Louis Addeo-Weiss

Cueto shines in return, bats erupt in 9th, but Baltimore holds on for victory.Staring down the barrel of a potential sweep at the hands of a surging Baltimore Orioles club, Sunday would be a bullpen day for the Marlins pitching staff. To their dismay, opener Steven Okert—starting his first game since 2019 when he was pitching in AAA—failed to set the tone in a positive direction, allowing 3 runs before recording an out. The Orioles led the rest of the way, securing a 5-4 victory and a sweep of Miami. Back-to-back doubles off the bats of Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman would plate Baltimore's opening salvo. Three hitter Anthony Santander, doing his best Vladimir Guerrero Sr. impression, deposited a slider a good three inches below the strike zone over the center field wall for a two-run home run. Okert's day would be done after recording all of just 1 out. In relief of Okert, George Soriano would extinguish the 1st-inning flames, only needing 4 pitches to record the final two outs. Though his command would abandon him by way of back-to-back hit by pitches and a walk in the bottom of the 4th, Soriano would give Miami 3-plus innings, allowing 2 unearned runs without surrendering a hit. Of the two runs surrendered at the hands of Soriano, the first (Baltimore's fourth) would come around to score on a James McCann ground ball misplayed by shortstop Joey Wendle. The Orioles would add one more in the 4th when Henderson plated Colton Cowser with a sacrifice fly to right. Undoubtedly the best story for Miami, and maybe the entire weekend, was the triumphant return of Johnny Cueto. Pitching just 1 inning in an April 3 start against the Mets before missing 3 1/2 months with biceps and ankle injuries, Cueto returned to the tune of 3 scoreless innings. Sufficed to say this was more than encouraging considering what Cueto had done in his 7 rehab starts. The 37-year-old Cueto pitched to a 10.24 ERA over 29 MiLB innings, allowing 49 hits while surrendering a staggeringly-high 16 home runs while working his way back from injury. "He attacked...velocity was up 93-94. Changeup was good," said manager Skip Schumaker. To Schumaker's point, Cueto registered 13 fastballs 93.0-plus mph, topping out at 93.7. Quite a contrast from the veteran's AAA outings—his fastball velo maxed out at 92.4 for Jacksonville. Perhaps it was the adrenaline of competing at the highest level, or a byproduct of being able to "air it out" in a relief role rather than having to pace himself. Making his first career start against Miami, Kyle Bradish proved pristine, limiting the Fish to just 3 hits over 7 1/3 shutout innings to pick up his 6th win of the season. Batting in the top of the 9th, though, the Marlins—still trailing by 5—would turn things on in a big way. Garrett Cooper's second hit of the day and a Yuli Gurriel double would set Miami up for 2nd and 3rd before both were driven in by a Jean Segura double. In 12 July contests, Segura has hit .341. Segura would immediately race home on a Jon Berti single to cut the deficit to 2 before Dane Myers capped off a 3-for-3 day with an RBI double to score Berti. In doing so, Myers became the 11th player in Marlins history to hit at least .400 in his first 9 games with the club (he's at .406). However, Miami's hopes of a comeback would be squashed when Luis Arraez (0-for-5, K) flew out to left to end the afternoon. With the loss, the Marlins fall to 21-8 in one-run games, and 53-42 overall. Of Note Santander's 1st inning home run was the 100th of his career. With the loss, Miami's run differential now sits at minus-10 through 95 games played.Wacky stat line: George Soriano became just the 15th pitcher since 1901 and first since 1990 to pitch at least 3 hitless innings while allowing 2 or more unearned runs, but 0 earned runs. Looking Ahead Things, at least on paper, look to get easier for Miami moving forward. They'll travel to St. Louis to matchup against the Cardinals, who the Marlins took 3 of 4 from July 3-6. Skip Schumaker and Co. will turn to Jesús Luzardo (8-5, 3.29 ERA) in Monday's series opener. Against St. Louis on July 4, Luzardo worked 6 scoreless frames en route to his 7th win of the season in a 15-3 Miami rousting. First pitch from Busch Stadium is slated for 7:45 EST.

In the final game before the All-Star break, and on the eve of the 2023 Home Run Derby, loanDepot Park was the site of a mini-derby of its own. When the dust settled, the Marlins would emerge victorious, beating the Phillies 7-3 to end the first half at 53-39. Batting in the bottom of the 1st following a Bryan De La Cruz one-out double, Jesús Sánchez tattooed a 94-mph Aaron Nola fastball 461 feet over the center field wall to give Miami for his 9th home run of the season, giving Miami an early 2-0 lead. Two innings later, the Dane Myers honeymoon phase would persist by way of his first career home run. Through his first 6 career games, Myers has hit .409 with an 1.000 OPS. The exclamation point of the bottom of the 3rd, though, came via the aforementioned De La Cruz, hitting a solo blast of his own in what would eventually be his third four-hit game of the season. Jean Segura, though not homering, would add an RBI single of his own in the 3rd. In his first plate appearance, a 114 mph line drive that resulted in a line out to Trea Turner made for the hardest hit ball of Segura's career dating back to the start of the Statcast era (2015-present). As good as Miami was at the plate—with 8 of the 9 starters collecting hits—Jesús Luzardo matched that with his performance on the mound tenfold. Over 6 1/3 innings, Luzardo held the Philadelphia bats to just 4 hits, striking out 9 in his 8th win of the season. Luzardo concludes the first half with a 3.29 ERA in his 19 starts, and his 129 strikeouts are tied with A.J. Burnett for second-most in franchise history before the break. In 5 starts dating back to June 18, Luzardo has pitched 31.2 innings and allowed just 4 runs, striking out 40 hitters in that stretch. The only blemish on Luzardo's line came by way of a two-run homer off the bat of Edmundo Sosa in the top of the 5th. Beyond that, the 25-year-old left-hander struck out the side in both the 3rd and 4th innings. "On the attack," noted manager Skip Schumaker. "Slider was good, 97 (mph) angling heater...He just kept guys off balance...You could see he had a little more adrenaline going." That adrenaline was its apex in the bottom of the 7th following a hit-by-pitch to Bryson Stott that caused merited some chirping between Luzardo and the Phillies dugout. In Saturday's 5-3 Miami win, Braxton Garrett had hit DH Bryce Harper on the elbow with a pitch that forced the former MVP to exit early. Harper would sit out the series finale Sunday. Stott would soon be erased thanks to 6-4-3 double play off the bat of Alec Bohm, courtesy of JT Chargois. Miami would tack on runs in both the 7th and 8th thanks to RBI singles from De La Cruz and Nick Fortes, with the latter collecting his first hit since July 3. Of Note Sunday marked the third time this season that the Marlins had hit at least 3 home runs in a single game, having previously done so on April 26 and June 11. With his third consecutive game multi-hit game, Jean Segura continued a July surge that's seen him hit .344 in 36 plate appearances while also raising his season average from .197 to .216.The 2023 Marlins are just the second team since 1901 to win 53 of their first 92 regular season games despite a run differential of -4 or worse, joining the 2005 Washington Nationals. Looking Ahead The All-Star festivities are set to commence in Seattle with the Home Run Derby on Monday, followed by the 93rd Midsummer Classic set for Tuesday featuring 2B Luis Arraez and OF/DH Jorge Soler. Marlins fans will have to wait until Friday to watch their entire team back in action. When games do resume, Miami will continue playing against tough teams with a road series against the Baltimore Orioles.

If last month is any indication, these Miami Marlins just may swim with the potential playoff pack all season long.When the Marlins entered the month of June, they did so at 29-27, good enough to be tied for 2nd place in the NL East with the New York Mets (and their bloated $361M payroll). Suffice to say this was a miracle given the club's minus-45 run differential, which was second-worst in the National League to that point. What happened in June, though, was anything but fluky. The Marlins improved to 48-35 by month's end while convincingly outscoring their competition (save for a disastrous 16-4 loss to the divisional rival Atlanta Braves that concluded things on a sour note). How did they get there? Here's not only what went well, but what went genuinely great for the June 2023 Fish. .406 for 26 Without reading the ensuing notes, you know exactly who we're talking about. After "only" hitting .330 in May on the heels of a .439 April, Luis Arraez resumed his torrid chase towards .400, hitting .406 in 26 June contests. He became the first MLB player since Josh Hamilton in June and July of 2010 to have multiple months of at least .400 in the same season (min. 25 G/Mo). Even more incredible is how Arraez essentially refused to strike out. Arraez's second .400-hitting month was also his second month of doing while whiffing less than 10 times, becoming the first player to do so since Dustin Pedroia in August 2016. In 116 June plate appearances, only 7 of them ended in a strikeout (6%). Like Steely Dan sang in 1972, Arraez went ahead and " ."Premium PitchingThe club's overall 3.43 ERA in June is simply misleading. Ahead of the pitching staff surrendering 16 runs to Atlanta on June 30, Miami had pitched to a 2.93 ERA in the month's first 25 games. Their collective 5.8 fWAR also paced all of Major League Baseball, as did their 3.09 FIP and 3.18 xFIP, all of this despite another subpar month from staff ace Sandy Alcantara (4.59 ERA, .273 BAA). As a whole, Miami starters posted the second-best ERA (3.00), trailing only the Phillies (2.73). However, if we refer back to FIP, no teams were better than what their 2.93 mark, a large part of which we can attribute to a minuscule 0.76 HR/9 (2nd). While the bullpen proved more middle-of-the-pack in sheer run prevention term (4.18 ERA, 12th), their 3.37 FIP and 3.23 xFIP—both second-best among all clubs—would suggest that even amid a record-setting month for Miami, bad luck always finds a way to makes it presence felt. It should also be noted that the Fish did this while averaging 5 2/3 innings from their starters, third-best in all of baseball. Braxton Garrett—who may best embody these strong results—authored a 2.22 ERA in the calendar's sixth month, one highlighted by a 1.16 ERA and 1.61 FIP over his final four June outings. His average innings pitched per June start, by the way? 5 2/3. Wendle, Well Done At the dawn of June, Joey Wendle's slash line looked something like this: .170/.254/.283. When the sun set on the month's final day, it had undergone a radical facelift: .281/.324/.393. In his 86 plate appearances during the interim, Wendle hit .354/.372/.463. Now, sure, an .836 OPS does little to jump off the page, but when you consider the Joey Wendle Miami had gotten at the plate before, you begin to understand the importance of his month-long hot streak. In 432 plate appearances across 122 games from 2022 through May 2023, Wendle accrued an 82 wRC+, 235th among the 269 hitters with at least 400 plate appearances in the span. Fast forward to June and Wendle's wRC+ of 130 put him in the same class as rookie phenom Elly De La Cruz, Royce Lewis, and teammate Jorge Soler. If Miami were to even get 80-percent of June-like production out of Wendle moving forward, that, complimented with his above-average defense would pay major dividends for the club's playoff prospects. Next Man UpWhile this section won't be short of numbers, think of this more as a thought exercise on clubhouse culture and having your teammates backs in the everlasting effort to win at all costs. A case in point example can be seen in the 9th inning of the Fish's series finale against the Red Sox. After Jonathan Davis—who pinch ran following a Bryan De La Cruz single—was caught stealing, Jazz Chisholm Jr. (recently returned from an extensive IL stint due to turf toe) took longtime closer Kenley Jansen deep to dead center for a much-needed insurance run in an eventual 2-0 Marlins victory to secure their first-ever series sweep against Boston. We touched earlier on the club's strong starting pitching efforts the previous month, but encouraging was that it came on the heels of an injury to Edward Cabrera, who headed to the injured list with a shoulder impingement. In his place, Miami called upon swingman Bryan Hoeing to assume a rotation spot for the time being. After allowing just 1 run in 6 1/3 innings over 4 relief appearances from June 1-12, Hoeing started and worked 4 scoreless innings against a potent Toronto Blue Jays lineup on June 19. He'd follow that with 5 hitless innings against Pittsburgh in his next outing. And though he'd be the starter of record in the June 30 blow-up in Atlanta (charged with 7 runs in 3 2/3 innings), Hoeing did nothing to quell the excitement that's surrounded the club for most of 2023. Eury, Eury, Eury While his first four big league starts were an encouraging site to see (2.84 ERA, 4.92 FIP), Eury Pérez would raise the bar substantially in the month of June. Of the 659 pitchers in franchise history to throw at least 25 innings in a single calendar month, no one has had a lower ERA than Pérez's 0.32. In 28 innings pitched across 5 starts, the 20-year-old allowed all of 1 run. His 1.34 ERA through his first 9 starts is the lowest in club history, and his 8 total runs in that span is the fewest in any pitcher's first 9 starts with a minimum of 40 innings pitched. Someday soon, the club intends to remove Pérez from the starting rotation in order to limit the 2023 workload on his still-developing right arm. Even so, his performance in June illuminated one thing: Miami has another ace in the making. Photo by Danis Sosa/Fish On First

One inning bites Sandy yet again as Braves mash their way to series sweep.Looking to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Atlanta Braves, the Marlins turned to Sandy Alcantara, fresh off a feel-good 7-innings of 1-run ball against the Red Sox on 6/27. Alas, Alcantara's struggles would win out, as Miami's ace would allow 4 earned over 5 innings in a 6-3 loss. With the loss, the Marlins fall to 48-37, now trailing Atlanta by 10 games in the NL East. In other dugout, Atlanta's record of 56-27 gives them sole possession of the game's best record and winning percentage (.675). Right away, it seemed Atlanta would continue their 1st inning supremacy—they own a league-best +62 run differential in the game's first frame—as NL MVP frontrunner Ronald Acuña Jr. led off the game with a single before proceeding to steal his career-best 38th base of the season. However, Alcantara proceed to retire Ozzie Albies and Austin Riley via a pop out and strikeout, respectively. A Matt Olson single and walk to Travis d'Arnaud would load the bases for Marcell Ozuna. Alcantara would get the former Marlin to rollover on a 2-0 sinker to hold Atlanta off the board in the 1st. The Marlins would give their ace some cushion when they plated 2 against Spencer Strider in the top of the 2nd. Jonathan Davis would convert a Jesús Sánchez leadoff single into Miami's opening salvo on an RBI-force out. Luis Arraez's 17th double of the season would plate Davis for Miami's second run. Luis Arraez doubles (17) on a sharp line drive to right fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. Jonathan Davis scores. Jacob Stallings to 3rd.From here on out, though, the Braves would gradually take control of this game when, in the bottom half of the inning, Orlando Arcia—recently named the starting shortstop for the NL All-Star team—hit his 7th home run of the season to cut the deficit to 1. With Alcantara pitching to a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the 5th, Michael Harris II would effectively turn his one-out single into a triple when a poor throw by Jacob Stallings on a Harris stolen base attempt ran errant into center field, allowing the Atlanta center fielder to advance to third. The ensuing wild pitch by Alcantara would bring Harris home to tie the score at 2-2. https://sporty-clips.mlb.com/727c390e-74ff-42f7-b262-f0e02329a360.mp4After Acuña walked, Albies would waste no time, sending the first pitch over the right field wall for his 20th home run of the season. His 118th career long ball, Albies became just the 9th second baseman with at least 4 20-HR seasons in his 7 years in the big league. Alcantara's final line would read as such: 5 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 6 K (2 HR) Through 17 starts this season, the reigning NL Cy Young award winner has a 4.93 ERA. "They hit the two-seamer when they needed to, (Alcantara) got exposed on the bases again. Overall, I thought he did okay. High pitch count was the reason he only went 5...You ask him, he's probably not happy about it," said manager Skip Schumaker. The Marlins get one back in the 7th, though, thanks to Luis Arraez's second RBI hit of the day, bringing his batting average back up to .389. But what seemed like a still winnable game for Miami seemed to go right by the wayside when the aforementioned Travid d'Arnaud joined in on the homer parade, hitting a two-run blast of his own in the bottom of the 8th. Lost in Atlanta's full throttle offense was Strider, who pitched into the 7th inning for the 5th time this season en route to his 10th win. Allowing 2 runs and striking out 9 over 6 2/3 before exiting, the prior-noted Arraez single would be charged as a third run against Strider. His 12 outings of at least 9 strikeouts are the most in the Majors. No other pitcher this season has more than 8. Of Note Alcantara's 9th outing this season of at least 4 runs allowed is now tied with Philadelphia's Aaron Nola for most in the National League. In 107 2/3 innings pitched, he's already allowed more earned runs (59) than he did in 228 2/3 last season (58).Jazz Chisholm Jr. was removed from Sunday's contest due to left obliqueness soreness that he sustained during a swinging strikeout in the top of the 6th. "Any time someone grabs their side, you're concerned," noted manager Skip Schumaker. Chisholm had just returned from the IL at the start of the week.Being outscored 29-7 in the weekend series, it was the first time since 7/16-7/21/22 where Miami posted a run differential of at least minus-20 over any three-game span. Looking Ahead Headed back home, the Marlins will welcome the St. Louis Cardinals for a four-game series starting Monday. Braxton Garrett (4-2, 3.53 ERA) will pitch the series opener. In two prior starts against St. Louis, Garrett has failed to make it out of the 5th inning on both occasions, posting a 7 ERA over 9 innings pitched. The Cardinals will counter with Miles Mikolas (4-5, 4.44 ERA), making his first start following a June where he allowed 20 earned runs over 29.2 IP (6.07 ERA). First pitch from loanDepot Park is slated for 6:40 EST.

Eury continues to shine, Davis provides pop, and late insurance drives Fish to series victory.Marlins win, Pirates win, Marlins win....Marlins win. On Sunday, the Marlins looked to rookie phenom Eury Pérez to prevent the slumping Pirates from stealing another game from them. It took Pérez and the Fish just 2 hours and 7 minutes to do just that, beating Pittsburgh 2-0. With the victory, Miami improves 11 games over .500 at 45-34, taking 3 of 4 in the series, completing a 4-3 home stand. Tying his career highs with 9 strikeouts and 6 innings pitched, Pérez lowered his season ERA to a mere 1.34. After his latest gem Sunday, Pérez has not allowed a run in his last 21 innings pitched. "I didn't think he had his best stuff today, which is crazy to say when he goes 6 scoreless," said manager Skip Schumaker. "When you have a pitch that's not working, you have to go out and there go to the next one. My fastball and changeup were not working at the beginning of the game, but my slider was working, so I relied on that pitch," noted Pérez postgame. Beyond a 2nd inning that saw him allow a leadoff single to rookie Henry Davis and one-out walk to Tucupita Marcano, Pérez allowed one or no base runners in the 3rd through 6th innings. "When you look at the pitch package he has, that plays no matter where you are. He throws strikes and bares down when he needs to bare down, he has all of the ingredients he has to pitch how he has," said Nick Fortes, whose caught all 9 of Pérez's starts since coming to the big leagues. With 83 pitches through the top of the 6th, some surmised it feasible to see him start the 7th - though, with an expected innings-limit set to hit later in the season - manager Skip Schumaker aired on the side of caution, replacing Pérez with Steven Okert to start the 7th. In relief of Pérez, the bullpen tandem of Okert, Andrew Nardi, and A.J. Puk each hurled scoreless frames to help complete Miami's 6th shutout of the season. The first of Miami's 2 runs came in the bottom of the 3rd when center fielder Jonathan Davis deposited a hanging slider from Johan Oviedo—who pitched 7 innings of 1-run ball of his own—into the left field seats for his second home run of the season. Since playing in his first game with the club on May 23, the Marlins are 21-10. Oviedo would stymie the Marlins bats for the remainder of his afternoon, allowing just 2 hits after the Davis home run. With Puk warming in the bottom of the 8th, Bryan De La Cruz's third hit of the day, a double down the left field line, ultimately turned into Miami's much-needed insurance run when Yuli Gurriel drove him in on a single to right. Looking to take the extra base, Gurriel would be thrown out by the right fielder Davis to end the threat and send the game to the 9th. Facing the 4-5-6 hitters in Pittsburgh's lineup, Puk needed all of just 9 pitches to set down the side in order to improve Miami's record to 16-7 in June. Of Note Since 1901, Eury Pérez's 8 runs allowed are the fewest by any pitcher in their first 9 career starts (min. 40 IP)..400 Watch: Going 1-for-4 Sunday, Luis Arraez saw his batting average dip from .401 to .399. In 23 games dating back to May 2, Andrew Nardi has allowed just 2 earned runs over a span of 22 IP (0.82 ERA). In that span, hitters have managed to hit just .192 (15-for-78) against him.The Marlins became the National League's quickest team to reach 25 home wins this season.Looking Ahead With no baseball slated for Monday, Miami will travel to Boston where they'll begin a three-game set against the Red Sox. Sandy Alcantara (2-6, 5.08 ERA) will make his second career start against Boston. In his lone start against them in 2020, Alcantara worked 6-innings of 1-run ball, but would take the loss for his efforts. The Red Sox will counter with Garrett Whitlock (4-2, 4.50 ERA). First pitch from Fenway Park is slated for 7:10 EST.

As we revisit the draft class of 2016, Braxton Garrett’s career thus far stacks up well against his contemporaries.When the Miami Marlins selected Braxton Garrett, a then-18-year-old out of Florence High School (Florence, AL), 7th overall in the 2016 first-year player draft, the pick appeared a safe one amid a class riddled with uncertainty. The finesse-throwing left-handed pitcher had a 0.56 ERA over 65 1⁄3 innings during his senior season, striking out 131 against just 13 walks en route to collecting Alabama’s Gatorade Player of the Year honors. He received a perfect 10 prospect score from Perfect Game. Here’s more on Garrett the draft prospect from Baseball America: Garrett has the stuff to match his results. His curveball is his best pitch, earning easy plus grades for its tight spin and late 11-to-5 break. He is able to command his breaking ball, allowing him to throw it for strikes or make it a chase pitch to both righthanders and lefthanders. Garrett’s fastball sits in the low 90s and his changeup shows excellent promise, giving him the potential for three above-average or better offerings. He has a balanced, easy delivery that he repeats extremely well, allowing him to fill the zone with quality strikes. Upon forgoing his commitment to Vanderbilt and signing with Miami for a $4,069,200 bonus, Garrett would debut in 2017 for High-A Greensboro, pitching to a 2.93 ERA over 4 starts before his season was cut short in June following Tommy John surgery. After returning and pitching well in 21 starts between Advanced-A Jupiter and AA Jacksonville (3.54 ERA), it appeared Garrett had reaffirmed his prospect status, one that would soon so him graduate to the Majors. Garrett’s early big league excursions were anything but encouraging. Among the 482 pitchers to throw at least 40 innings between 2020 and 2021, only Brandon Workman’s 2.12 WHIP was higher than Garrett’s 1.80. Though there were glimmers of light that peered through, including a 7-inning, 10-strikeout performance against the San Diego Padres on July 24, 2021. Come 2022, Garrett got his first extended chance to start at the MLB level. With a new slider emerging as his preeminent breaking ball, he impressed to the tune of a 3.58 ERA (113 ERA+) over 88 innings. He halved his walk rate while allowing just 9 home runs (0.9 HR/9) over his 17 starts, a combination of command and long ball prevention that’s relatively rare. After missing out on the 2023 Opening Day rotation, Garrett quickly got the call to replace the injured Johnny Cueto. Through 15 appearances (14 starts), he has been everything the Marlins were hoping to get from Cueto and then some. Instead of regressing from 2022, Garrett has improved his ERA+ from 113 to 120 while matching his previous year's strikeout total in 11 1⁄3 fewer innings. Blending volume and effectiveness, the southpaw is arguably the most valuable arm on Miami's staff so far. The genesis of this thought excursion comes from a perusing of Garrett’s aforementioned 2016 draft class. Now that he and his first-round contemporaries have had ample time to develop as professionals, we begin to see that the Marlins actually made out better than most. In an anti-Drake fashion, we’ll commence from the top of the draft board with the number 1 pick in 2016, Mickey Moniak. An outfielder out of La Costa Canyon High School in Carlsbad, California, Moniak parlayed a terrific senior season—he hit .476 with a .961 slugging percentage in 29 games, en route to earning Gatorade California Baseball Player of the Year honors—into being the 1-1 selection by the Philadelphia Phillies. Moniak never OPS’d above .749 in parts of four minor league seasons before Philadelphia looked to see what their pick had at the next level. Debuting during the COVID-shortened 2020, he hit .214 over 18 plate appearances. Moniak then went to the Angels in a trade that included Noah Syndergaard and has produced to the tune of a .207/.254/.392 slash line, accruing 0.1 rWAR in the process. He's currently thriving on the west coast in a part-time role, but with peripherals that continue to suggest he's closer to a AAAA player than someone whom Philadelphia once thought could be a foundational piece of their next winning core. Our number 2 pick and topic of conversation, Nick Senzel, does lay claim to playing the most games (324) of any first-rounder that year, but beyond that, what he’s shown isn’t exactly worth celebrating. In those 324 games over parts of 5 seasons that have seen him go from a fringy second/third baseman to a well-below-average center fielder, Senzel has been worth -1.3 wins, hitting a mere .241/.305/.362. Injuries have no doubt contributed to Senzel’s struggles—he has been slowed by right finger, left knee, right knee, and labrum issues. It’s safe to say that the Reds haven’t made out well with their second pick. Much time won’t be spent on the third pick from the 2016 class, Atlanta’s Ian Anderson, as he’s put together a respectable 3.6 WAR highlighted by a 3.25 ERA (136 ERA+) over 160 2⁄3 innings between 2020-2021. He had the unusual distinction of receiving down-ballot NL Rookie of the Year votes in both of those seasons. Anderson also penned 35 2⁄3 innings of a 1.26 playoff ERA on the Braves quest to their first championship since 1995. However, following a rough 2022 and 2023 spring training that saw Anderson optioned to AAA, news of his undergoing Tommy John surgery earlier this year put his status as a viable contributor on hold for now. Now, the number 4 pick, Riley Pint, comes with the caveat of being selected by the Colorado Rockies, a team notoriously inept at developing pitching. A hard-throwing right-hander whose fastball at times touched triple digits, Pint’s minor league career went about as well as one would expect a pitcher drafted by Colorado to go. In 243 innings, Pint posted a disastrous 1.74 WHIP, 5.52 ERA, and (for entertainment purposes only) a win-loss record of just 7-25. Pint donned a Rockies uniform on May 17 for one predictably ugly appearance (0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 0 SO) before being optioned back down. He’s still kicking around at AAA Albuquerque as a reliever. The Milwaukee Brewers got a measly 3 MLB plate appearances from outfielder Corey Ray, drafted in the 5th spot. Ray has begun the next phase of his baseball career as the bench coach for the Low-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans. Before he was Braxton Garrett’s teammate, A.J. Puk was a major question mark in the Oakland Athletics organization. He struck out 184 hitters over 125 innings between Advanced-A and AA in 2017, but then missed all of 2018 after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Puk pitched inconsistently at both the minor and big league levels between 2019-2021. Fortunately, Puk quelled many of those concerns last season. The former number 6 overall pick posted a 3.12 ERA over 66 1⁄3 innings out of Oakland’s bullpen. Puk isn’t complacent, entering 2023 with an optimized breaking ball. Early returns from Puk with the Marlins have been nothing short of tremendous (2.08 ERA in 21.2 IP), though he's already made one trip to the IL with Miami. JJ Bleday, the fellow first-rounder who went west in the trade, won’t be missed if Puk sustains this performance. Circling back to Garrett, his Major League output thus far has been exactly what we could’ve imagined: safe. And his recent production is legitimately wow-worthy. In 206 1⁄3 innings over parts of 4 seasons, Garrett has pitched to the tune of a 3.93 ERA (107 ERA+), a 3.70 FIP, all while averaging better than a strikeout an inning (9.6 SO/9). Sure, his lack of overpowering stuff has resulted in a high volume of hits allowed (9.2 H/9 and a corresponding 1.32 WHIP), but again, relative to his draft class, particularly those who came off the board in front of him, he’s been a lot better than most of us would assume. Some of those taken after Garrett have gone on to become quality contributors, including Cal Quantrill (8th overall), Josh Lowe (13th), Gavin Lux (20th), Will Smith (32nd), Dylan Carlson (33rd), Dakota Hudson (34th) and Nick Lodolo (41st). However, the Marlins shouldn’t take their pick for granted. On a 2023 Miami roster that’s heavily dependent on outside acquisitions, Garrett is a homegrown, stabilizing force. Photo courtesy of Miami Marlins

Strong effort from Luzardo, bullpen, and Amaya help Fish move to 10 games over .500.The Miami Marlins win. It's something that hasn't been said all too often in recent seasons, but here, in 2023, it's practically a daily utterance. Their 4-2 Father's Day victory secured their second series sweep of the season against the Washington Nationals. In what has been a Jekyll-and-Hyde pattern of performance of late, Jesús Luzardo was the former on Sunday. Completing 6 innings for the 7th time this season, Luzardo, with his father in attendance, held Washington to 2 runs on 5 hits, striking out 5 and walking 1. Despite a 6.15 ERA in his 5 previous starts since May 21st, Luzardo has fallen victim to an extreme case of bad luck, as noted by a 3.34 FIP and .475 opponent OPS in that span. With two outs in the 6th and a pitch count of just 76 pitches, Luzardo proceeded to allow back-to-back hard-hit singles to Joey Meneses (103.4 mph exit velocity) and Keibert Ruiz (102.7). Next batter and potential go-ahead run, Stone Garrett, made for a trifecta of 100+ mph batted balls, though his would result in a fly ball to center fielder Jonathan Davis for the third out. The Marlins would open the scoring in the top of 2nd when Jacob Amaya—making his MLB debut—delivered an RBI via a force out in his first career at bat. In 58 games before being recalled from AAA, Amaya had hit .278 with an .818 OPS. Speaking postgame, Amaya referred back to his family, who were in attendance to watch their son's debut. "I went to see them right before the game, and that definitely calmed some nerves," said Amaya to Bally's Jessica Blaylock. Miami would tack on their second run an inning later thanks to Nick Fortes sacrifice fly. Pitching with a 2-0 lead in the last half of the 3rd, Luzardo would make his only true mistake of the day. Following a base hit that fell just right in front of left fielder Bryan De La Cruz, Washington right fielder Lane Thomas capitalized on a hanging slider for his second home run of the series. https://mlb-cuts-diamond.mlb.com/FORGE/2023/2023-06/18/b60f97a6-bb8be656-f9a57f54-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_16000K.mp4But, as the Miller's tale has been told all season, the Marlins would answer. Amaya would pickup teammate Garrett Hampson's lead, singling in his second at bat in the top of the 4th for his first career hit. "It took me 12 at-bats to get a hit," laughed Skip Schumaker when referring to Amaya's 4th inning single. "(Amaya has) shown confident, and he'll finish a game one of these days." The aforementioned De La Cruz would drive Hampson in via a sacrifice fly in what would turn out to be the eventual go-ahead run. Jorge Soler would add some insurance one batter later, singling in Amaya to make it a 4-2 Miami lead. Soler now has driven in a run in 11 of his 16 games when playing the outfield this season. Though they would fail to score past the 4th inning, Miami touched up long-struggling Washington starter Patrick Corbin for 11 singles in his 6 innings of work. In relief of Luzardo, Miami would get scoreless 7th and 8th innings from Steven Okert and Dylan Floro. The club then turned to Andrew Nardi after having gone to A.J. Puk the previous two 9th innings. Working around a leadoff double from Ruiz, Nardi bounced back to record back-to-back strikeouts before getting Dominic Smith to pop out to end the contest. The Marlins improved to 41-31, making for the first time they have been 10 games over .500 since rebranding ahead of the 2012 season. The last instance of this team being 10 over came on May 28, 2011, when they were 30-20 as the still-Florida Marlins. Miami ends the road trip 6-3. Of Note Amaya becomes just the second player in franchise history to drive in a run and steal a base in his MLB debut. Jerar Encarnación accomplished the feat nearly a year to the day on 6/19/2022. He is the 95th player since 1901 to have at least one hit, stolen base, and RBI in his debut.Baker's Dozen: Jon Berti's 3 hits Sunday made for the 13th time in his career in which he's had at least 3 hits in a single game. Andrew Nardi hasn't allowed an earned run since April 30, during which time his ERA has plummeted from 5.84 to 2.27. Nardi became just the 6th pitcher in franchise history to work 20 consecutive outings without allowing an earned run.Looking Ahead Upon returning home, Miami's upcoming schedule will see them squaring up against some tougher competition. Monday will see the commencement of a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays. Toronto will send the recently resurgent José Berríos (7-4, 3.28 ERA) to the hill in Game 1. Miami was set to start Edward Cabrera, though he's been placed on the 15-day IL with a right shoulder impingement. Skip Schumaker confirmed that Bryan Hoeing will start in Cabrera's place. First pitch from loanDepot Park is slated for 6:40 EST. Featured image courtesy of Miami Marlins

Eury shines in the Pacific Northwest as Fish take series finale from the M's. After a two-game stretch where the Marlins that had "wow'd" and "awed" were largely absent, Wednesday served as a reminder that that club was still very much here. Working around a suspect strike zone from home plate umpire Sean Barber, Eury Pérez achieved a career-first. Facing the Seattle Mariners in T-Mobile Park, Pérez, making just his 7th Major League appearance, both pitched in and completed the 6th inning for the first time in his big league career. Throwing a career-high 93 pitches, Pérez stymied the Seattle offense to the tone of just 2 hits, 1 walk and 6 punchouts in Miami's 4-1 win to take the series finale. Through 7 career starts, the Marlins No. 1 prospect owns a minuscule 1.80 ERA. All of the support Pérez would need would come at the hands of Seattle ace and former Miami prospect Luis Castillo, who uncharacteristically issued 6 walks in his 5 2/3 innings of work. After being held scoreless in both the 1st and 2nd innings, the Fish would break through on Castillo's third wild pitch of the season, one that scored center fielder Jonathan Davis. In 408 innings from 2020-22, Castillo uncorked all of just 2 wild pitches, tied for the fewest of any starter in the Majors (min. 300 IP). https://bdata-producedclips.mlb.com/2c1a8826-a7fe-41d4-8473-dbf9fbd686c2.mp4Completing the 5th inning with just 79 pitches thrown, the decision could have gone either way as to whether to extend a congratulatory handshake to Pérez or let him go out for the 6th with the team clinging to a 1-0 lead. However, Jorge Soler would provide his starter (and his manager Skip Schumaker) some ease of comfort when he blasted his 20th home run of the season over the center field wall to extend the Miami lead to 2. Needing just 14 pitches, Pérez retired the side in order to complete the 6th for the first time. "I turned around after the 5th and saw I was at 79 pitches, and I kept looking at Skip in the dugout to make sure he wasn't going to take me out," said Pérez. Of note was the effectiveness of Pérez's changeup and slider, which generated 4 and 5 whiffs, respectively. Following Pérez's lead, Dylan Floro and Tanner Scott each authored scoreless frames of their own in the 7th and 8th. Miami would tack on runs No. 3 and No. 4 in the top of the 8th—first on a Nick Fortes RBI double (2) and then on a sacrifice fly from the aforementioned Davis. Things would get dicey in the bottom of the 9th, though. Seattle successfully challenged to turn a force out into a bases-loaded, one-out situation when it appeared that shortstop Joey Wendle had failed to keep his foot on the second base bag. https://sporty-clips.mlb.com/a8b27673-c917-4955-a5f3-18ab1cc7fabf.mp4That brought Eugenio Suárez to the plate, the owner of 231 career home runs who had been victimized earlier in the contest by a great defensive play by the above-mentioned Davis. Closer A.J. Puk threw the veteran third baseman a 2-1 slider a good 2 inches off the outer part of the plate that he hit seemingly destined for a game-tying grand slam. Enter Seattle antagonist Jesús Sánchez. Lining up perfectly with the right field wall, Sánchez proceed to jump and nab the would-be home run ball for the second out. Given the context of Miami's last two losses, the fear of a potential sweep at the hands of a struggling Mariners team would have felt somewhat demoralizing following a run of pouncing on sub-.500 teams. Puk would retire the following batter, Cal Raleigh, who fittingly flew out to Sánchez as well to end the game. Of Note With his 6th inning blast Wednesday, Soler became just the second player in franchise history to reach the 20 home run plateau in their first 65 games of the season, joining Giancarlo Stanton, who hit 24 in 2015. Small, elite company.Pérez's 1.80 ERA is the lowest for any Marlins starter in their first 7 starts with the franchise. Following his latest 0-for-3 performance, Luis Arraez is now hitless in each of his last 3 contests. Since debuting in 2019, this marks just the 9th such three-game streak in which Arraez has gone without a hit. Looking Ahead With no game on the schedule for Thursday, Miami will travel to the Nation's Capital as they prepare for a weekend series against their division rival Washington Nationals. Upon resuming play Friday, the Marlins will send Sandy Alcantara (2-5, 4.75) to the mound fresh off 7 innings of 1-run ball against the White Sox on 6/10. Washington will counter with Trevor Williams (3-4, 4.11 ERA). First pitch from Nationals Park is slated for 7:05 EST. Miami Marlins (4) @ Seattle Mariners (1), Win Probability Graph, Baseball-Savant

The Miami Marlins have enjoyed more than their fair share of late-inning heroics and one-run game success in 2023. On Sunday, their indulgence continued. As he's done in the vast majority of his starts for the Marlins this season, Braxton Garrett shut down the opposition for the better part of 5 innings. His latest victim, the Chicago White Sox, were held to just 3 hits and a walk as Miami's left-hander struck out 9 in his 5 1/3 innings of work. Faced with the option of letting him pitch deep into the Chicago lineup a third time through or playing it safe and letting him leave on a high note, manager Skip Schumaker sided with the latter, and it'd come back to bite him. The duality of this decision can be attributed to Garrett's apparent struggles in said situations (1.044 OPS in 42 PA facing the order a 3rd time entering play) while also wanting to see the 25-year-old pitch deeper into games. Yet, after just 82 pitches and Miami clinging to a 1-0 lead, out was Garrett and in came JT Chargois. Immediate returns from Chargois were promising, as the former Tampa Bay Ray struck out his first hitter, Luis Robert Jr, but two-out doubles to Andrew Vaughn, Jake Burger and Miami-native Romy Gonzalez would make for a three-run bottom of the 6th for the South Siders. Chicago would break the game wide open the following inning thanks to a two-run homer by the aforementioned Robert. https://mlb-cuts-diamond.mlb.com/FORGE/2023/2023-06/11/73b0a943-77396a62-2b2232ab-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_16000K.mp4The Marlins entered the 8th trailing by 4 with all of 6 outs to play with. They'd get the most out of each and every one of them. After being limited to just 1 run over 7 strong innings from Lucas Giolito (3.54 ERA), the Marlins would implement their next two ingredients to their winning formula. Leading off the top of the 8th and already with a home run today, Jorge Soler authored his 3rd multi-home run game of the season to cut the deficit to three. Two batters later, Garrett Cooper would make it three home runs for Miami, as he deposited his 7th of the season over the Guaranteed Rate Field center field wall. Chicago 5, Miami 3. Bryan Hoeing would neutralize the Sox bats in the 8th, retiring the 5-7 spots in order to bridge the gap to the top of the 9th. With first-year manager Pedro Grifol turning to his closer, Kendall Graveman, the owner of a 2.28 ERA before Sunday, something most Marlins felt was either inevitable or seemingly never to happen happened. Sitting on a 1-2 slider that caught too much of upper-outside end of the plate, Jean Segura hit his first home run of the season off the left field foul pole. Chicago 5, Miami 4. "Felt like we walked it off at that point with the way they were screaming, but we're still down...but we don't win those last two games without him," said Schumaker. Jonathan Davis would reach on a catcher's interference that should have been the second out before Luis Arraez—who saw his average dip to .397 after a 1-for-5 day—flew out to the antagonist Robert. And as is the nature of baseball, up came Jorge Soler. Miami trailing by 1, 9th inning, two outs. Working the count 3-1, Soler drew what he thought was a clear-cut ball 4, but home plate umpire Nate Tomlinson thought otherwise, signaling strike two to run the count full. Fortunately, for Soler, whose exchanges with Tomlinson following the pitch could have warranted a tossing, the Marlins DH would walk on the next pitch to set up first and second for Bryan De La Cruz. https://sporty-clips.mlb.com/9bf3cc4b-550c-4c39-a7b8-6308f361c416.mp4One pitch later, the Marlins magical 2023 run would go to live on another day as De La Cruz sliced a single past third baseman Yoán Moncada to score the tying and go-ahead runs. Miami 6, Chicago 5. Only needing 10 pitches to get through the 9th, A.J. Puk authored his 3rd consecutive outing since returning from the injured list to cement the 6-5 victory for the Marlins. Of Note Sunday marked the 72nd time in franchise history where the Marlins had hit at least 4 home runs in a single contest. Miami is now 61-11 in those games. Miami's most recent win made for their 20th such of the come-from-behind variety this season—only the Orioles (21) and Angels (21) have more.The Marlins will enter play Monday 8 games over .500 for the first time since August 1, 2016, when they fell to 57-49 following a 5-0 loss to the senior Chicago team, the Cubs.Looking Ahead Miami will look to keep their positive momentum going as they venture out to the Pacific Northwest to begin a three-game series versus the Seattle Mariners. Manager Skip Schumaker will hand the ball to Jesús Luzardo (5-4, 3.79 ERA) in the series opener on Monday. Rookie Bryce Miller will pitch opposite of him for Seattle. First pitch is slated for 9:40 EST from T-Mobile Park.

The question of "who am I?" is one we are all guilty of asking ourselves at one point or another over the course of our lives. For Sandy Alcantara, that moment most likely came in the 3rd inning of Sunday's series finale against the Oakland Athletics. In the ultimate "get right" game, and with the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner going up against an A's team flirting with the 'worst team of all-time' moniker, Alcantara had a top of the 3rd that one a pitcher could only fathom in their nightmares. After retiring the first 6 Oakland hitters to begin the ballgame, the next 8 outcomes against the Marlins ace were as follows: single, stolen base, single, single (RBI), strikeout, double (2 RBI), stolen base, throwing error (E1). What was once a 1-0 Miami lead quickly turned 5-1 in Oakland's favor. Following a throwing error by Alcantara that brought home Ramón Laureano, the some-12,000 spectators erupted in a chorus of boo's, with the team's franchise pitcher front-and-center for all of it. And yet, as they seem to have done all season, the Marlins somehow found a way to win, this one, a 7-5 affair to seal a series sweep of the now 12-49 A's. Miami now improves to a season-best 4 games over .500 at 32-28 and holds a game two-game lead over the Mets for 2nd place in the NL East. "They fight, they don't quit," said manager Skip Schumaker. "There's a lot of baseball left to play, but credit to them, they don't take any one (game) for granted." After the 3rd inning from hell, Sandy Alcantara would go 1-2-3 in the 4th, 5th, allow a single before converting it into a double play to finish the 6th in order, and 1-2-3 in the 7th in what was his grittiest outing of the year. Minus the 3rd, Alcantara faced the minimum number of batters in every inning he threw Sunday. "It was nice, but I don't feel happy about it," said Alcantara postgame. Though much better than what his pitching line may suggest, Alcantara's season ERA rose from 4.93 to 5.07. "I thought his stuff was really good. Other than that one inning, it was six innings of really clean baseball...He fought through a lot and kept us into the game," noted Schumaker. Huge too for Miami was the return of Garrett Cooper, who missed the last four games with lingering vision issues. After doubling in his first plate appearance, Cooper capitalized on a hanging slider from Oakland starter Paul Blackburn by hitting off the left field foul pole for a game-tying three-run home run. First baseman Yuli Gurriel also continued his propensity for contribution, adding 3 hits including his 3rd triple of the season in the 4th. Miami would cap off the comeback in the bottom of the 8th when back-to-back hits from Joey Wendle and Jacob Stallings into the go-ahead and insurance runs. Second baseman Luis Arraez—now hitting .392 after another multi-hit performance—drove in the go-ahead run with a single that caromed off the glove of second baseman Aledmys Díaz. Nick Fortes, who pinch ran and caught the 9th in place of Stallings, scored on a Bryan De La Cruz swinging third strike dropped by catcher Shea Langeliers. In his first action since a 5-run blow up against the Padres on May 30, Dylan Floro retired Oakland's No. 5-7 hitters in order with a pair of strikeouts to complete the victory for Miami. Of Note In a 1994 season where he flirted with being the first hitter in 53 years to hit .400 over the course of a full season, Tony Gwynn hit .388 through his first 55 games played. Arraez exits play Sunday hitting .392. Yuli Gurriel became the first player since Chase Utley in 2017 to hit at least 3 triples in his age-38-older season when he hit a leadoff three-bagger in the bottom of the 4th. Following his pinch hitting appearance, OF/DH Jorge Soler went for X-Rays in what was deemed some thumb discomfort, though they'd return a negative result. Befitting of any high-leverage reliever, Dylan Floro has a short memory. In games immediately following ones in which he surrendered runs, Floro has combined to throw 5 scoreless innings across 5 outings.Looking Ahead The Marlins will continue the soft portion of their schedule Monday when they welcome the Kansas City Royals to loanDepot Park for their first meeting since Sept. 6-8, 2019. Braxton Garrett (1-2, 4.22 ERA) starts Game 1 for Miami. Garrett has a 1.66 ERA in 4 outings since 5/14 (21.2 IP), allowing just 4 runs and a .160 opponent's batting average. First pitch is slated for 6:40 EST.

After exiting April 16-13, the Marlins nosedived in the first week of May, losing each of their first 5 games, being outscored 34-12 in the process. But the Fish would rebound to win 13 of their last 22 May contests, exiting the month 29-27 and tied with the Mets for 2nd place in the NL East. How did we get here? As the title suggests, here's what went well for Miami this past month. Beauty Behind the Madness A quick glance at Braxton Garrett's pitching line for May—5.46 ERA (19 ER in 31.1 IP), 4.91 FIP, and a .813 opponent OPS—would suggest he was just plain bad. However, a vast majority of that damage can be attributed to his start against Atlanta on May 3. In what would be generous to simply refer to as a "disastrous" outing, Garrett set career worsts in hits (14), runs (11), and home runs allowed (4), seeing his season ERA balloon from 2.45 to 5.81. That minus-8 game score of his currently sits 2nd-worst among all MLB starts this season behind only Luis Cessa's 11-run blow-up against Philadelphia on 4/16. In a game where success is largely predicated on dealing with adversity, Garrett rebounded in a big way, pitching to a 2.67 ERA (3.25 FIP) over his final five outings of the month, bringing his season ERA back down to a more respectable 4.22. The former first-round pick added a cutter to his repertoire in his first post-Atlanta-debacle outing in Arizona. He paired that with a much-improved changeup in his May 30 start against San Diego, where he allowed just 2 hits over 5 1/3 innings. The next objective for Garrett: solving his 6th-inning/third-time-through-the-order woes to cement his status as a legitimate mid-rotation MLB starter. Soler Power While the antecedents of a Jorge Soler bounce-back came in the form of an encouraging April (5 HR, .772 OPS), his production increased exponentially the following month, hitting .271/.355/626/.982, clubbing 12 home runs and amassing 67 total bases in the process. At one point, Soler homered in 6 consecutive starts in the outfield. Soler's 12 big flies made him the first Marlin since Giancarlo Stanton in August 2017 to hit at least 10 home runs in a single calendar month. It wasn't just the sheer prolificacy of Soler's home runs, but when most of them happened. He enters June hitting .378/.452/.838 in late & close situations, per Baseball-Reference. His 1.245 OPS in high-leverage situations was more than .400 points higher than what it was in low-leverage events (.833). This may best be illuminated by the walk-off blast he hit off against Washington on May 16. The Life of Bryan For the Monty Python fans that picked up on the reference, consider yourselves people of culture. For those here surmising that this was made in jest to Bryan De La Cruz, you too deserve a tip of the cap. De La Cruz, like Soler, is a streaky player. Case in point, after OPS'ing .862 through his first 19 games of the April, the Marlins left fielder endured a 15-game stretch from April 23-May 10 where he hit .167/.182/.167, seeing his OPS dip to .636. Miami would go 6-9 over that span. Just when the 26-year-old appeared to be a candidate for a possible demotion to AAA, the better side of his streakiness reared its head. De La Cruz slashed .368/.449/.662/1.111, hitting 5 home runs and totaling 25 hits in 18 games from May 12-31. Among hitters with at least 75 plate appearances in that span, his 202 wRC+ was tied with Texas' Josh Jung for fourth in all of baseball, per FanGraphs. Maybe most encouraging aspect of De La Cruz's hot stretch came in the form of increased plate discipline—he drew 10 walks in 78 plate appearances (12.8 BB%), more than double the 6.1% mark he posted in the 207 career games prior. If this is a sign of things to come, De La Cruz could find himself flirting with a potential All-Star bid come the break. As DLC went, so did Miami. The team had a 10-8 record in that stretch to close out the month after starting May at 0-5. A Noble Scott-sman Tanner Scott pitched to 14 innings of a 1.93 ERA and even better 1.43 FIP during the season's second month. Facing 56 hitters, the hard-throwing left-hander struck out 25 of them (44.6 K%). Among the 153 relievers to throw at least 10 innings in May, only Scott's teammate, fellow lefty Steven Okert (44.7) and Baltimore's Félix Bautista (53.7) struck out a higher percentage of hitters. By fWAR, Scott (0.6) was in a four-way tie for second-most valuable reliever in the Majors, trailing yet another Baltimore reliever, Yennier Cano (0.8). Now, after 26 innings of a 3.46 ERA, 3.17 FIP, and 12.8 K/9, Scott is looking more like the reliever that Miami envisioned when Kim Ng acquired him ahead of the 2022 season. Even "Better" Steven(s) When he joined the Marlins on a minor league deal before 2021, Steven Okert had shown himself to be merely an average-or-so MLB reliever, posting an adjusted 98 ERA+ in 48 1/3 career innings with San Francisco. The way that Okert has taken his career to new heights in parts of three seasons with Miami has been nothing short of awe-inspiring. Among the relievers to throw at least 100 innings since 2021, only four—David Robertson, Edwin Díaz, Devin Williams and Okert—have posted an ERA+ above 150 while simultaneously posting a <6 H/9 and >11 K/9. Like his aforementioned counterpart Scott, hitters stood next to no chance against Okert, hitting just .095 and striking out 44.7% of the time in 13 innings. The left-hander struck out at least 1 hitter in 8 consecutive appearances to conclude the month, a streak active at the time of this writing. During the absence of A.J. Puk, Okert has again been a legitimate difference-maker in Miami's bullpen.

Effectively wild Pérez, bullpen, and Fortes do just enough to secure series sweep in Anaheim. As the Miami Marlins entered Sunday's conclusion of their 10-game west coast road trip, they came into the day seeking their first ever series sweep of the junior Los Angeles franchise, the Angels. Working around 4 walks, Eury Pérez, making just his 4th big league start, would set the tone for Miami, authoring 5 scoreless innings that included strikeouts of both Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. Miami's bullpen would follow suit, authoring 4 scoreless of their own to secure a 2-0 win, concluding the road trip at 5-5. "I grew up watching these amazing talents, Trout and Ohtani...but I just had to go out, compete, and enjoy the moment," said Pérez. "He had one big inning. I would've loved to see him go 6, but he did enough today," said manager Skip Schumaker. Miami pitching neutralized Trout and Ohtani to the tune of 5-for-24 with 7 strikeouts in the 3-game sweep. Beyond catching what was the team's third shutout of the season, Nick Fortes opened the scoring in the top of 3rd when he hit his third home run of the season off human homer repellant, Patrick Sandoval. In 55 1/3 innings this season, Sandoval has allowed all of 4 long balls (0.65 HR/9). The Los Angeles left-hander held his own Sunday, limiting Miami to 2 runs, scattering 8 hits and 2 walks. "3-2, he (Sandoval) just hung a changeup, and I took advantage of it," noted Fortes to Bally's Jessica Blaylock. Encouraging signs for the ever-wandering Jean Segura came in the form of an RBI single to plate Miami's second run in the 6th. "He's fighting...the care factor shows because he really cares," said Schumaker. The Halos would threaten in the 9th, though. With JT Chargois looking for his first career save, a Chad Wallach single to begin the inning would be erased on a double play off the bat of Taylor Ward. However, rookie shortstop Zach Neto would work a 3-2 walk to bring up Trout doppelgänger, Hunter Renfroe. Renfroe would proceed to double to the left-center gap, setting up second and third for the aforementioned Trout. Working the count 2-2, Chargois would deliver a perfectly placed 96 mph sinker, running in on the hands of a swinging Trout, who hit it all of 58.5 mph to Luis Arraez for the game's final out. Of Note At just 20 years and 43 days, Eury Peréz becomes the youngest pitcher in Marlins franchise history to throw at least 5 scoreless innings in a single outing. José Fernández had previously been the record-holder when authoring 6 scoreless frames against the Phillies on 4/13/13 at 20 years, 256 days. Though going homerless to snap a stretch of 5 consecutive games with a long ball, Jorge Soler exited play Sunday 67 total bases in the month of May. The franchise record for said month is 83, set by Giancarlo Stanton back in 2017.Fortes became just the 8th catcher in franchise history to collect at least 6 total bases while catching a shutout in the same game. Looking Ahead The Marlins will partake in the Memorial Day festivities as they'll have their first off day since May 15. At 28-26 and holding a 1-game lead for 2nd place in the NL East, the team will resume play Tuesday when they return home to begin a three-game series against the San Diego Padres. Sandy Alcantara (2-5, 4.86 ERA) will make his 11th start of the season while the Friars will fare with Ryan Weathers (1-3, 3.94 ERA). First pitch is slated for 6:40 EST from loanDepot Park. Miami Marlins (2) @ Los Angeles Angels (0), Win Probability Graph, 28 May 2023 | Baseball-Savant