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 third and final game of Miami's home series against the Baltimore Orioles. View full article

Offishial News for 7/25/24 On Wednesday, Edward Cabrera and Chayce McDermott (making his major league debut) started off impressively, but ultimately allowed three earned runs apiece. Colton Cowser tagged Huascar Brazoban with a bases-clearing, game-tying double in the top of the sixth inning. Jazz Chisholm Jr. put Miami ahead for good with a two-run single in the bottom of the sixth. He is leading the team with 49 RBI this season despite batting primarily in the leadoff spot. Xavier Edwards raised his batting average to .361. The Marlins won, 6-3. Down on the farm, Triple-A Jacksonville lost, 6-5, and won, 1-0. RHP Anthony Maldonado (0.1 IP, 2 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 22 pitches/11 strikes) was the goat in the front end of the doubleheader. RHP Shaun Anderson now has a 2.33 ERA in 27 innings pitched for the Jumbo Shrimp. Double-A Pensacola lost, 3-0. OF Jakob Marsee went 2-for-3 with a walk and three stolen bases. High-A Beloit lost, 7-3. RHP Noble Meyer (4.0 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 3 K, 74 pitches/43 strikes) struggled with his control, but limited the damage. Low-A Jupiter won, 13-3. I would not be surprised to see OF Kemp Alderman (3-for-5, 3 RBI) promoted to the Sky Carp by the end of next week. FCL Marlins lost, 7-1. Here's more Marlins news and content: 🔷 According to Craig Mish of SportsGrid, the Yankees, Mariners, Pirates, Royals and Padres all had scouts in attendance for the penultimate pre-trade deadline Marlins home game. 🔷 Sandy Alcantara completed his first post-Tommy John bullpen session and felt great afterwards. Alcantara threw about 20 pitches and separately told Bally Sports Florida's Gaby Sanchez that his velocity is already peaking at 90 mph. The veteran right-hander still has to go through several more bullpens before determining next steps in his rehab. 🔷 Kevin Barral lists the Mariners, Royals, Reds and Red Sox as plausible landing spots for Josh Bell. Any Bell trade would be contingent on the Marlins eating most/all of the money owed to him or packaging him with another player who's actually have a good season. 🔷 The finale of Daniel Rodriguez's Big Fish Small Pod series analyzing Marlins draft picks with local experts is embedded below. 🔷 Unsigned draftee Coen Niclai spoke to Anchorage's KTUU about concluding his high school career and getting drafted by the Marlins. Niclai implied that he will honor his commitment to the University of Oregon instead of turning pro. 🔷 In collaboration with Absolutely Ridiculous, Jazz Chisholm Jr. launched his "out of this world" collection of baseball gear. Within 17 hours, the sliding mitt, elbow guard and leg guard have all sold out! 🔷 Speaking of Chisholm-related ridiculousness, I wrote about the frustrating narrative being peddled that he would be disruptive to other teams' clubhouses. Contenders have shown a willingness to tolerate genuinely bad people on their rosters, yet they are drawing the line at somebody with a big ego? 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, Alex Cora and the Red Sox finalized a three-year, $21.75M contract extension, making Cora the second-highest paid MLB manager behind only Craig Counsell. On the field, though, the Sox got demolished by the Rockies, 20-7. Robbie Ray struck out eight Dodgers in five hitless innings during his Giants debut. The reeling Mariners got swept at home by the Angels. They're only two games above .500 for the first time since May. The Mets won all four of their head-to-head games against the Yankees in 2024. 🔷 Today's MLB game: the Marlins (probable starter RHP Roddery Muñoz) attempt to complete a highly improbable sweep of the Orioles (RHP Corbin Burnes). The Marlins have a 33.8% chance to win, per FanGraphs. First pitch at 12:10 p.m. ET. 🔷 Today's MiLB schedule: Triple-A Jacksonville at Norfolk, 12:05 p.m. ET Double-A Pensacola vs. Biloxi, 7:05 p.m. ET High-A Beloit vs. Wisconsin, 7:35 p.m. ET Low-A Jupiter vs. Daytona, 6:30 p.m. ET FCL Marlins vs. FCL Cardinals, 12:00 p.m. ET (final regular season game) DSL Marlins vs. DSL Rangers Red, 11:00 a.m. ET DSL Miami at DSL Twins, 11:00 a.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 game of Miami's home series against the Baltimore Orioles. View full article

As I was working on this article, yet another report came out about Jazz's "personality" problem, this one from a Yankees writer: https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/40623939/2024-mlb-trade-deadline-new-york-yankees-realistic-deals-cashman This narrative is exhausting.

As trade negotiations progress, Chisholm is being unfairly portrayed publicly as a toxic clubhouse presence. With the MLB trade deadline just six days away, the discourse around Miami Marlins leadoff man Jazz Chisholm Jr. has gone off the rails. Dozens of other potential trade candidates are being scrutinized for what they've done on the field, but Chisholm is being treated differently. His reputation has been repeatedly dragged through the mud via anonymous sources who are scared off by somebody who they struggle to relate to. It's a shame because there is a fascinating baseball conversation to be had. Chisholm is in the midst of a solid season, slashing .251/.325/.412 (105 wRC+) with 13 home runs and 21 stolen bases, initially as a full-time center fielder, but very recently, he has begun splitting reps at second base. On an fWAR-per-game basis, this is actually his least-productive year since he was a rookie. Opinions vary about the quality of his defense. After previously making frequent trips to the injured list, Jazz has played 97% of the Marlins' games in 2024. Will that persist? The left-handed hitter's numbers against same-handed pitching are noticeably improved. If he closer to an ordinary regular or a star? Only 26 years old, a traditional aging curve would suggest his best seasons are still ahead of him. How do you assign a value to somebody like this? All of that is taking a back seat to vague "concerns" about Chisholm's intangibles. Ken Rosenthal and others from The Athletic reported Wednesday morning that "some clubs are completely out on Chisholm because of his strong personality." Apparently, the Philadelphia Phillies are one of them, as Bob Nightengale of USA Today singled them out last Sunday as having "no interest" despite the abysmal offensive output they have received in center field. "Fears about his ability to stay healthy and brashness have limited his market," according to ESPN's Jeff Passan. When three of the most well-connected national MLB insiders are each independently sharing information about this, there must be some truth to it. However, that is an indictment on these apprehensive teams, not on Chisholm. Does Jazz get along with all of his teammates? No, he does not. Chisholm was a first-time spring training non-roster invitee with the 2019 Arizona Diamondbacks. Steven Souza Jr. recalls how he and other D-backs veterans were rebuffed by the 21-year-old prospect when they attempted to take him "under their wing" during camp. More recently, Chisholm clashed with Miguel Rojas and other Marlins vets who disapproved of his conduct. Tension built up to the point that Rojas came to manager Don Mattingly in 2022 to organize a team meeting. Anecdotally, he comes off as stubborn and self-absorbed. With that being said, it is preposterous for MLB teams focused on contending in 2024 to take themselves out of the Chisholm sweepstakes because of his individualism. He doesn't go out of his way to antagonize his teammates. Outside of baseball, he has never been accused or convicted of any illegal activity. He meaningfully contributed to the 2023 playoff-bound Marlins and continues exerting his full effort this season for a squad that has nothing to play for. The Miami clubhouse has been serene despite their disappointing results. Chisholm is incredibly marketable, which has led to widespread recognition that his raw production on the field would not merit on its own. Some major leaguers are unsurprisingly jealous of him, but even those players couldn't possibly be pleased that their bosses are pivoting to inferior options on the trade market due to personal dynamics. I can't help but wonder if the national media is being manipulated. It is complicated to place a price tag on Chisholm, the baseball player. Team executives could genuinely feel that the Marlins' demands don't align with his projected performance moving forward. Perhaps speaking ill of Chisholm is a tactic to sour their fanbases on him and soften the blow for when he's ultimately traded elsewhere. View full article

Offishial News for 7/24/24 On Tuesday, having flown in earlier that morning, spot starter Kyle Tyler was not particularly sharp (4.2 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 94 pitches/61 strikes). Fortunately, the Marlins offense had his back. Jazz Chisholm Jr. went 2-for-4 with two stolen bases. Jesús Sánchez scorched a solo home run. Albert Suárez made it only two-plus innings while allowing six earned runs. Jorge Mateo exited after seemingly hyperextending his left elbow. A.J. Puk threw two perfect innings of relief. He has struck out exactly half of all batters faced in July. Tanner Scott's hitless streak has reached 10 ⅓ innings. The Marlins won, 6-3. Down on the farm, Double-A Pensacola won, 8-4. Multi-hit games for Jacob Berry and Paul McIntosh, who have both been outstanding at the plate since the beginning of June, posting a wRC+ of 157 and 175, respectively. High-A Beloit won, 3-2. OF Jorge Caballero had his first three-hit game of the season. Opponents are hitting only .127 against RHP Edgar Sánchez. Low-A Jupiter lost, 4-3. FCL Marlins lost, 4-1. A very rare stolen base-less game for them. DSL Marlins won, 19-6. There were eight hit-by-pitches in this one! DSL Miami won, 10-2. Here's more Marlins news and content: 🔷 Daily Jazz Chisholm Jr. updates with six days until the MLB trade deadline: Following the game, Chisholm was blunt about his preference for playing the infield over the outfield. "Fears about his ability to stay healthy and brashness have limited his market," according to ESPN's Jeff Passan. I am not buying the latter part—that reads to me like strategic comments from executives of teams hesitant to part with prospects. They are besmirching Chisholm so that their fanbases feel like they "dodged a bullet" when he winds up elsewhere. 🔷 As covered in our injury/rehab tracker, Sandy Alcantara will reach an important milestone in his Tommy John surgery rehab today when he throws his first bullpen session. Alcantara continues to progress faster than most TJ patients. Barring setbacks, he could face live batters sometime in August and go out on a minor league rehab appearance in September. Also, Braxton Garrett (left forearm flexor strain) and Ryan Weathers (left index finger strain) have begun playing catch. They should rejoin the Marlins starting rotation for the final few weeks of the 2024 season. 🔷 Baseball America's updated Top 100 MLB prospects list placed LHP Thomas White at No. 49, RHP Max Meyer at No. 52 and RHP Noble Meyer at No. 71. 🔷 Just Baseball has a new line of t-shirts tailored for each MLB fanbase, including this Marlins one. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, the Cubs announced their intentions to be sellers at the trade deadline. Paul Skenes took the loss for the first time in his career despite pitching 8 ⅓ brilliant innings. The Mariners lost for the seventh time in their last eight games and placed both Julio Rodríguez and J.P. Crawford on the injured list. Athletics outfielder Lawrence Butler continues to be incomprehensibly hot at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a walk against the Astros. 🔷 Today's MLB game: the Marlins (probable starter RHP Edward Cabrera) host the Orioles, who will be recalling RHP Chayce McDermott to make his major league debut and have Connor Norby on standby in case Jorge Mateo needs to go on the injured list. The Marlins have a 44.8% chance to win, per FanGraphs. First pitch at 6:40 p.m. 🔷 Today's MiLB schedule: Triple-A Jacksonville at Norfolk, doubleheader beginning at 5:35 p.m. ET Double-A Pensacola vs. Biloxi, 7:05 p.m. ET High-A Beloit vs. Wisconsin, 7:35 p.m. ET Low-A Jupiter vs. Daytona, 6:30 p.m. ET FCL Marlins at FCL Cardinals, 12:00 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 first game of Miami's home series against the Baltimore Orioles. View full article

Offishial News for 7/23/24 On Monday, Yonny Chirinos allowed 14 Mets baserunners in five innings of work. Francisco Lindor homered twice. For the 16th time in 19 games played this season, Xavier Edwards recorded a hit. Jazz Chisholm Jr. was victimized by a missed call and tweeted about it afterward. Jake Burger came up in the bottom of the ninth inning representing the winning run, but Edwin Díaz induced a popout to end the game. The Marlins lost, 6-4. Down on the farm, each of the Marlins' three rookie-level affiliates had their games impacted by inclement weather. Here's more Marlins news and content: 🔷 Through 32 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. 🔷 I proposed a five-player trade that would send Chisholm and A.J. Puk to the Mariners for prospects. Let me know which other teams you'd like for me to make a mock Chisholm proposal for. 🔷 Nate Karzmer wrote about how Puk has changed for the better since reverting back to a relief role. 🔷 On this day 25 years ago, the Marlins celebrated "Turn Ahead the Clock" night with unique uniforms and inflatable aliens in the stands. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, the Braves signed Whit Merrifield to a major league deal. The Dodgers designated James Paxton for assignment and recalled prospect River Ryan, who went 5 ⅓ innings and allowed zero earned runs in his major league debut. Bobby Witt Jr. fell a single shy of hitting for the cycle. The Yankees offense matched a season high with five home runs, including two from Juan Soto. 🔷 Today's MLB game: the Marlins host their series opener against the Orioles (probable starter RHP Albert Suárez). RHP Kyle Tyler is being recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville, Fish On First has learned. In four previous Marlins appearances (three starts), he has posted a 3.38 ERA. The Marlins must make a corresponding roster move prior to the game. They have a 45.4% chance to win, per FanGraphs. First pitch at 6:40 p.m. 🔷 Join us for a new episode of Fish On First LIVE tonight from 5:30-6:30 p.m. ET on YouTube/Twitter/Facebook. Special guests: Connor Newcomb and Zach Letson. 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 Norfolk, 6:35 p.m. ET Double-A Pensacola vs. Biloxi, 7:05 p.m. ET High-A Beloit vs. Wisconsin, 7:35 p.m ET Low-A Jupiter vs. Daytona, 6:30 p.m. ET FCL Marlins vs. FCL Nationals, 10:00 a.m. ET DSL Marlins at DSL Mets Blue, 11:00 a.m. ET DSL Miami vs. DSL Yankees, 11:00 a.m. ET Marlins podcast episodes View full article

The rotation as a whole with its current members struggles with throwing first-pitch strikes. Rogers is on pace for a career-low in that department. He seems to be overthinking in those situations, trying to surprise hitters rather than focusing on executing the best possible pitch to take control of the count.

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 fourth and final game of Miami's home series against the New York Mets. View full article

The Mariners have blown their AL West division lead in record time. A Chisholm acquisition would address some of their deficiencies and they have young hitting prospects to spare that the Marlins would love to rebuild around. Jazz Chisholm Jr. is one of the biggest names who could potentially be dealt in advance of the July 30 MLB trade deadline. Chisholm's combination of tools, youth, club control and 2024 production make him a potential target for many teams and easily the most valuable trade chip on the Miami Marlins active roster. Should the Marlins be shopping Chisholm or building around him? You could make strong arguments both ways, but like it or not, the team's intentions are clear: they're focused on infusing more young talent into their farm system with the expectation of contending several years down the road. Investing in the current major league roster is not a priority. If the Fish receive a fair offer for their Bahamian star, he will be on the move. Leading up to the deadline, I'll be proposing hypothetical trades that the Marlins could make involving Chisholm. The series continues with the Seattle Mariners. How Chisholm fits in Seattle Three years in a row, the Mariners front office has whiffed on their acquisitions of veteran second basemen. It was Adam Frazier in 2022 (80 wRC+), Kolten Wong in 2023 (35 wRC+) and now Jorge Polanco in 2024 (76 wRC+). With Polanco posting the highest strikeout rate of his career and also rating as a below-average defender, there's no chance that the Mariners will exercise his $12M club option for 2025. If they were to get Chisholm, it would be to take Polanco's job. Also worth mentioning, the status of star center fielder Julio Rodríguez is somewhat uncertain as of this writing. Rodríguez suffered a right ankle sprain on Sunday and is set to undergo an MRI. Picked up off the scrap heap last month, Víctor Robles is Seattle's current backup plan in CF. Having scored the fourth-fewest runs in Major League Baseball this season, the Mariners need offense wherever they can find it. Chisholm has more weighted runs created (50) than anybody on their roster. In all likelihood, he'd be plugged into the leadoff spot of their lineup, supplanting J.P. Crawford whose production has cratered after an excellent 2023 campaign. Trade proposal Mariners receive INF/OF Jazz Chisholm Jr. and LHP A.J. Puk Marlins receive INF Felnin Celesten, INF Ben Williamson and RHP Brody Hopkins In addition to Chisholm, I think that the Mariners would love Puk. Their organization fetishizes good control (leading MLB in walk rate this season) and the tall lefty has issued only six free passes in 28 ⅓ innings pitched since going back to relief work. Seattle's bullpen is headed by a trusty closer, Andrés Muñoz, but they lack a standout setup man and have generally struggled in high-leverage situations. Puk could make a big impact in the seventh and eighth innings. HWsPCMAxF-6mF2AY.mp4 Like Chisholm, Puk is under club control via arbitration through the 2026 season. With an estimated surplus value of $8.2M, according to Baseball Trade Values, his inclusion in this deal should meaningfully increase the return coming to Miami. There might not be another realistically available prospect in the minor leagues who fits what Peter Bendix is seeking more perfectly than Felnin Celesten. A prized international free agent who signed with Seattle in January 2023, the 18-year-old switch-hitter has been playing shortstop for the ACL Mariners. He was among the complex league's top bats (slashing .341/.423/.561 with a 146 wRC+) before being sidelined by left wrist soreness. Conveniently, he is expected to resume game action just in time for the trade deadline. "Celesten’s physicality stands out immediately and, as he approaches age 19, would stand out in a big league clubhouse," Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs wrote in ranking him the No. 4 prospect in the Mariners system. "He probably weighs 15 or 20 pounds more than when he signed and every bit of it is muscle; Celesten’s shoulders look like he’s shoplifting grapefruits up his sleeves." If the Marlins were to add him, Celesten could spend August and September getting his first reps at Low-A. I previously brought up Ben Williamson as a logical target in exchange for Bryan De La Cruz. Well, De La Cruz has performed horribly ever since, so it's up to Chisholm/Puk to bring back the prospect haul themselves. One year removed from being drafted, Williamson is already an above-average Double-A hitter with smooth defense at third base. A likely spring training non-roster invitee in 2025, he would be the quickest player from this package to reach the big leagues. The sixth-round pick from Williamson's 2023 draft class, right-hander Brody Hopkins was a two-way player prior to turning pro. The 22-year-old has a 3.13 ERA, 4.21 FIP and 1.24 WHIP at Low-A while making all 17 of his scheduled starts. He's shown outstanding consistency with two or fewer earned runs allowed in 15 of those outings. Hopkins' groundball rate is among the highest in the minors among pitchers who've topped 70 innings this season. Nasty slider. og6ftn.mp4 Previous Chisholm trade proposals Building a Yankees trade package Which other teams do you want me to include in this Chisholm trade package series? Comment below to let me know. View full article

Offishial News for 7/22/24 On Sunday, home runs by Jazz Chisholm Jr. (13th of the season) and Jake Burger (12th) accounted for all of Miami's offense. The Marlins pitching staff struck out 14 Mets batters to overcome three(!!!) errors by Nick Fortes. Fortes had committed only three errors all year entering the game. Tanner Scott recorded the save and extended his hitless streak to 9 ⅓ innings. The Marlins won, 4-2. They have more victories against the Mets (five) than they have against all of their other NL East opponents combined (four). Down on the farm, Triple-A Jacksonville won, 6-2. INF/OF Javier Sanoja had two home runs and every Jumbo Shrimp hitter reached base safely. Jacksonville has won four games in a row. Double-A Pensacola lost, 5-1. Their hitters combined to go 5-or-39 with 22 strikeouts and no walks. Particularly forgettable day for OF Jakob Marsee, who struck out in each of his five plate appearances. High-A Beloit won, 8-1. INF Johnny Olmstead and INF Josh Zamora continue to produce, going 5-for-10 with 4 RBI. Low-A Jupiter won, 14-9. Multi-hit games for seven different Hammerheads, including birthday boy C Ryan Ignoffo. Has there ever been a Marlins minor league catcher with 20 stolen bases in a season like Ignoffo has? INF Breyias Dean represented the Marlins at the Dominican Summer League All-Star Game. Here's more Marlins news and content: 🔷 Daily Jazz Chisholm Jr. updates: Bob Nightengale reports that the Phillies have "no interest" in him. Although the Phillies have struggled to get any offensive production at the center field position, they still own MLB's best record and the largest cushion of any division leader. 🔷 Happy 30th birthday to Tanner Scott. Throughout the last two seasons, I'd argue he has been MLB's best reliever. Particularly over the last month, he has done absolutely everything possible to make himself a top target for trade deadline buyers. 🔷 On the other hand, despite his shiny 1.23 ERA, I'm not convinced that JT Chargois would bring back much in return if traded. 🔷 I highly recommend reading Alex Carver's in-depth story on fifth-round draft pick Grant Shepardson with details about the velocity spike that raised his prospect stock in recent months. 🔷 We have signing bonus amounts for 19 of the 21 Marlins MLB Draft picks. Just waiting on eighth-rounder OF Jacob Jenkins-Cowart. The Marlins are not expected to sign 15th-rounder C Coen Niclai, as our own Isaac Azout reported. The signing deadline is August 1. 🔷 Listen back to Sunday's State of the Fish call-in show, which included discussion of Chisholm, Scott, Xavier Edwards, the Marlins bullpen and more. 🔷 Matt Eddy of Baseball America selects LHP Thomas White as his Marlins Midseason MiLB Player of the Year. 🔷 Son Los Marlins vents about this being "the absolute worst" season in franchise history. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, Adrián Beltré, Joe Mauer, Todd Helton and Jim Leyland were officially inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies fractured his left wrist and is projected to miss eight weeks. The Mariners are ready to part with first baseman Ty France. He's been placed on outright waivers and they intend to outright him to the minors if he goes unclaimed. MVP frontrunners Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani hit their 35th and 30th homers of the season, respectively. Yordan Alvarez hit for the cycle. 🔷 Today's MLB game: the Marlins (probable starter RHP Yonny Chirinos) conclude their four-game wraparound series against the Mets (LHP David Peterson). The Marlins have a 42.8% chance to win, per FanGraphs. First pitch at 6:40 p.m. ET. 🔷 Today's MiLB schedule: FCL Marlins vs. FCL Mets, 12:00 p.m. ET (resumption of previously suspended game) DSL Marlins at DSL Giants Orange, 11:00 a.m. ET DSL Miami vs. DSL Mets Orange, 11:00 a.m. ET Marlins podcast episodes View full article

As if Scott's body of work over the last two seasons was not brilliant enough, the Marlins trade candidate has been nearly perfect in his most recent outings. No, the Miami Marlins didn't forget. They know that Monday is Tanner Scott's 30th birthday and they have a special gift in store: sending the pending free agent closer to a contending team. It's just difficult to coordinate these transactions to happen on a particular date. Deadlines spur activity and MLB's trade deadline isn't until July 30. My own gift to Scott is a partial retraction. On June 13, I had the audacity to write that you, dear reader, were overestimating his trade value. "Those of you who were underwhelmed by the (Luis) Arraez deal are about to be underwhelmed again," with part of my rationale being that the left-hander could not be trusted to sustain his All-Star-caliber first half. Hours after publication, Scott blew a save against the New York Mets, allowing a walk that set up a J.D. Martinez walk-off two-run home run. Since then, though? He has rebounded with an extended streak of flawless high-leverage relief. Scott is in the midst of 14 ⅔ innings of scoreless work, additionally stranding three inherited baserunners. It's been four weeks since he last allowed a hit. Scott's fastball is as overpowering as we've ever seen it. During his erratic opening month of the 2024 season, he was averaging only 96.3 mph on the pitch and throwing his slider almost as often. In July, Scott is regularly touching triple digits (averaging 98.0 mph) and locating it well. He has altered his pitch selection accordingly—Scott's 70.1% fastball usage is on pace to be the highest of his career for a single month. Scott's 28.2% strikeout rate this season is below his career average while his 14.7% walk rate ranks in the second percentile among MLB qualifiers, per Baseball Savant. However, the only people citing these as legitimate concerns simply have not been paying attention. Scott's aforementioned fastball reliance is limiting his whiffs. It's a conscious trade-off and a justifiable one because that pitch is practically unhittable even when opponents make contact. Only a quarter of balls put into play against his four-seamer have been hit hard with an average exit velocity of 78.1 mph. In between K's, he is inducing a soothing series of routine grounders and lazy fly balls that even Miami's porous defense cannot screw up. dejongMVlEeFJfWGw0TUFRPT1fVkZBSFZ3Y0RBRkFBREZZQlZ3QUFBVlZTQUFNQlcxUUFWd1pXQmdBQkFnVldCUUFI.mp4 sosaMVlEeFJfWGw0TUFRPT1fRHdVSFZWSUFVRlFBV1FkVVZ3QUFVQWRWQUZrQ0FGY0FWRlFBVkZJTkExWUVBUUVD.mp4 Scott began spring training with a serious control problem and it permeated into the regular season. He allowed one walk per inning through his first 17 appearances. That has been resolved: his walk rate is down to 8.8% over his last 24 outings, which is approximately league average and right in line with where he was throughout the 2023 campaign. Minimum 100 innings pitched, Tanner Scott has posted Major League Baseball's best ERA over the last two seasons (1.94). His 2.56 FIP ranks second only to Tarik Skubal (2.33). And because he is doing it in crucial game situations, he is leading all pitchers in win probability added by a comically wide margin. This sport can lend itself to strange outcomes in small sample sizes, as the Marlins learned the hard way with David Robertson a year ago, but Scott provides the ultimate combination of dominance and durability to teams shopping for bullpen reinforcements. I stand by what I wrote originally, that MLB front offices are too disciplined to trade their very best prospects for a rental reliever. Even so, Scott has distinguished himself enough from his fellow RPs to bring useful long-term contributors back to Miami in return for his remaining 2024 services. View full article

Getting something in return for him is better than standing pat. I just don't think other teams trying to win now see him as an upgrade over their internal options moving forward.

Well keep in mind that several active Marlins (Trevor, Edwards, Gordon, etc.) received multi-million dollar bonuses themselves coming out of high school. A significant chunk of that is utilized for proper housing, training and travel during the extensive minor league development process. These guys are the exceptions, not the norm. More than 3/4 of all draftees come from college.