Louis Addeo-Weiss

Each ensuing game for the Miami Marlins from here on out has compounded importance, ever more so true as the club opens up their final series against the New York Mets in advance of Monday's trade deadline. Fresh off the heels of a franchise record 12-game losing streak, Miami responded by sweeping the Phillies at home, entering the Big Apple one game over .500 at 55-54. On the other end of the spectrum, the New York Mets, a team which entered 2026 with a payroll estimated north of $360M and playoff aspirations after the previous season's collapse. The club traded for Luis Robert Jr. and Marcus Semien, signed Bo Bichette to pair with Francisco Lindor in the infield, and shored up the bullpen with the addition of Luke Weaver. However, the disaster that was the second half of 2025 for the Metropolitans returned tenfold, as New York entered play Thursday 46-63 and last in the National League East. Unfortunately, the game went as forecasted at the outset of the 2026 season and the Mets found themselves on the right side of victory, besting Miami 4-2. Repeating what they did in Tuesday's 1-0 victory over Philadelphia, the Marlins were aided early by a solo home run off the bat of Kyle Stowers . After sporting an OPS near .900 in June, Stowers has continued to see his season trend in the right direction, boasting an .812 mark in July. His 15 home runs trail only Heriberto Hernández 's 16. On the mound, it was more of what has been the case with Eury Pérez of late, as the flame-throwing 23-year-old held New York hitless into the fifth inning. Entering the bottom of the sixth on just 69 pitches, Pérez ran into trouble following a leadoff walk to Francisco Alvarez, as Francisco Lindor promptly singled him home. Then, 24 pitches into the sixth, Pérez surrendered a slow-moving chopper off the bat of the aforementioned Robert Jr. that caromed off the glove of third baseman Graham Pauley to put the Mets out front 2-1. In his six innings of work, Pérez allowed merely a trio of hits, striking out six. In seven starts since returning from injury, Pérez owns a sterling 1.71 ERA. As great as Pérez was, so too was Nolan McLean in his 6 1/3 innings of two-run ball. The only mistakes made by McLean would end in the longball. Looking to respond following the coughing up of the lead, Jakob Marsee —the touted outfielder that has struggled mightily in 2026—came through with his sixth home run of the season. Miami then called upon the man who had arguably been the club's most reliable reliever this season, Michael Petersen. In his first game since taking a comebacker off his forearm on Monday, Miami would see the 2-2 tie go by the wayside, with three consecutive hits courtesy of Bichette, Carson Benge, and Robert plating a pair of runs. Now 55-55, the Marlins currently find themselves 2.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot in the National League. Looking Ahead Miami will continue to steer the ship towards the postseason in the sequel Friday night. Janson Junk (4-6, 4.89 ERA) will square off against two-time All-Star Freddy Peralta (5-9, 4.99 ERA). The reigning NL wins leader, Peralta owns a 4.47 ERA across 13 appearances (10 starts) against the Fish. First pitch from Citi Field is slated for 7:10 pm EST. View full article

The Marlins of two weeks ago were riding a high that had eluded them for the better part of two decades. Fast-forward to July 19 and they have done a complete 180, dropping their season-worst sixth consecutive game in their 3-1 loss to the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers. As has been the case amid a resurgent season for the franchise, Pete Fairbanks played the role of the heel. The embattled Marlins closer allowed a leadoff single to Jackson Chourio, then a walk to Brice Turang before catching Andrew Vaughn looking for the first out. Fairbanks went ahead in the count 0-2 against William Contreras, but couldn't put him away. He hung a cutter to Contreras on the sixth pitch of the plate appearance, resulting in a walk-off, three-run home run. "Losses hurt, but going through a season, stretches like this happen," noted Marlins manager Clayton McCullough. The Marlins were defeated only twice in walk-off fashion prior to the All-Star break. The Brewers doubled that total this weekend—Garrett Mitchell delivered the game-winner on Friday in the bottom of the 10th inning. Amid this losing streak, the Marlins have hit just .199. They bookended the Milwaukee series by scoring one run apiece in the opener and the finale. All of the offense for the Marlins on Sunday came courtesy of a third-inning solo home run off the bat of Esteury Ruiz. Outside of the perpetual rain clouds currently hanging over the club, Sunday saw continued signs of growth from Eury Pérez, who allowed just one hit over six scoreless innings. In seven starts dating back to May 22, the 23-year-old has allowed just five earned runs over his last 39 ⅓ innings pitched (1.14 ERA). The Marlins have tumbled to just four games over .500 at 52-48. They're in a virtual three-way tie with the St. Louis Cardinals (51-47) and Pittsburgh Pirates (52-48) for the NL's final wild-card spot. Looking Ahead The Marlins will travel to the Lone Star State, where they'll open up a series on Monday against the Houston Astros. Janson Junk (4-5, 4.57 ERA) will make his second start since returning from injury. Ronel Blanco (3-4, 4.10 ERA in 2025) will take the ball for the first time in 14 months following Tommy John surgery, First pitch from Daikin Park is slated for 8:10 EST/7:10 CDT. View full article

Not all good things last forever. Pitching in the cavernous Coors Field, Max Meyer put his perfect record on the line against the forces of altitude and dry air, ultimately suffering a loss for the first time in 2026. The former third overall draft pick had been off to a 9-0 start to the season. His 17 starts without a loss were the most to begin a season in franchise history. The Coors effect infected Meyer early, when Mickey Moniak, for the second time in as many nights, sent a ball over the center field wall to give the Rockies an early 1-0 lead. Falling a mere single short of the cycle, Moniak has been Colorado's best hitter this season, sporting a 135 wRC+. As was the case in their 10-run and 14-run barrages in the series' first two games, Miami would take the lead on Javier Sanoja's two-run triple. Kyle Freeland, the owner of a 3.80 ERA in 10 career appearances against the Fish, would work five otherwise carefree innings, striking out seven in the Rockies' victory. Carrying that 2-1 lead into the bottom of the fifth, Meyer would fall victim to some tough luck when an error by the aforementioned Sanoja misplayed a ground ball off the bat of Kyle Karros. Two batters later, it was Moniak's two-run triple that gave the Rockies a lead they would never relinquish. The salt in the wound would come in short order, as Hunter Goodman, the team's presumed representative at this year's All-Star game, launched his 27th home run of the season. Among catchers to start at least 150 games behind the plate since the start of last season, only Cal Raleigh (55) has more home runs in games caught than Goodman's 50. Over his last six games played, Goodman has hit six home runs. On the whole, Meyer would power through six innings, allowing five runs, though only being charged with one in collecting his first loss of the season. Despite the defeat, Meyer lowered his season ERA to 2.53. "I thought Max was good tonight...It's the conditions here that take a toll on your body, though," noted manager Clayton McCullough. The night would not be without its moments of elation for Miami, though, as Joe Mack, pinch-hitting in the top of the seventh, sent a ball over the head of center fielder Jake McCarthy in what would turn out to be an inside-the-park home run. The long ball would represent the first of the inside-the-park variety since Yuli Gurriel in 2023. Colorado pitchers retired nine consecutive Marlins after that to seal the 6-3 win. Looking Ahead The Marlins will conclude the four-game set and their West Coast road trip in Thursday's series finale. Michael Lorenzen (3-9, 6.83 ERA) will take the ball for Colorado. While the first half of the season has been unkind to him, Lorenzen has a track record of success against Miami, posting a 2.62 ERA - his lowest mark against any NL opponent - across 18 games pitched (7 GS). First pitch from Coors Field is scheduled for 3:10 EST/1:10 MDT. View full article

In the role of Marlins starting pitcher, Tyler Phillips has been a mixed bag to this point. Through his first five starts, Phillips posted a 4.94 ERA, with a lot of that damage concentrated in a June 16 clunker against the Phillies, where he allowed eight runs over four innings. On Sunday, the Marlins saw the good upside of that mixed bag, as Phillips, doing his best Sandy Alcantara, struck out just one over a season-high 7 ⅓ innings of one-run ball. Phillips became the first Marlin since Henderson Alvarez back on 7/31/13 to record an out in the eighth inning in a start with one or fewer strikeouts. The 28-year-old's lone strikeout came at the expense of NL Rookie of the Year frontrunner JJ Wetherholt. "He was outstanding today...was able to economically get through innings," noted manager Clayton McCullough. Unfortunately, Phillips' great effort would be all for nothing, as the Marlins only scratched across one run in their 2-1 loss to the Cardinals. Snapping their current 4-game winning streak, the Marlins still find themselves 44-40 and vying for a playoff spot. The lone blunder on Phillips' day came early courtesy of a two-run homer from rookie left fielder Bryan Torres. Held hitless by Kyle Leahy through the first four, the Marlins broke through in the fifth when Owen Caissie launched a leadoff double. The recently recalled Grant Pauley authored his second double in as many days to bring home Caissie, though Cardinal pitching would allow just two more Marlins to reach base. In keeping with a prevailing theme for the 2026 club, Clayton McCullough made a pair of changes that had some scratching their head. Prioritizing the platoon advantage, McCullough removed the aforementioned Caissie and Pauley for pinch-hitters Esteury Ruiz and Leo Jiménez, respectively. That was part of a sequence which saw the Fish use four consecutive pinch-hitters, who combined to go 1-for-4. The lone hit—Jiménez's seeing-eye single in the seventh—would prove inconsequential. Although a road series win is nothing to scoff at, the Marlins ought to be leaving town feeling unfulfilled having limited the opposition to three total runs this weekend, yet falling short of completing the sweep. Looking Ahead Miami will hope to find its Rocky Mountain High as they begin a four-game series against the Colorado Rockies. Sandy Alcantara (8-4, 4.01 ERA), now the Marlins' all-time strikeout leader, will toe the rubber in Monday's series opener. Sean Sullivan (0-2, 8.25 ERA) will oppose him as he makes just his fourth career big league appearance. First pitch from Coors Field is slated for 8:40 EST/6:40 MDT. View full article

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