore. The Nationals rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the top of the eighth inning to take a 3-2 lead, but the Marlins tied it in the bottom of the frame, forcing extra innings for the 18th time in 2024. John McMillon held the Nats scoreless in the top of the 10th and Xavier Edwards delivered a walk-off single. The Marlins won, 4-3. It was McMillon's first career win and Edwards' first career walk-off hit. Down on the farm, Triple-A Jacksonville lost, 10-2. RHP Adam Mazur (2.0 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 4 BB, 1 K, 58 pitches/32 strikes) endured easily his worst outing since being traded to the Marlins. Anthony Bender pitched well in relief for the second consecutive day and should be reinstated from the injured list this weekend. Double-A Pensacola won, 5-1. Nathan Martorella mashed a three-run homer and continues to hit extraordinarily well since becoming a full-time first baseman in late July. High-A Beloit lost, 5-1. RHP Noble Meyer (4.1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, 82 pitches/44 strikes) overcame control issues to have a nice night. Assuming that's the end of his 2024 season, Meyer finished with a fantastic .165 batting average against...and a hideous 17.2% walk rate. In the 11 starts after his midseason promotion to Beloit, he completed five innings only twice. Low-A Jupiter lost, 6-3. Here's more Marlins news and content: 🔷 On this day five years ago, Colin Moran and Brian Moran became the first brothers in MLB history to face each other in a batter-pitcher matchup. Colin, a former top draft pick of the Marlins, was with the Pirates at the time while Brian was a recently recalled reliever for Miami. 🔷 Through 45 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. 🔷 Son Los Marlins writes about Edwards, Griffin Conine and other Triple-A standouts finally getting opportunities at the big league level and the challenge Peter Bendix faces in overcoming the poor first impression he made on many Marlins fans. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, Matt Chapman and the Giants agreed on a six-year, $151M contract extension. Chapman had been expected to opt out of his contract and test free agency. His signing leaves Alex Bregman as the clear top option for teams seeking a third baseman this offseason. Shota Imanaga, Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge combined to throw a no-hitter for the Cubs. The Mets won their seventh straight game. 🔷 Today's MLB game: the first of four between the Marlins (probable starter RHP Adam Oller) and the Phillies (LHP Ranger Suárez). When Suárez last faced the Fish on June 30, he allowed a season-high six runs (all earned) on 10 hits without recording any strikeouts. The Marlins have a 34.9% chance to win, per FanGraphs. First pitch at 6:40 p.m. 🔷 Join us for a new episode of Fish On First LIVE today from 5:30-6:30 p.m. ET on YouTube/Twitter/Facebook. Special guest: @Hans Herrera. 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 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

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