Louis Addeo-Weiss

If the Marlins held on to their 2-1 lead against the Brewers on Sunday, they'd head to St. Louis two games under .500 at 51-53, clinging to a thread at the prospect of adding instead of subtracting at the upcoming July 31 trade deadline. However, a Blake Perkins walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth nudged them closer to being sellers. The 3-2 loss narrowly prevented the Fish from sweeping the Brew Crew for the first time since 2008. "They found a way to push across a couple of runs...but still a lot of great takeaways from this series," noted manager Clayton McCullough. Entering the day riding a four-game winning streak, the Marlins got off to a quick start, with Xavier Edwards drilling a first-pitch, leadoff double against Brandon Woodruff. He was driven in by Kyle Stowers three batters later. On the same mound that new Baseball Hall of Fame inductee CC Sabathia helped pitch the Brewers into the playoffs in 2008, Miami got another effective outing from their ascendant ace, Eury Pérez. Striking out six over five innings of one-run ball to lower his season ERA to just a hair over three, Pérez concluded the month of July with a 1.29 ERA over five starts, the lowest such mark of any pitcher to throw at least 25 innings in a single July in franchise history. Of the 12 whiffs he generated, six came on Pérez's fastball, a pitch that topped out at 99.7 mph on the day. "He has been on a nice run over this past month. The stuff is elite," noted McCullough. The lone bit of damage against Pérez on Sunday came off the bat of another young phenom, Jackson Chourio. His first of two doubles on the day drove in Milwaukee's first run in the fourth to extend his hitting streak to 20 games. As they did so often in this series, though, Miami would immediately strike back, this time courtesy of Heriberto Hernandez, who hit his second home run in as many weeks against the aforementioned Woodruff to give Miami a lead they would hold heading into the bottom of the eighth. Hernandez, despite limited playing time, has made the most of it when out there, sporting a .323/.377/.531/.908 slash line in 106 PA this season. Following scoreless sixth and seventh innings from Valente Bellozo and Anthony Bender, McCullough turned to Ronny Henriquez in the eighth to hold Miami's slim lead. After allowing a leadoff double to Chourio, Henriquez would be helped out by his defense. Shortstop Otto Lopez took advantage of some aggressive baserunning on the part of Chourio, who attempted to advance to third on a Perkins ground ball. Former Marlin and 2018 NL MVP Christian Yelich would proceed to strike out before Andrew Vaughn, a midseason acquisition from the White Sox, doubled home Perkins to tie the game at two. Looking Ahead The Marlins' final series before the trade deadline will commence on Monday when they open up a three-game set against the St. Louis Cardinals. Edward Cabrera (4-4, 3.48 ERA), a hot topic in deadline discussions, will start the opener. Andre Pallante (5-7, 4.91 ERA) will oppose him for St. Louis. First pitch from Busch Stadium is slated for 7:45 EST. View full article

MIAMI—Riding the momentum of a four-game winning streak that propelled them to within five games of .500 and six-and-a-half games out of an NL Wild Card spot, the Marlins turned to Janson Junk on Sunday to set the tone for a potential sweep of the Kansas City Royals. Alas, this did not come to pass. Junk entered the afternoon as the owner of a 0.95 ERA over three July starts. He seemed to be continuing that trend when quieting Kansas City for the first three innings. Then, along came the fourth. Following a leadoff pop-up by Jonathan India, the heart of the Royals lineup tagged Junk for three runs on four hits, three of which went for extra bases. The sequence was punctuated by a two-run double courtesy of Jac Caglianone, the recently graduated top prospect who entered play with a .466 OPS (324th among 325 MLB hitters with at least 140 plate appearances). “They were taking early swings," Junk said postgame when assessing the rally. "I think it was four first-pitch swings—they were attacking. I think it was just a lot of fastballs that just missed too much of the plate”. The Royals weren't done yet, putting up another three-spot on Junk in the top of the fifth in their 7-4 defeat over Miami. With the loss—their first since July 11—the Marlins fell to six games under .500 at 46-52. Generating only three whiffs against 37 swings, the aforementioned Junk allowed 11 hard-hit balls in the loss. Kris Bubic, a first-time All-Star and inarguably the Royals' most valuable pitcher this season, continued his run of dominance, stymying the Marlins' bats over five scoreless innings on just 66 pitches. Bubic ranks third in MLB this season with six outings of at least five innings pitched and no runs allowed. The Royals would tack on another run in the eighth when Salvador Pérez hit his second home run in as many days, tying Bobby Abreu for fifth-most among Venezuelan-born players at 288 in the process. Determined to avoid being shut out for the eighth time here in 2025, the Marlins would not go quietly, putting up a four-spot in the bottom of the ninth in an inning that saw the team bring nine men to the plate. In the comeback effort, Agustín Ramírez took sole possession of first place among rookies with his 21st double of the season. Miami's 44 ninth-inning runs are tied with the Dodgers for the fifth-most in baseball. Pinch-hitter Liam Hicks came to the plate representing the tying run, but flew out to left field. Looking Ahead The Marlins will face another challenge Monday when they open up a three-game series against the playoff-hopeful San Diego Padres. Eury Pérez (3-2, 3.18 ERA) will aim to keep up the momentum of what has been a brilliant start to July, allowing just one run over 18 innings pitched. First pitch from loanDepot park is slated for 6:40 EST. View full article

Kyle Stowers had his doubters when the Baltimore Orioles traded him to Miami some 348 days ago. They were emboldened when he struggled in spring training, jeopardizing his chances of even making the Marlins roster. The 27-year-old has been silencing those doubters throughout the 2025 season and did so with authority on Sunday. Following an hour and 38-minute rain delay, playing against the same Orioles team that believed him to be expendable, Stowers hit three home runs, drove in six, and had a career-high five hits in an 11-1 Marlins victory. Miami will head into the All-Star break at 44-51, third in the NL East. Becoming the fourth player in franchise history with a three-homer game and first since Brian Anderson in September 2020 to do so, Stowers will head to Atlanta with a team-leading 19 home runs and 54 RBI. "Loved the last few days, especially leaving with a winning road trip," noted manager Clayton McCullough. "I was just very locked in and in the moment," said Stowers reflecting on his mindset amidst rounding the bases following his third long ball. Singling in his final two at-bats, Stowers set a new single-game franchise record with 14 total bases. "What a day, and for it to be here, it's a career day, especially right before he heads off to his first All-Star Game...Now, he gets to go to Atlanta, soak it in, and talk to some very special players," noted McCullough. In Miami's season-high 18-hit barrage on Sunday, Otto Lopez tacked on a pair of his own, including his 11th home run of the season in the top of the third. Eury (Quietly) Dominant While Stowers was the story of the afternoon, the Marlins received another brilliant performance on the day from a player they see as a pivotal part of their future, Eury Pérez. The 22-year-old Pérez had never previously exceeded six innings of work in any start of his professional career, yet he held the Orioles to three hits over seven scoreless frames, picking up his third win of the season in the process. He only reached a 2-0 count twice on the day, striking out six. In his three July starts, Pérez owns a microscopic 0.50 ERA. On the injury front, the Marlins placed third baseman Connor Norby on the 10-day IL with left wrist inflammation, while Edward Cabrera received encouraging MRI results on his right elbow and evaded the IL for the time being. Looking Ahead The Marlins will kick off their remaining 67-game schedule on Friday when they welcome the Kansas City Royals (47-50) to Miami. Sandy Alcantara (4-9, 7.22 ERA) would ordinarily be next in line to start, though the All-Star break grants flexibility for the Fish to rearrange their rotation however they see fit. First pitch from loanDepot park is slated for 7:10 EST. View full article

The image that adorns the header of this recap, although unremarkable to those unaware, is that of a man now a stranger on a surface he once dominated. For Sandy Alcantara, 2025 has already been an eventful year—a return from a Tommy John surgery that cost him 2024, the birth of a daughter, and having to drown out the barrage of trade rumors. Despite it all, the competitor in Alcantara would tell you he was fully capable of picking up right where he left off. After starting the season with an ERA well north of eight through 11 starts, Alcantara reeled off a four-start run in June where he appeared to be regaining the form that made him an "ace" in the first place. Alas, the nightmare narrative returned, with earned run totals of seven and five in his next two starts. It continued as such on Wednesday when the former Cy Young Award winner allowed six runs in five innings of work in the Marlins' 7-2 loss to the Reds. Falling to 4-9 on the season, Alcantara's 7.22 ERA is the worst among 76 MLB pitchers to throw at least 90 innings this season. It is also the worst such mark of any pitcher in franchise history with a season of at least 90 innings pitched. Alcantara's night got off to a less-than-ideal start with a three-run, 31-pitch first inning. Upon briefly settling in, retiring seven of the next eight hitters, a leadoff walk to Tyler Stephenson in the bottom of the fourth would quickly come back to bite him. Noelvi Marte sent a sweeping curveball 421-feet into the left field stands of Great American Ball Park to increase the Cincinnati lead to five. "The results aren't matching the work he's putting in, and that's the frustrating part," noted manager Clayton McCullough. Appearing dejected in an exchange with McCullough following his final inning, Alcantara's dour mood carried over into the postgame conference. Expressing discontent with his location, he generated just eight whiffs on 52 swings by Reds hitters (15%). "I need to take time and rest, think about what I was doing bad, and keep competing every fifth day," said Alcantara. The veteran right-hander will have at least eight days of rest before toeing the rubber again post-All-Star break. Marlins Mojo Thwarted Entering the evening winners of seven of their last 10, including taking the first two games in Cincinnati by a 17-3 margin, the Marlins loss Wednesday snapped an 11-game road winning streak. The Reds, who improved to a game over .500 at 47-46, snapped a four-game losing streak. Now, some three weeks away from the trade deadline, the Marlins (43-49) sport a minus-62 run differential. Of teams with such a total through their first 91 games, only one—the 2017 Twins (-65)—managed to make the playoffs. Miami entered the day with a 1.0% percent chance to make the playoffs, per Baseball-Reference. Other than Alcantara's latest wart of an outing, the Marlins offense had to deal with Andrew Abbott. A first-time All-Star this season, Abbott quieted Miami to the tune of one run over 7 ⅔ innings. Only Paul Skenes (1.96) has a lower ERA among qualified NL starting pitchers than Abbott's 2.07. Prior to his start on Wednesday, Abbott owned an 11.88 ERA in two prior starts against Miami, allowing 11 runs in just 8 ⅓ innings of work. Though too little, too late, Miami would break through against Abbott in the eighth a la a Heriberto Hernandez RBI single. Connor Norby's second home run of the month plated Miami's final run in the ninth. Looking Ahead The Marlins will look to resume their winning ways in Thursday's series and season finale versus Cincinnati. Cal Quantrill (3-7, 5.40 ERA) will start for Miami, owner of a career 5.50 ERA in five games against the Reds. Opposing Quantrill, Nick Lodolo (5-6, 3.58 ERA) will make his fifth career start versus Miami, pitching to a 2.82 ERA in his previous four. First pitch from Great American Ball Park is slated for 5:10 EST. View full article

MIAMI—As has seemed to happen time and time again here in 2025, just when you thought Edward Cabrera couldn't get any better than he's already been, he delivers an outing that continues to distinguish himself from the maddening and inconsistent pitcher he used to be. Cabrera did just that on Sunday, authoring seven innings of two-run ball in the Marlins' 3-1 loss to the Brewers. Behind Cabrera, the Miami offense ran into Brandon Woodruff, who allowed one run over six innings of work in his first major league start since 2023. The Marlins fell to 40-48 with the loss and snapped their streak of four consecutive winning series. Cabrera completed seven innings for the fifth time in his career (and second time in as many starts). It was his first-ever seven-inning outing with no walks surrendered, though he did hit a pair of batters. The right-hander lowered his season ERA to 3.33. Among pitchers to throw at least 50 innings since the start of May, Cabrera's 2.11 ERA ranks ninth. "We just continue to see a more refined version of him as a pitcher," noted manager Clayton McCullough. That refinement McCullough referred to has manifested in what appears to be more trust in Cabrera across the entire coaching staff. Entering Sunday's contest, Cabrera's .981 OPS when facing hitters a third time in a contest ranked 105th among 117 pitchers with at least 50 such plate appearances this season. He bucked that trend in this instance as the Brew Crew went a combined 1-for-9 the third time through, including a stretch of eight straight batters retired. The only real damage done against Cabrera came in the top of the third. A Christian Yelich ground ball fielded by third baseman Connor Norby was initially called the third out of the inning, but the play was subsequently overturned upon review. Jackson Chourio capitalized by lasering an inside slider over the left field wall for his fifteenth home run of the season. "That's part of the game," said Cabrera through interpreter Luis Dorante Jr. "If I throw 90 pitches and make one bad pitch, what can you do about it?" Heriberto Hernandez delivered Miami's lone salvo in the loss, hitting a solo home run in the sixth and accounting for the lone pair of hits surrendered by Woodruff on the day. 38m5eq_1.mp4 Looking Ahead Miami will continue their trek through the NL Central on Monday when they open up a four-game set against the Cincinnati Reds. Janson Junk (2-1, 3.62 ERA) will square off against former first-round pick Brady Singer (7-6, 4.36 ERA) in the series opener. First pitch from Great American Ball Park is slated for 7:10 EST. View full article

Since defeating the Braves last Sunday, no team in Major League Baseball has been as successful as the Marlins. Fast-forward a week and the keys to victory remained the same: solid starting pitching and late-inning heroics. Trailing 2-1 in the top of the eighth, Otto Lopez stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and a nine-game hitting streak on the line. The Marlins collectively hadn't recorded a hit with runners in scoring position since way back in the first inning. Lopez understood the assignment, lining a go-ahead two-run single off Jalen Beeks into left field, scoring Dane Myers and Liam Hicks. Kyle Stowers, who struck out against Beeks in a similar situation on Saturday, would tack on one pitch later with a three-run double of his own to extend the Miami lead to four. After Calvin Faucher allowed a pair of runs in the bottom half, Ronny Henriquez worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth to seal the Marlins' seventh consecutive win, a 6-4 triumph over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Now 37-45, the Marlins clinched their first 6-0 road trip in franchise history, and their first seven-game winning streak since April 23-30, 2022. They finished June with a record of 14-12 despite spending most of the month away from Miami. "We're getting contributions everywhere," said manager Clayton McCullough in reference to the recent hot stretch. The aforementioned Lopez has hit .415 over his current career-best 10-game hitting streak. Lake Bachar, who worked two perfect frames on Sunday, pitched to a 0.68 ERA in June. Stowers has collected eight RBI over his last four games, reasserting himself as arguably the club's best all-around hitter. Setting the Tone Cal Quantrill gave the Marlins five strong innings, allowing two runs on three hits and striking out five, which has more or less been the norm for the veteran right-hander this season. Quantrill owns a 3.91 ERA since the beginning of May, allowing three or fewer runs in each of his last 10 starts. Of the few blemishes against Quantrill on Sunday came when Ketel Marte (1.005 OPS) blasted a solo home run in the third to give Arizona the lead. "We needed what we got out of Cal today," noted McCullough. Close Call(s) A minor controversy went against the Marlins in the seventh. Javier Sanoja, after drawing a leadoff walk, was called out on an attempted steal of second. The aforementioned Marte appeared to lift Sanoja's off the bag. The Marlins challenged the play, but the original call stood. Lopez and Heriberto Hernandez—Wednesday's heroes against the Giants—proceed to draw walks before a Kyle Stowers strikeout and Eric Wagaman popout put the breaks on the Miami rally. Tensions nearly boiled over in the top of the ninth. The benches cleared after Jesús Sánchez exchanged some words with catcher Jose Herrera following a swing that appeared to make contact with Herrera's mitt. Looking Ahead The Marlins will head home for a scheduled off day on Monday before opening up the month of July with a three-game set against the Minnesota Twins. Edward Cabrera (2-2, 3.78 ERA) will square off against one of the American League's most formidable arms in Joe Ryan (8-3, 2.86 ERA), the latter making his first career start versus Miami. In his lone start against the Twins back on September 25 last season, Cabrera worked five innings of one-run ball in an eventual 8-3 loss. First pitch from loanDepot park is slated for 6:40 EST. View full article

Entering the bottom of the ninth with a 4-2 lead Wednesday night at Oracle Park, Calvin Faucher quickly lost his month-long scoreless streak and suffered a blown save. He was fortunate to avoid an even worse outcome. Faucher started his outing with a hit-by-pitch, another hit-by-pitch and a walk. Willy Adames plated the third Giants run on a sacrifice fly that missed being a walk-off grand slam by no more than ten feet. Patrick Bailey, the defensive stalwart behind the plate with a career 76 OPS+, followed that up by lacing a single into left field to score the tying run. Jung Hoo Lee, the potential winning run, would be gunned down at the plate by left fielder Kyle Stowers. A 98 mph line drive off the bat of Christian Koss found Connor Norby's glove, sending the game into extra innings. Deflating as it must've been for the Marlins to squander what had been a commendable pitching effort prior to Faucher's appearance, they responded by putting up a four-spot in the top of the 10th. Otto Lopez and Heriberto Hernandez, who delivered clutch, run-scoring hits earlier in the ballgame, xeroxed that with an RBI single and double, respectively. Over his last six games, Lopez has hit .458, raising his season average from .230 to .253. Tyler Phillips shut the door from there to secure an 8-5 victory, the Marlins' fifth straight road win. Rewinding, though, it would be doing a disservice to gloss over the work done by Edward Cabrera. After several seasons of middling results, the 27-year-old has elevated his performance in 2025. Minus a first-inning, leadoff home run off the bat of Mike Yastrzemski and a trio of walks, Cabrera continued a run of excellent pitching that's now seen him allow three or fewer runs in nine consecutive starts. His stuff was particularly sharp against the Giants as he fired 5 ⅓ innings of two-run ball, lowering his season ERA to 3.78 in the process. Cabrera delivered first-pitch strikes to 68 percent of batters faced. Since the start of play on May 4, his 2.36 ERA ranks just below Tarik Skubal (2.35) for 18th-best among 106 pitchers to throw at least 40 innings in that span. Opposite Cabrera was Giants ace Logan Webb. Utilizing a sinker-changeup combination that has seen him become one of the sport's best arms for nearly half a decade now, he held the Marlins to two runs over six innings. In his 17 starts this season, Webb has completed six more innings in 13 of them, allowing no more than three runs in each of those starts. Only Paul Skenes (2.12) has a lower ERA among NL pitchers to throw at least 80 innings thus far this season. The only real bit of damage against Webb came when Otto Lopez hit a go-ahead, two-run double in the fourth. Facing Tyler Rogers, who had gone more than three years without allowing an earned run against Miami, Heriberto Hernandez continued to make his case for more playing time. In the top of the eighth, the rookie outfielder laced a go-ahead two-run single just out of the reach of the shortstop Adames. Through 17 major league games, Hernandez sports a .340/.377/.480 slash line. He's been nearly as productive against righties (.819 OPS) as lefties (.887 OPS). Now 33-45 and winners of three straight, the Marlins hold a 1.5-game lead over the Nationals for fourth place in the NL East. They've won consecutive series for the first time this season and eight of the last 12 games overall. Looking Ahead The Marlins will wrap up their series by the Bay on Thursday when they send Janson Junk (2-0, 2.60 ERA) to the mound to make his second start of the season. In his first start back on June 20, Junk held Atlanta to one run over five innings pitched. Hayden Birdsong (3-1, 3.25 ERA) will make his second appearance against Miami, having previously tossed 5 ⅓ innings of one-run ball on June 1. First pitch from Oracle Park is slated for 3:45 EST. View full article

In his third Marlins start following Tommy John surgery and first start at home since September 20, 2023, Eury Pérez showed shades of his rookie self, accompanied by more of the less-than-savory results that we saw in his first two starts. Pitching into the fifth inning for the first time this season, the 22-year-old allowed three runs and struck out six on a season-high 89 pitches over 4 ⅔ innings of work in the Marlins' 7-0 loss to the Braves on Saturday. The third run charged to Pérez came on an Austin Riley single allowed by Lake Bachar. Bachar has allowed four inherited runners to score in his last six MLB appearances, with a demotion to Triple-A in between. "I thought Eury was terrific today. Very encouraging...All of his pitches had life," noted manager Clayton McCullough. On the day, Pérez generated 13 whiffs, 11 of which came between his fastball and slider. After allowing a first-inning RBI double to Marcell Ozuna, the long and lanky right-hander retired eight of the next nine hitters faced, five of which came via the strikeout. "Of the three thus far, this was by far his best," McCullough later remarked. Through his three outings this season, Pérez has a 6.17 ERA, though a much more favorable-looking 2.99 FIP. Opposite of him was Grant Holmes. A hard-luck loser after striking out 15 Colorado Rockies in his last start on June 15, Holmes didn't bring with him the same swing-and-miss, but was still able to stymie the Miami bats in an effectively wild 5 ⅔ innings of scoreless ball. Walking five on the day, Holmes was the first pitcher to do so while not allowing a run against the Marlins since Rafael Montero—now a teammate of Holmes—back on August 29, 2016. For an ordinarily savvy team with men on base, entering the day with the 10th-best batting average in runners in scoring position (.261), Miami went 1-for-8 in such situations on Saturday. "We weren't able to finish off those innings," noted McCullough. The day wasn't without its share of nice moments, as Josh Simpson made his long-awaited Major League debut. A 32nd-round pick for Miami back in 2019, Simpson began 2024 on the 40-man roster, missing the entire season due to left elbow neuritis. The 27-year-old allowed four runs in two innings of work, three of which came on a ninth-inning home run by rookie standout Drake Baldwin. Now shut out five times this season, the Marlins fall to 15 games under .500 at 30-45. In June, Miami starters are now 2-9 with a 4.41 ERA (compared to a 5.28 mark overall through 75 games played). Looking Ahead The Marlins close out their series versus Atlanta in the rubber match on Sunday. Sandy Alcantara (3-8, 6.88 ERA) will look to keep his season moving in the right direction, pitching to a 2.12 ERA and .190 opponent batting average in June. The former Cy Young Award winner owns a 2.94 ERA in 13 career starts against the Braves. Bryce Elder (2-3, 4.45 ERA) will oppose him for Atlanta. First pitch from loanDepot park is slated for 1:40 EST. View full article

Making his first Major League start in nearly 21 months against the Pirates on Monday, Eury Pérez appeared to be shaking off the rust one would expect a pitcher coming off Tommy John surgery to have. The results—four runs in three innings of work—were largely a product of tough luck. On a Father's Day Sunday, his second outing, some of the accompanying rust remained, albeit with more of that aforementioned luck. Working around three walks and failing to strike out a hitter for the second time in his brief career, Pérez allowed just one run over four innings in the Marlins' 3-1 victory over the Nationals. "It's another game, another learning experience, trying to get better...I was able to compete inning after inning, despite some traffic," said Pérez through an interpreter. Threatening to score with runners on second and third in the fourth, Pérez nearly ran into a case of deja vu from his previous start in Pittsburgh when a weakly hit ground ball from Alex Call came in his direction. Fortunately, the 22-year-old fielded his position to escape the jam and put a lid on his second outing of the year. In relief of Pérez, the Marlins bullpen fired off five scoreless innings to cap off a weekend where they covered 19 of the team's 27 innings pitched, including multiple-inning efforts Sunday from Lake Bachar and Tyler Phillips. One may argue, though, that the biggest surprise of the day was the work of the recently recalled Freddy Tarnok, who worked a scoreless ninth inning in his Marlins debut for his first career save. In 41 ⅓ innings in AAA spread over 12 appearances (10 starts), Tarnok struggled to the tune of a 4.79 ERA, averaging nearly four walks every nine innings pitched. The 26-year-old right-hander had previously seen big league time with Atlanta and Oakland in 2022 and 2023. Bats Do Just Enough Entering the series averaging four runs a game, Miami averaged six in their sweep of Washington over the weekend. Returning the show of good faith the organization has shown him since receiving regular playing time, Sunday saw Dane Myers put together a three-hit day, punctuated by a second-inning home run off MacKenzie Gore. In 44 plate appearances in June, Myers has hit .366 with a .946 OPS. In the weekend set, Myers went 8-for-13, raising his season average to .333 in the process. Gore, the NL leader in strikeouts entering play, put forth another solid effort, allowing just two runs in six innings of work, striking out five. Gore's 2.89 ERA is 18th among pitchers to throw at least 75 innings so far this season. Despite a hitless day Sunday, Eric Wagaman collected Miami's two additional RBIs on the day, upping his total to eight in the month of June. The win sealed Miami's first sweep since taking the final three games of the 2024 season against the Blue Jays from September 27-29, snapping a stretch of 22 consecutive sweepless series. Miami, now 28-41, handed the Nationals their eighth consecutive loss, falling to 30-41, leaving the Marlins just one game out of a tie for fourth place in the NL East. "I thought we played more complete games here, and that's what it takes to win," noted Clayton McCullough. Looking Ahead The Marlins will return home where they'll start a four-game series against the Phillies on Monday. Sandy Alcantara (3-7, 7.14 ERA) will look to keep his season going in the right direction, pitching to a 1.50 ERA over his last two starts. Mick Abel (1-0, 2.35 ERA), the Phillies third-ranked pitching prospect, will make his fourth career Major League start opposite Alcantara. First pitch from loanDepot park is slated for 6:40 EST. View full article

MIAMI, FL—For many a pitcher, outings that go awry tend to do so on one pitch they "wish they had back." For Ryan Weathers, that pitch was an 87 mph changeup to number 9 hitter Luis Matos that caught too much of the plate. A .147 hitter at the outset of Sunday's contest, Matos sent it over the left field wall for a three-run home run, eventually proving the difference in the 4-2 Giants win over the Marlins. Miami falls to 23-34 with the loss, boasting the second-worst run differential in the National League at negative-79. An Achilles heel of the Marlins pitching staff this season, number 9 hitters have combined for a league-leading .312 BA with a .779 OPS against them in 2025. "The changeup hurt me, but the two at-bats prior hurt me," noted Weathers following his first loss of the season. In his six innings of work on Sunday, Weathers still showed flashes of the pitcher he's been since the start of 2024, striking out seven against three walks while allowing four runs. The 25-year-old touched 99 with his fastball, generating 17 whiffs on the day, including nine on the changeup that eventually accounted for the deciding blow. San Francisco opened the scoring against him with a Wilmer Flores groundout to Xavier Edwards, who made his first start at second base since July 21 last season. Fresh off returning from the injured list, Edwards authored the first five-hit game of his career, going a perfect 5-for-5, raising his season average to .282 in the process. "What a great day," said manager Clayton McCullough, reflecting on what he referred to as "the directness" of Edwards' big day at the plate and at his natural position. "Four of the five line drives were stung well through the middle of the field and the other way...Couple double plays there (at second), quick hands...He looked good." "It just reinforces what I already thought about myself...I know what I'm capable of doing," said Edwards. The sour grapes in Edwards' effort is that it marks just the third time in franchise history—and first time since Dee-Strange Gordon back on April 18, 2015—that a Marlin had a five-hit game in a loss. Miami was previously 21-2 in such games. The Marlins had their chances late, though, tacking on a run in the seventh inning before squandering an opportunity to tack on more, then failing to convert on a bases-loaded opportunity the following inning. In the weekend set, Miami went a collective 3-for-24 (.125 BA) with runners in scoring position. Looking Ahead The Marlins will continue their homestand Monday when they welcome the ill-fated Colorado Rockies. Max Meyer (3-4, 4.53 ERA) will toe the slab for Miami as he goes up against Germán Márquez (1-7, 7.13 ERA). First pitch from loanDepot park is slated for 6:40 EST. View full article

If you've watched him pitch in 2025, you don't need me telling you that Sandy Alcantara has been bad. But for those just awakening from their slumber to Marlins baseball, here is a little refresher. Alcantara's 8.47 ERA ranks dead last out of the 103 MLB pitchers to already cross the 50-inning threshold this season, and he's on pace for the second-worst such season in Marlins history. In terms of bWAR, only Boston's Tanner Houck (-1.6) has proven a bigger on-field liability to his club on the mound than Alcantara (-1.5). How can we explain the shocking demise of one of the greatest pitchers in Marlins history at age 29? The low-hanging fruit is Tommy John surgery. Alcantara underwent the procedure shortly after the end of the 2023 season, one in which the Marlins surprised many en route to an 84-win playoff campaign. The two-time All-Star missed all of 2024 as a result. Although he looked sharp in spring training, there has not been a single consistently dominant outing from him since then. Beyond that, there's been a subtle change to Alcantara's pitch selection that may be exacerbating the situation. The pitches in Alcantara's arsenal were distributed relatively evenly when he was at the peak of his powers in 2022. Here in 2025, his four-seam fastball, sinker and changeup are being used a similar proportion of the time, but he has cut the usage of his slider nearly in half, down to 12.8%. He's been featuring his curveball more often instead. Adjusting pitch usage is not inherently a bad thing, but the results suggest another change would be more appropriate. Let's take a closer look at Alcantara's four-seamer. His usage of it compared to 2022 is nearly identical (up from 25.5% to 25.8%). 2022 2025 While never remarked as a strikeout pitcher—boasting a career 7.9 K/9 through 2023—Alcantara generated whiffs on 24.2% of four-seamers thrown in 2022. Here in 2025, hitters are whiffing just 14% of the time. Take a close look at the pitch locations in the above graphics, you will notice that Alcantara previously placed a high percentage of his four-seamers at the very top of the strike zone or just above it. Too close to take and too inconvenient for hitters to reach with their "A-swing." YkRNMDRfVjBZQUhRPT1fVUFOUUIxWUFYd1VBREZSVFhnQUFVZ1JmQUZrQlZnUUFBRllEQVFWVUF3VlNCQWRm.mp4 When opponents did make contact with Alcantara's four-seamers, they would frequently get underneath them, as evidenced by an average launch angle of 25 degrees in 2022. That average has now come down to 17 degrees as he leaves more mistakes in the heart of the zone. More concerningly, the average exit velocity against the pitch has ballooned from 91.1 mph to 96.8 mph. To put that in perspective, Shohei Ohtani's average EV is 96.0 mph. No pitcher's four-seamer (min. 50 PA) has resulted more frequently in hard hits (67.4% of the time). In 69 plate appearances ending on an Alcantara four-seamer, the league is hitting .345 with an Ohtani-esque .638 slugging percentage. Alcantara is releasing the ball from a lower arm angle than ever. Perhaps that is part of this equation because it has changed the shape of his pitches—his four-seamer, for example, is drifting several more inches armside than it used to. As far as a potential solution goes, why not tone down the usage of his four-seamer, using it more as a complement to his superior sinking two-seam fastball? Hitters collectively have a .267 average with a 0-degree launch angle off Sandy's sinker. It is reliably inducing ground balls for him, which ought to yield slightly better results moving forward with news that standout defender Otto Lopez is expected to see a majority of the reps at shortstop. The Marlins' hope of recouping substantial value for Alcantara at this year's trade deadline is rapidly fading. Their focus now should be pulling whatever levers they can to avoid one of the worst-pitched seasons in franchise history. View full article

Cabrera outduels crafty veteran Hendricks, K's 10 to lead Miami to series win in the Big A. If Edward Cabrera's performance over his past three starts was building towards something, that "something" may have been what he did on Sunday in Anaheim. Relying heavily on a sharp-breaking curveball instead of his routinely mid-90s changeup, Cabrera struck out 10 over 5 ⅔ scoreless innings in the Marlins 3-0 win over the Angels to earn his long-awaited first win of the season. Of his 18 whiffs generated on the day, 11 came via the curveball. Cabrera now owns a 2.53 ERA in four starts this May. With the win, the Marlins improve to 7-7 lifetime at Angel Stadium. "It was good as I've ever seen him...He had a good run there where he was getting a bunch of punchouts," noted Clayton McCullough. One of those runs for Cabrera saw the right-hander punch out four consecutive Angel hitters. In 40 innings pitched this season, the 27-year-old has averaged 9.7 strikeouts per 9. Facing Kyle Hendricks, the owner of a career 2.17 ERA in nine starts against them, the Marlins tagged the 2016 World Champion for three runs in his six innings of work. One of those three came via Connor Norby's sixth hit of the weekend set, continuing a month of May that's seen the Marlins third baseman OPS north of .800. Highlighting the 3 ⅓ scoreless frames from the Marlins bullpen was Ronny Henriquez, who worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth to earn his first career save. Henriquez demonstrated his versatility this weekend, picking up the win on Saturday when he entered a 1-0 game in the fourth inning and faced the heart of the Angels lineup. "With the combination of stuff and strike-throwing, he's got the ability to get swing-and-miss, especially with the fastball at the top of the zone," opined McCullough when asked about potentially seeing the diminutive righty in future high-leverage situations. Henriquez's 12.4 K/9 is the best among relievers with at least 25 innings pitched this season. The Marlins find themselves at 21-30 and two games out of fourth place in the NL East entering Memorial Day. They have quietly gone 6-4 over the past 10 games. Looking Ahead The Marlins will continue their tour of the Golden State on Monday when they open up a series against the San Diego Padres. Ryan Weathers (1-0, 1.80 ERA) will look to improve upon his first start against his former club, allowing five runs over 3 ⅓ innings back on 8/21/23. Randy Vásquez (3-4, 3.49 ERA) is projected to oppose him for San Diego. First pitch from Petco Park is slated for 8:40 EST. View full article

Otto Lopez and Liam Hicks homered, while Quantrill became just the second pitcher in Marlins history to author an immaculate inning. MIAMI—The universe had aligned on Sunday for Cal Quantrill to get his 2025 season on track. The veteran right-hander was facing the Tampa Bay Rays, who he has held to a .475 OPS in his previous career matchups. With the return of the sure-handed Otto Lopez, Quantrill rode the momentum to five innings of one-run ball in the Marlins' 5-1 victory. The highlight of the afternoon was what Quantrill did in the top of the fourth when he struck out Jonathan Aranda, Christopher Morel, and Kameron Misner on nine pitches. He joined Jesús Sánchez (9/13/98) as the only other pitchers in franchise history to throw an immaculate inning. "Pretty cool," said Quantrill when reflecting on his fourth-inning performance. "As a guy who doesn't strike out the most people in the world, it's a pretty cool little collectible to put on the wall." Quantrill's modesty was apt. He entered Sunday with the third-lowest K/9 (6.5) among the 78 MLB pitchers to throw at least 175 innings since the start of 2024. "It kind of goes back to Seattle a few starts ago. I think he just made a decision to be more aggressive and be more on the attack," noted manager Clayton McCullough. That "Seattle" start back on April 25 saw Quantrill tagged for four runs, three of which game in his sixth and final inning of work. In the ensuing four starts and 18 innings pitched since then, the seven-year veteran has pitched to a more respectable 4.50 ERA, seeing his ERA fall from 8.10 to 6.37 in the process. Shane Baz, all the while, didn't fare so well, coughing up five runs on nine hits in his six innings of work that included a pair of home runs. After starting the year 3-0 with a 2.45 ERA through April, the former top prospect has fallen victim to a 9.61 ERA in the month of May. Lopez put Miami ahead with a three-run blast in his first game off the injured list. Quantrill's battery mate, Liam Hicks, took him deep three innings later. Lopez's reinstatement coincides with Xavier Edwards being placed on the 10-day IL. The Marlins have grown accustomed to using Lopez regularly at second base, but he could slide over to shortstop occasionally during Edwards' absence, McCullough said. The Marlins bullpen continued their upward trend, throwing four scoreless innings in relief of Quantrill. Despite entering Sunday with a collective 4.69 ERA, the 'pen has fared much better in the month of May, owning a 3.36 ERA in 56 ⅓ innings pitched. With the win, Miami secured their first series victory since April 21-23, when they took two of three from the Cincinnati Reds. The win also marks their first series victory against the Rays since July 20-22, 2018. Looking Ahead Miami's homestand continues Monday against a familiar foe as they'll welcome the Chicago Cubs for the first of a three-game series. Chicago took two of three from Miami this past week. Edward Cabrera (0-1, 5.52 ERA) will make his first start since May 10 when he worked five innings of one-run ball in a 3-1 win over the White Sox. Ben Brown (3-3, 4.75 ERA) will oppose him for the North Siders. First pitch from loanDepot park is slated for 6:40 EST. View full article