Louis Addeo-Weiss

In an organization largely devoid of tenured players, Sandy Alcantara is an anomaly. The 2026 season is his ninth season in Miami, making him just the second player to reach that many years as a Marlins big leaguer, joining Marlins Legends Hall of Fame inductee Luis Castillo. The main reason why Alcantara hasn't changed teams already is the club conveniently inked him to a contract extension right before his 2022 NL Cy Young Award campaign. Now that he's in the midst of the final guaranteed year of that deal, the Marlins find themselves at a crossroads with one of their franchise's greatest hurlers. There are several reasons that support trading Alcantara this summer, as there are compelling ones to hold onto him. Here, we consider both sides of the debate. Case for Trading If there is one thing playoff contenders will seek out come deadline time, durable starting pitching would be near the top of that list. Alcantara is the epitome of this archetype. Despite missing all of 2024 due to recovery from Tommy John surgery, Alcantara's 939 innings in the 2020s rank as the 12th-most in MLB. The only scheduled start he has failed to make post-Tommy John was when he went on the paternity list in April 2025 for the birth of his daughter. Beyond the workhorse mentality, there's the performance on the whole, as Alcantara is one of just 12 pitchers in the decade to throw at least 900 innings and post a sub-4 ERA. Consider it quality volume, if you will. Alcantara's previous playoff experience is another feather in his cap. The right-hander made two starts in Miami's surprise 2020 playoff season, posting a 4.26 ERA over 12 ⅔ innings pitched. Conveniently for the Marlins, there are prospective Alcantara suitors with immensely talented farm systems. The Milwaukee Brewers were ranked No. 1 by ESPN entering 2026. Though they enter Monday fifth in fWAR among starters and fourth in ERA, Milwaukee needs to fill the 157-inning gap left by the void of Quinn Priester, who is set to undergo season-ending thoracic outlet surgery. The Cleveland Guardians have the second-ranked system. They have relied on the same five starters all season thus far, which will not be sustainable considering that three of them have never shouldered a full season's major league workload before. Alcantara is earning $17.3M this season, but the acquiring team would only be on the hook for about $5.4M of that cost if a trade waits until the August 3 deadline. His $21M club option for 2027 reads as a bargain. Should he flop down the stretch for whatever reason, that option could be bought out for a modest $2M. Case for Not Trading Alcantara may be more valuable to the Marlins roster than he would be as a trade chip. Holding steady at 40-38 through their first 78 games played, the Marlins find themselves merely half a game out of an NL Wild Card spot entering Monday. They have shown no signs of slowing down, going a league-best 14-4 in June. Even with Alcantara in the fold, their starting rotation is thin. The club's top-ranked prospect, Thomas White, is questionable to pitch again this season due to a shoulder injury. Second-ranked Robby Snelling has already been ruled out for the rest of 2026 after undergoing UCL surgery. Eury Pérez is nearing his return from a leg injury, but he was posting career-worst numbers through 12 starts, so expectations for him ought to be tempered accordingly. Filling out the rotation alongside Alcantara, Pérez and Max Meyer, Miami has resorted to Ryan Gusto and Tyler Phillips, who have posted a combined 5.51 ERA across 32 ⅔ innings pitched in that role. Alcantara was very much on the trade block in 2025, but stayed put due to reportedly underwhelming offers. Although another year removed from Tommy John, he still has his fair share of red flags that may prevent the Marlins from extracting a massive prospect haul. Alcantara's overall results have been underwhelming with a 4.92 ERA over the past two seasons, nearly 50 percent higher than his 3.32 career mark prior to TJ. The decreased effectiveness of his arsenal is undeniable. While still averaging north of 97 mph on his four-seam and sinking fastballs, hitters largely have not been fooled by the former, hitting .316 with a .526 slugging percentage, and registering a minus-3 run value. Teams pay a premium for swing-and-miss stuff, which does not apply to Alcantara even when he's performing well. Among 187 pitchers with at least 50 plate appearances ending on a four-seamer, his 17.8 percent whiff rate ranks 133rd. The Marlins bullpen has been a bright spot throughout this season. A key to maintaining that will be providing adequate rest for those relievers. For whatever flaws he has, Alcantara can be trusted to help in that department, as he ranks second in MLB in both total innings pitched and quality starts. He's still a valuable complementary piece of this pitching staff. If this is indeed farewell, Alcantara's impact on the Miami Marlins cannot be overstated. The lone Cy Young winner in franchise history, only Josh Johnson accrued more pitching bWAR with the club than Alcantara's 21.7. With at least four strikeouts in his next start, he will take sole possession of the franchise's career strikeout record. By FanGraphs' accounting, his on-field production through the years has been worth nearly three times as much as his contract. The next month and change of Marlins baseball will signal further the direction the ship is sailing in. View full article

The version of Max Meyer we have seen in 2026 has been automatic. After toiling for a handful of years at the big league level, Meyer has finally ascended to what was once promised upon his drafting, now six years ago. On Sunday, the prospective All-Star had his grandest test to date, squaring off against reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes. In keeping with the 2026 Meyer narrative to this point, the 27-year-old came out on top, firing six innings of one-run ball in Miami's 4-2 win over the Pirates. Meyer registered eight of his nine strikeouts with his lethal sweeper-slider tandem, including a 54% whiff rate on the latter. Now 7-0, Meyer's 15-start stretch without recording a loss represents a new franchise record. Back to .500 for the second time in three days at 36-36, Miami owns the majors' best record in June, improving to 10-2. What Skenes (2.85 ERA) did should not be without mention, though, as the two-time All-Star tied a season-high with 10 strikeouts over his six innings of work. After trading zeroes in the first, Miami would ambush Skenes with a pair of solo home runs, starting with Heriberto Hernández, the owner of a robust 1.062 OPS in the month of June. Joe Mack, who has neutralized the running game since his arrival, continued to show added promise at the plate, depositing his second home run over the center field wall of PNC Park. Himself a slow starter, Mack owns a .902 OPS in June after OPS'ing just .500 in his inaugural big league month of May. After getting to Meyer for a run in the fourth, Pittsburgh would load the bases for Jake Mangum in the bottom of the fifth. Sending a hanging sweeper into the right-center gap, Jakob Marsee made a five-star catch in every sense of the word, diving to his right to save a trio of runs. "Max had a couple of balls not go his way, but he's been shoving all year, so I just tried to make a catch for him...he's fun to play behind," noted Marsee. Miami pitching held the Pirates 1-4 hitters to a .118 (2-for-17) clip on Sunday, with the top of the order not breaking through until Bryan Reynolds, currently riding a 21-game on-base streak, launched a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth. Looking Ahead The Marlins will continue their trek through the Northeast when they travel to the City of Brotherly Love to commence a three- game series against the surging Philadelphia Phillies on Monday. Ryan Gusto (0-1, 6.00 ERA), off his best start of the season, where he tossed four scoreless innings against Arizona. Zack Wheeler (5-1, 2.22 ERA) will look to continue his brilliance against Miami (career 2.68 ERA against), as he opposes Gusto. First pitch from Citizens Bank Park is slated for 6:40 EST. View full article

Bad news seems to follow the Miami Marlins of late. Less than 24 hours after learning that left-handed reliever Andrew Nardi was headed to the injured list, joining him was another hurler, this one a starter in Janson Junk. "I was still able to do my job, I feel like," Junk explained prior to Sunday's game regarding his right shin bone inflammation, "but maybe subconsciously I was compensating for it a little bit...Being able to get checked out is, I think, the right thing to do, and ultimately was the right thing." However, it posed a major challenge for Marlins manager Clayton McCullough, who had to resort to a bullpen game against the cellar-dwelling New York Mets. The end result was allowing double-digit runs to one of the sport's feeblest lineups. One week after completing a sweep of the Mets at loanDepot park, the Marlins found themselves on the other end of the equation, dropping the series finale, 10-1. Now 26-34, the Marlins fall to last place in the National League East amid a season-worst five-game losing streak and losers in five of their last six. "This was tough," said a sighing McCullough, who reflected on Miami's numerous missed opportunities this series. For the weekend, Marlin hitters went a combined 5-for-30 in at-bats with runners in scoring position. Making his first career start in 241 appearances at the major league level, John King would be gotten to from the get-go when Carson Benge sent his fourth home run of the season and career over the center field wall. The home run also marked the first leadoff blast of Benge's career. Things would not get any easier from there, as Anthony Bender, entering late in the second inning for King, would serve up a home run to his first batter faced, veteran second baseman Marcus Semien, to increase New York's lead to three. Miami's lone run would come in the top of the fourth on an Owen Caissie double. After hitting just over .200 with a .565 OPS through April, Caissie hit .281 with an .835 OPS in May, his best month as a big leaguer to date. The only positive to come from Sunday's series blowout was that the Marlins didn't have to face the ascendant Nolan McLean more than they did, as the right-hander worked around five walks in five innings of one-run ball. After tacking on a pair in the fourth, the Mets would all but end the game when Juan Soto, facing Josh White in the latter's major league debut hit a grand slam, his 19th home run in 107 games against Miami. The Marlins will conclude the month of May going 11-18, and falling to 8-19 in games away from loanDepot park. Looking Ahead The Marlins will travel to the nation's capital, where they are slated to commence the month of June with a three-game series against the surprisingly competitive Washington Nationals. Sandy Alcantara (3-4, 4.66 ERA) will be tasked with eating as many innings as possible on Monday for a fatigued Marlins pitching staff. Cade Cavalli (3-3, 3.62 ERA) will start the series opener for Washington. Cavalli's 3.00 FIP is easily the best in the Nats rotation and he's riding a streak of three consecutive quality starts. First pitch from Nationals Park is slated for 6:45 EST. View full article

Max Meyer entered the 2026 season with a chip on his shoulder, and then some. A former third overall draft pick in 2020, Meyer's career to that point had largely been one of unrealized expectations and disappointment. Among a sample of 479 pitchers to throw at least 125 innings from 2022 through 2025, Meyer's 82 ERA+ kept company with the likes of Kyle Gibson and Meyer's recently released former teammate, Chris Paddack. So, as the 2026 season dawned, it was time for Meyer to put up or shut up and accept a long-term role as a reliever. Ten starts into the season, Meyer is doing the former, posting a 2.85 ERA and averaging north of 10 K/9. But what's the reason for the Max Meyer breakout? One good place to start is Meyer's pitch mix, more specifically, the redistribution of his arsenal. In his first extended period at the Major League level in 2024, Meyer was essentially a two-pitch pitcher, throwing his four-seam fastball and slider a combined 80.2 percent of the time. This predictability explains why Meyer's early career was riddled with inconsistency. Come 2025, Meyer ramped up the usage of his sweeper (+11.4 percent) and sinker (+11.8 percent), throwing his lead fastball just north of 22 percent of the time. The results, while still underwhelming a la a 4.73 ERA, marked an improvement over the 5.68 he posted the previous calendar year. Sensing a trend here? By diversifying his arsenal, Meyer has gradually become far less predictable to big-league hitters, with the 2026 Max Meyer model the best example to date. Meyer is throwing his slider and sweeper 28.5 and 24.6 percent of the time, respectively, while his four-seam fastball usage has held steady year-over-year at 23 percent. The theoretical modus operandi for Meyer here: lean into your strengths, and Meyer's strengths are his ability to spin the baseball. Through 10 starts, the 27-year-old's breaking ball duo ranks in the 98th percentile in run value, per Savant. Collectively, the league is 22 for 114 (.192) against said offerings against Meyer, with his slider garnering whiffs in nearly half of the swings against (44.5 percent). The year-over-year changes in Meyer's sweeper, though, may be the most startling. Among pitchers to throw at least 100 sweepers in 2025, Meyer's .368 opponent's batting average against ranked seventh-worst among 170 qualifiers. Fast forward to 2026, and Meyer's .217 average against said offering is now 36th best, with Meyer being one of just 11 pitchers with at least 25 plate appearances this season to fan at least 40 percent of hitters ending on a sweeper. Below, you'll see Meyer inducing one of those strikeouts while facing another 2026 breakout player, St. Louis' Jordan Walker. The continued backing off of his four-seamer—a pitch that scouts were skeptical of while Meyer was still a prospect— has too yielded better output against. There have been decreases of 126 points in batting average and 225 points in slugging percentage against from 2025. Because of this, Meyer's four-seamer has graded out as an above-average pitch (plus-1 run value) for the first time in his big league career. And while the version of Meyer we have seen thus far is the best yet, he is not completely out of the woods of speculation. While we noted Meyer as sporting a sub-3.00 ERA to this point, his xERA (Expected Earned Run Average) of 4.08 suggests there may be luck at play via exit velocity and launch angle. That being said, the 90.1 mph average exit velocity against Meyer is his best in any of the three seasons where he's made at least 10 starts. Batter launch angle, however, currently sits at a career-high 13.7 degrees, as does his 35 LA-Sweet Spot % (Launch Angle-Sweet Spot), while also allowing soft contact at the lowest clip of his career (2.1%). At the very least, it's fair to say that Meyer has shown himself worthy of a spot in a big league starting rotation. That alone constitutes a win for the organization given what the dreary outlook for him was mere months ago. View full article

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Eury Pérez is an enigma on the mound. At 23 years old, Pérez has some of the best pure stuff in the sport, boasting a fastball that routinely touches triple digits and secondary stuff that, when working, looks almost impossible to square up. The problem, however, is that Pérez is much more of a thrower than a pitcher at this stage of his career. Sunday's latest outing against the Tampa Bay Rays echoed the same sentiments. Topping out at 100.5 mph with his four-seam fastball, Pérez threw first-pitch strikes to 74 percent of hitters faced. And yet, when he needed said command the most, it abandoned him like a thief at the sound of sirens. He walked four across five innings in the Marlins' 6-3 loss. In four starts to begin the month of May, Pérez has walked a total of 14 batters. Overall, his 28 free passes this season nearly match last season's total of 32 even though he's only made half as many starts. When asked about these control issues, Pérez—speaking through interpreter Luis Dorante—seems unable to find a reason for said crux. "I think it's a mix of things—good at-bats that they've been taking, a lot of foul balls...and sitting down in a long inning, getting a little cold." "Inconsistency with the strike-throwing. He worked hard for 15 outs today...Right now, it's the start where there is one inning that gets going a bit, and a crooked number goes up," stated Marlins manager Clayton McCullough. Another bug in the Dominican's game has been limiting the long ball. Pérez seemingly got Junior Caminero to loose his balance swinging at a 2-2 sweeper in the bottom of the first, but the All-Star third baseman was strong enough to convert it into his twelfth home run of the season. The Marlins evened the score and eventually took the lead in a two-run second inning, thanks to run-scoring hits from Xavier Edwards and Otto Lopez. With another multi-hit performance on Sunday, Lopez extends his MLB lead with 64 hits. Four innings later, and now facing Yandy Díaz, Pérez left a changeup low and inside that wound up 426 feet from home plate for Díaz's seventh home run. In 239 career innings, Pérez owns a HR/9 of 1.4. Beyond the pair of long balls surrendered, the most crushing blow to Pérez and the Marlins' fortunes came when Taylor Walls, the light-hitting, slick-fielding shortstop, put the Rays up for good with a bases-clearing, three-run triple. Miami's bats did attempt a comeback, highlighted by an eighth-inning rally that saw the team have bases loaded with one out. Leo Jiménez would strike out for out number two. Heriberto Hernández, whose pinch-hit, solo home run started a 10-run outburst for the Marlins on Saturday, lined out to the aforementioned Walls for the third out. With the loss, the Marlins fall to 21-26. They have not won a series in Tampa since 2018 despite visiting there annually. The New York Mets are only half a game behind Miami for last place in the NL East. Looking Ahead The Marlins return home, where they are set to begin a four-game series against the division-leading Atlanta Braves. Max Meyer (3-0, 3.21 ERA) will make his second career start versus Atlanta in Monday's series opener. Opposing Meyer, JR Ritchie (1-0, 3.32), will make his first career start against Miami, and just the fifth of his major league career. First pitch from loanDepot park is slated for 6:40 EST. View full article

The Miami Marlins' big-ticket free agent signing from this past offseason has been one of their biggest liabilities thus far. Right-hander Pete Fairbanks inked a one-year, $13M pact in December, the most lucrative deal for any player during Peter Bendix's tenure as Marlins president of baseball operations. Fairbanks performed exactly as advertised on the club's season-opening homestand, posting goose eggs in the run column in his first three outings. His entrance from the bullpen has been a harbinger of suffering since then. Across those last seven innings, Fairbanks has allowed 11 runs, ballooning his season ERA to 9.00. He blew a save opportunity for the second time on Saturday against his former team, the Tampa Bay Rays, though Miami's offense bailed him out in extra innings. By win probability added, Fairbanks (-1.06 WPA) has been more detrimental to the Marlins' pursuit of relevance than any other player, even edging out the since-released Chris Paddack (-1.01 WPA). However, Fairbanks' peripherals tell us he's no worse a pitcher than he was in 2025. So much of the 32-year-old's uncharacteristic outcomes can be explained by bad luck. Fairbanks enters Sunday with a 3.20 FIP in 2026. That figure was 3.63 the year before and 3.50 the year before that. His career mark is 3.11. His strikeout minus walk rate is better than his overall career rate and he has surrendered only one home run, which came off the bat of early-season American League MVP candidate Ben Rice. Fairbanks has underachieved his expected earned run average by 5.85 runs, according to Baseball Savant. That is the 15th-largest margin out of the 480 MLB pitchers to face at least 25 hitters this season, putting him in the 97th percentile of "unluckiness." This is not comparable to the notoriously regrettable acquisition of Heath Bell 14 years earlier. Fairbanks, for the first time in his career, has a feel for three reliable putaway pitches in his four-seam fastball, slider and cutter. And he has all the motivation that he needs to get back on track with another trip through free agency looming following the 2026 campaign. If there is one area Fairbanks ought to emphasize, it's generating more ground balls. Although that backfired on him Saturday with Nick Fortes' game-tying RBI single, grounders are far easier overall for defenses to convert into outs. He currently possesses the lowest GB% in MLB (min. 25 BF). Expectations for Fairbanks should not be lowered despite the lowlights he has produced. With regular usage moving forward—his season has been interrupted previously by the birth of a child and a bout of nerve irritation—he's capable of resuming his usual high-caliber ways. View full article

Pete Fairbanks ' tenure with the Tampa Bay Rays was one deserving of praise. Seven seasons, 256 plus innings pitched, 90 saves, an ERA below 3, and an American League pennant. So, when he returned to the place affectionately known as "The Trop," now a member of the Miami Marlins, a wave of emotion had to have hit him like a Mack truck. However, when tasked with securing the save in a one-run game headed into the bottom of the 9th, that emotion was substituted for pure adrenaline. Making his first appearance since sustaining nerve irritation in his right thumb on April 27th, Fairbanks recorded the first out by setting Richie Palacios down on strikes. What would follow only added to an already topsy-turvy game on both sides. Cedric Mullins worked a walk before stealing second and advancing to third on an errant Joe Mack throw. With two outs and Mullins now 90 feet from tying the score at two, Nick Fortes , a former Marlin, came to the plate against the former Ray in Fairbanks. In keeping with the proverbial nature that comes with baseball, Fortes would hit a ground ball to third baseman Javier Sanoja that had more spin than your average grounder, ultimately escaping the grasp of Sanoja and allowing Mullins to score and saddling Fairbanks with a blown save. "It's been hard to put together because of the uneven time and being away..but I thought the stuff was great," noted Clayton McCullough, who picked up his 100th managerial win. Just a half inning prior, Sanoja put Miami ahead with an RBI double, a much-needed break for someone who entered play Saturday batting .080 in May. While most blown leads for the Marlins suggest the inevitability of an eventual loss, the bats had other plans come the top of the 10th. Batting around, the Marlins scored eight unanswered runs on six hits, including another run-scoring double courtesy of Sanoja. Liam Hicks reclaimed sole possession of first place in runs batted in, now with 40 entering play Sunday. And though Lake Bachar would cough up a three-spot in the bottom half, Miami held on to take the second game, 10-5. "We hung in there, and certainly didn't have some of our finest moments, but we just have to find a way to win," uttered McCullough. Now 21-25, the Marlins trail the Phillies and Nationals by two games for second place in the National League East. In what would end up being a no-decision, his fourth in as many outings, Sandy Alcantara stymied the Rays' bats to the tune of six innings of one-run ball, striking out six. Alcantara will enter his next start 24 strikeouts shy of 1,000 for his career. In 10 starts this season, Alcantara owns a 3.53 ERA, all while trailing only Christopher Sanchez (who twirled a six-hit, 13 strikeout shutout on Saturday) for the MLB lead in innings pitched. Alcantara has thrown 63.2 innings to Sanchez's 64.1. In four career starts at Tropicana Field, Alcantara owns a sterling 1.67 ERA. "It was one of those games where we never gave up," noted Alcantara postgame. Tampa's lone run off Alcantara came in the bottom of the third when Chandler Simpson singled in Taylor Walls. Overcoming the adversity of a season-high four errors, Miami's offense was held scoreless for the first six innings at the mercy of Nick Martinez , who lowered his season ERA to 1.51. Among qualified pitchers this season, only Cam Schlittler (1.35) has a lower ERA than the aforementioned Martinez. Of the four Miami errors on the day, two came in a fifth inning that could have very easily gotten away from Alcantara and Co. With two outs and the light-hitting Walls batting, Xavier Edwards uncorked an errant throw for his second error of the day. Immediately following him, Chandler Simpson hit a ground ball that Sanoja was unable to corral, turning what looked to be a 1-2-3 inning into one where Alcantara threw 22 pitches. Trailing entering the seventh, Heriberto Hernández, facing the team he spent parts of three seasons with in the minor leagues, blasted a game-tying home run deep into the left field stands. Looking Ahead The Marlins and Rays will close out the series on Sunday afternoon in the rubber match. Eury Pérez (2-5, 4.94 ERA) will look to solve his road woes as he takes the ball for Miami. In 26 career starts away from loanDepot Park, Pérez owns a 5.14 ERA, averaging fewer than five innings per outing, though he has posted a 2.81 ERA in games pitched on artificial turf. Sunday will mark Pérez's first career start against Tampa Bay. Opposing Pérez, Drew Rasmussen (3-1, 3.16 ERA), will make his seventh career appearance against Miami. In 26 career innings against, Rasmussen has pitched to a 2.08 ERA. First pitch from Tropicana Field is slated for 12:15 EST. View full article