Louis Addeo-Weiss

Despite an effectively wild outing from Trevor Rogers, the Marlins falter due to an eventful top of the seventh and the continued dominance of the Cleveland bullpen. "Good times always seem to find a way to beat you." If you have followed sports, you have probably heard this uttered before. In their 6-3 victory over the Marlins Sunday, the Cleveland Guardians reminded us how this sentiment continues to reign true. Though he only allowed 1 run and 2 hits in his 5 innings of work, Miami's Trevor Rogers looked anything but aesthetically pleasing throughout. The left-hander walked four and hit a batter, throwing just 53.4% of his 88 pitches for strikes. "I thought he was good other than the first-pitch strikes. I thought he got back into counts, and got the double plays when he needed to," noted Skip Schumaker. Of the 20 hitters he faced, Rogers threw first-pitch strikes to just seven of them (35%). Beyond the largely absent command, Rogers' only mistake of the day came when Gabriel Arias hit a well-placed, 92 mph sinker into the ivy in right-center field for his second home run of the season. The former All-Star mitigated damage through a pair of double plays he induced at the mercy of José Ramírez and David Fry. Though they hit a pair of home runs in the loss, Marlins hitters continued their struggles against a dominant Cleveland pitching staff. Working 4 ⅔ innings of two-run ball, 15-year veteran Carlos Carrasco opened the afternoon by retiring the first nine hitters he faced before a Jazz Chisholm Jr. solo blast ended the no-no and shutout bid for Carrasco. Miami would take a short-lived 2-1 lead following a Nick Gordon RBI single in the bottom of the fifth. One inning later, though, David Fry would pen a single of his own to even the score at 2-2. Carrasco gave way to a Guardians bullpen that entered play with an MLB-best 2.35 ERA. Miami's bats were again reduced to futility as each of the first 13 hitters were set down by relievers before Jake Burger's solo home run off Emmanuel Clase snapped the streak. In 10 ⅓ innings pitched across the three-game series, Cleveland's bullpen allowed 5 hits and struck out 15. And just as good teams always find a way to win, they too tend to capitalize on their opponent's mistakes. Case in point, in the top of the seventh, following a throwing error by Burger that allowed both Brayan Rocchio and Steven Kwan to take an extra base, center fielder Tyler Freeman hit Cleveland's second home run of the day, a three-run blast against reliever A.J. Puk. With the win, the Guardians improve to 40-22 under first-year manager Steven Vogt. Meanwhile, Miami, now 22-43, has opened the month of June by going 1-6. Of Note - Minimum 85 pitches, Trevor Rogers' 47 strikes Sunday tied him with Ryan Weathers' outing on April 4 for the fewest by a Marlins starter this season. - Jake Burger's ninth-inning home run marked the first allowed by Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase since 9/29/23, snapping a stretch of 30 consecutive outings to begin the season without allowing a home run. - Miami is now 14-14 all-time in regular season matchups versus the Guardians. Looking Ahead Miami will resume play Tuesday when they open up their six-game road trip in New York against the Mets. Jesús Luzardo (2-5, 5.30 ERA) will toe the rubber in the series opener in what is set to be his eighth career start against New York. Opposing him, Tylor Megill (1-2, 3.00 ERA) gets the ball for the Metropolitans. First pitch from Citi Field is slated for 7:10 EST. View full article

Trevor Rogers completes 6 despite early struggles, but bats remain M.I.A. as Fish drop series finale. Not a lot has gone right for Trevor Rogers in 2024. Rogers has shown that he's healthy by making every scheduled start through the first 2-plus months of the season, but he has been mostly ineffective, entering Sunday's outing against the Rangers with a 1-6 record and an ERA approaching 6. Things would not start any better for the former Marlins All-Star, as Texas opened the afternoon with four consecutive singles. Though he only threw 17 pitches in the top of the first, the Rangers still plated 3 runs on their way to a 6-0 victory over the Marlins. In the loss, Rogers recorded a mini-milestone, completing the 6th inning for the first time since 4/14/23, aided largely by a stretch where he retired 11 of the next 13 hitters faced. His season ERA moderately increased from 5.65 to 5.68 in the loss. "After that first inning, he really settled in...I thought he gave us a chance to win, but it's hard to win when you don't score runs," noted Skip Schumaker. "You know that Mike Tyson quote, 'Everyone has a plan until they're punched in the face?' So you have to go to Plan B, and Plan C if Plan B's not working," said Rogers. Cruising in the top of the sixth, Rogers would leave a fastball right over the heart of the plate for Adolis García in what would turn out to be his 13th home run of the season. Notable was the drop-off in Rogers' fastball velocity with the pitch sitting 87-89 mph after topping out at 93.6 in the first. "He's been going at it very hard with his workload since the Oakland series, so there may be some backoff of whatever it is in trying to get his arm strength back to where he wants it...It's very hard to gain velocity when you're pitching every fifth or sixth day", noted Schumaker, echoing the sentiment shared by Rogers of "one of those days where (velocity) just wasn't there." In a homecoming of sorts, opposing starter Andrew Heaney—the Marlins first-round pick in 2012—put forth a 6-inning effort much the antonym to the day had by Rogers. Limiting Miami to just four hits along the way, Heaney dropped his season ERA below 4 for the first time since his first start of the season on April 2. The left-hander struck out 7 and walked none in his first appearance at loanDepot park since 9/21/14, winning his second consecutive start in the process. Heaney would be followed by three scoreless frames from the Texas bullpen, including a goose egg bottom of the eighth from David Robertson, whom Miami acquired from the Mets prior to the 2023 trade deadline. On the day, the Marlins struck out 11 times while failing to draw a single walk. Of Note - Falling to 21-39, the Marlins have now been shut out in consecutive games for the second time here in 2024. - With the loss, the Marlins are now 2-19 in games when facing a left-handed starting pitcher, the worst mark in baseball. - Sunday marked the fourth three-walk game of Marcus Semien's career. The Rangers 2B last did so on 9/21/19. Ironically enough, Semien did so against the Texas Rangers. - Miami recorded their seventh game this season without an extra-base hit. Looking Ahead Miami will resume play Tuesday when they welcome the Tampa Bay Rays to commence a brief, two-game Citrus Series. Jesús Luzardo (2-4, 4.18 ERA) will start the series opener. In 3 career starts against the Rays, Luzardo is 0-2 with a 2.81 ERA. Ryan Pepiot (3-2, 3.88 ERA) will look to continue his early career dominance against Miami (2-0, 1.50 ERA) as he makes his fourth career start against them. First pitch is slated for 6:40 EST from loanDepot park. View full article

With the club's playoff aspirations for 2024 already long gone, the Marlins can get creative in how they market their potential top position-player trade target. When the Miami Marlins swung a deal on trade deadline day 2019 to send then-rookie pitcher Zac Gallen to the Arizona Diamondbacks for their then-top prospect Jazz Chisholm Jr., the hope was that Chisholm would become Miami's shortstop of the future. It hasn't quite panned out that way. We have seen glimpses of excellence from Chisholm since he broke through to the majors in late 2020, but never has he sustained it across a full season. Meanwhile, Gallen is on the short list of Major League Baseball's most valuable pitchers over the last half-decade. This lopsided exchange has not been entirely one-sided, though. Chisholm has produced a respectable 105 OPS+ and 7.1 bWAR in his time with Miami, and it feels as if the eventual breakout is still pending. Even in what was thought to be a breakout campaign in 2022 that saw him make the NL All-Star team, a right lower back strain would ultimately prematurely end his season. He's still only 26 years old. Chisholm's journey has been complicated by position changes. Miguel Rojas steadied the shortstop position for the Fish through 2022, so the talented Bahamian initially became a second baseman (1,308 ⅓ innings between 2020-2022). When the Marlins added Luis Arraez ahead of the 2023 season, Chisholm volunteered to move to center field. That's been his full-time defensive home ever since. Now, there is an opportunity to reconsider. With Miami off to a historically bad 9-25 start, they dealt the aforementioned Arraez to the San Diego Padres on May 4. The Marlins have won games at a decent clip during the ensuing month, but it's still evident that they are not going back to the postseason. Every decision they make should be with an eye on the July 30 trade deadline or the club's roster construction for 2025 and beyond. Chisholm will undoubtedly attract suitors at the deadline. He's been durable for a change while also upping his production against left-handed pitching. Appearing in 58 of the club's first 59 games played, Chisholm has hit .257/.327/.441/.768, good enough for a 115 OPS+. Chisholm's power-speed combination has him in elite company as well. Entering Sunday, he is one of just four players with at least 8 home runs and 11 stolen bases, joining Elly De La Cruz (9 HR/32 SB), Bobby Witt Jr. (9 HR/17 SB) and Shohei Ohtani (14 HR/14 SB), the rest of whom have no chance of being pried from their current employers. Over the last two years, we have experienced a full season's worth of the "Jazz in center field" experiment (153 games/1,279 ⅔ innings). It's been a mixed bag, accruing minus-12 defensive runs saved, including minus-3 DRS in 2024. He made another thrilling catch in CF on Saturday, but it was reminiscent of a similar play in 2023 that resulted in a turf toe injury and extended absence. Could Chisholm increase his trade value with a move to his original shortstop position? In just 37 games there in 2021, Chisholm committed 10 errors and had minus-4 DRS. Worth noting, he has increased his arm strength during the interim. Chisholm has gone from ranking in the 29th percentile at his position to the 61st percentile, per Baseball Savant, though only 3 of his shortstop errors were of the throwing variety. This option is on the table due to the demise of former batting champion Tim Anderson. Signed to a one-year/$5M deal on the heels of a career-worst 61 OPS+ 2023, the TA renaissance that fans and Marlins front-office personnel had hoped for has not materialized. Somehow, he's been even worse in 2024. Among the 217 MLB hitters with at least 150 plate appearances, Anderson's 27 OPS+ ranks dead last thanks in large part to his poor plate discipline (7 BB/46 K) and continued power outage (.214 SLG). After posting the lowest DRS total among shortstops in 2023 at minus-16, Anderson is trending in familiarly poor territory this season at minus-3 in his 43 games there. Even if the Fish don't want to sever ties with Anderson just yet, he is clearly no longer suited for an everyday role. Doing whatever's best for Chisholm should take priority. Also consider that there need not be a binary choice between center field and the middle infield. Earlier in his career, Ketel Marte demonstrated the versatility to alternate from one to the other. Comparable to Chisholm, Marte posted a .712 OPS in his first four seasons before a 149 OPS+/6.9 bWAR 2019 launched him to a fourth-place NL MVP finish. He achieved this while seeing extensive time at center field (89 GS) and second base (45 GS), as well as parts of 11 games at shortstop. When the Arizona Diamondbacks bottomed out in 2021 with a 52-110 record, Marte was thought to be one of the most desirable trade targets in the sport for obvious reasons. Instead of flipping him for prospects, the D-backs built around him, inking the then-28-year-old to a five-year/$76M extension. Just two seasons later, he was crucial to their improbable run to the National League pennant. Although Chisholm is primarily auditioning for the rest of the league, he's also trying to show the Marlins' new Peter Bendix-led front office what he's capable of. If his skill set is rare enough, they may prefer to invest in him through his prime years rather than rebuild without him. View full article

Braxton Garrett put forth another solid effort, but the bats do the heavy lifting in Miami's 20th victory of the season. Looking to avoid being swept since dropping all three of their contests against the Dodgers from May 6-8, the Marlins entered Wednesday's series finale versus the Padres with a deck largely in their favor. Opposing starter Yu Darvish entered the afternoon the owner of a 5.59 ERA over seven starts against Miami. Meanwhile, Braxton Garrett entered on the heels of his first career shutout against Arizona on May 24. It only felt like a matter of time, too, for the Marlins bats to break out of a slump that had seen them score just nine runs over their previous five games. To the delight of Marlins fans, each of these narratives were ever-present at Petco Park Wednesday afternoon. Darvish lasted just three innings in what would prove to be a tie with his April 8 outing against the Chicago Cubs for his shortest start of the season. Darvish allowed three runs (two earned) and six hits in his latest effort. Capitalizing on Darvish's tendency to be slow to the plate, Miami stole a pair of bases off the 13-year veteran. Since the start of 2020, Darvish's 58 stolen bases allowed are the fifth most in the Majors. As for Garrett, though he failed to replicate the ruthless efficiency at which he attacked the Diamondbacks' hitters in his previous start, the finesse-throwing left-hander still stymied the Padres to the tune of five innings of one-run, six-hit ball in the Marlins 9-1 victory to avoid the sweep. Miami concludes their six-game West Coast road trip 3-3. "Probably not as sharp as he wanted to be, but every time he pitches, we have a really good chance to win," noted Skip Schumaker. Miami improves to 4-0 in games started by Garrett this season, and 25-9 since the start of 2023. "Not sharp, but we battled hard, and Nick made some great calls to get me through it," said Garrett postgame. In the victory, Miami's 20th of the season, the club accumulated a season-best 16 hits, including multi-hit games from seven of the nine starters. The win also marked the first time since August 8-14, 2023 that Garrett had won consecutive outings. After going scoreless in the 1st, Miami plated a pair, the first of which coming on an RBI double courtesy of Nick Fortes. Jazz Chisholm Jr. would follow with the first of two run-scoring hits from him on the day. The Marlins centerfielder would lace his third triple of the season in the 7th to score Otto Lopez. Since the start of play on May 5, Chisholm has hit .311/.361/.556/.916. 1.mp4 San Diego's most valiant threat of the day came when Garrett surrendered a Ha-Seong Kim leadoff home run in the 3rd to cut the deficit to two. Garrett would, however, pitch around this and the two ensuing singles surrendered, getting some help from Josh Bell via a diving play to save a potential pair of runs in the process. Right fielder Jesús Sánchez pitched into the run-scoring barrage in the 6th when he hit his third home run of the season, and first since April 24. Of Note - Through eight career starts against Miami, Yu Darvish's 5.83 ERA is the second-highest against any MLB opponent he's faced, trailing only the San Francisco Giants (5.89). - Wednesday marked Nick Gordon's first career multi-hit, multi-stolen base game of his career. - Miami's Wednesday win also saw Josh Bell collect his 52nd career 3-hit game. It also marked the second time in his career that Bell had 3 hits in consecutive games, last doing so 7/15-7/16/22. Looking Ahead With no game slated for Thursday, Miami will fly home to commence an eight-game homestand starting with a three-game set against the defending World Champion Texas Rangers on Friday. Sixto Sánchez (0-3, 6.25 ERA) will make his first career appearance against Texas in the series opener when he squares off against former Marlin José Ureña (1-4, 3.53 ERA). In parts of 6 seasons with Miami, Ureña posted a 32-46 win-loss record and 4.60 ERA in 597 innings pitched. First pitch from loanDepot park is slated for 7:10 EST. View full article

The curious case of Sixto Sánchez continues to frustrate Fish. Even the notion of "every dog has its day" applies to the worst teams in baseball. For the Marlins, the season-best four-game winning streak they carried into Sunday felt to be their day, so to speak. Trailing 4-3 with two outs in the top of the ninth, Anthony Bender—the owner of seven consecutive scoreless appearances entering play—had Miami well-positioned to threaten a second late-game comeback in as many days. Brandon Nimmo had different plans in mind. On a 1-1 changeup from Bender, Nimmo took the ball on a 395-foot trip over the right field wall of loanDepot park for a two-run home run that added crucial insurance for the Mets. Post-Nimmo blast, the wheels would completely fall off for Bender and the Fish, as next batter Starling Marte would be hit on the next pitch. Tyrone Taylor and Brett Baty would immediately follow him with singles of their own, with the latter plating the Mets' seventh run of the day in their 7-3 victory to salvage the final game of their three-game set versus Miami. Snapping their four-game winning streak, the Marlins fall to 15-33 on the season. Their collective 5.00 ERA is tied with the 2018 club for the second-worst mark through 48 games to begin a season in franchise history, trailing only the 1998 club (5.37). To their misfortune, though, the Marlins had spent all game playing from behind thanks to another rough outing courtesy of Sixto Sánchez. Though he would overcome adversity via a 40-pitch, 4-run top of the first that saw New York's entire starting lineup come to the plate and give the Marlins 4 innings, overall takeaways from his latest outing were largely anything but positive. "That's unacceptable in the first inning," noted manager Skip Schumaker. "We had a heart-to-heart underneath....but he's put us in a hole early at this level. He's not giving his teammates a chance to win." Accompanying Sánchez in his first-inning struggles was the apparent lack of velocity, with his fastball sitting 87-92 mph before returning to its more familiar 94-96 territory as the inning and outing went on. For the day, all four of the right-hander's pitches were clocked below their season averages. "I've seen what everyone is seeing. He gets in trouble in the first inning, and after that, he pitches like Pedro Martinez," noted Sánchez's catcher Christian Bethancourt. Miami would claw back early, though, thanks to Dane Myers, whose first home run of the season and just the second of his career cut the deficit to two. This would be all the damage allowed by Sean Manaea, who worked 5 innings of two-run ball in the New York win. Bethancourt would get to Jake Diekman in the bottom of the seventh for his first career Marlins home run. Since starting the season 1-for-33, Bethancourt has hit .304/.333/.522/.855 in the month of May. Ahead of Bender's ninth-inning meltdown, Miami's bullpen had worked 3 ⅓ scoreless frames, accompanying the 3 scoreless innings thrown by Sánchez between the second and the fourth. Of Note - Sixto Sánchez now owns a 19.80 ERA in the first inning this season, the highest such mark among pitchers to make a minimum of five starts. - After a 2-for-4 day in the loss Sunday, Otto Lopez is now hitting .314/.375/.571/.946 in May. Looking Ahead Miami continues their homestand Monday as they'll host the Milwaukee Brewers in the first of a three-game series. Ryan Weathers (2-4, 3.81), fresh off a career outing where he threw 8 scoreless innings against the Tigers on May 14, starts game one for Miami. First pitch from loanDepot park is slated for 6:40 EST. View full article

Ryan Weathers pitched the game of his life, but it took the Miami bats 10 innings to break through and take Game 2 in the Motor City. The last time a Marlins pitcher had a potential date with history involving the Detroit Tigers, the performance was accompanied by a feeble offense. On the final day of the 2013 season, September 29, a 100-loss Marlins team rang in the offseason by celebrating Henderson Álvarez as he no-hit Detroit in a 1-0 Marlins win. Miami's lone run would come in the bottom of the ninth when an errant slider from reliever Luke Putkonen got away from then-Tigers catcher (and now-Marlins analyst) Alex Avila to allow Giancarlo Stanton to score the winning run, securing Álvarez's career crowning achievement. On Tuesday, 3,880 days later, another Marlins hurler—Ryan Weathers—found himself in an eerily similar predicament. Utilizing a pitch-to-contact approach, Weathers breezed early, needing just 56 pitches to complete the first 5 innings in what would see him go 15 up-15 down. Though a Wenceel Pérez single in the bottom of the sixth would end his bid at perfection, Weathers still found a way to make his own history, not only recording an out in the seventh inning for the first time in his career but finishing the seventh. And then, an encore; he started and completed the 8th. In his 8 shutout innings, Weathers would strike out 4 against just 3 hits allowed. Coming two pitches short of his career-high 99 (5/3/23 v. OAK), the left-hander also walked no one. "It felt good to be in the zone, and the defense played great behind me," noted a smiling Weathers. "He did amazing," manager Skip Schumaker said. "Best start of his career...He wants to prove so badly that he's a Major League quality starter." That defense played perfectly into Weathers' aggressive approach Tuesday, fielding all 13 of the groundballs he induced. Weathers, who now owns the longest start by a Miami pitcher this season, has completed 6 or more innings four times this season. Unfortunately, for his and Marlins' sake, and just as Justin Verlander did that day in 2013, Reese Olson made it every bit the pitcher's duel, authoring 8 scoreless frames of his own, not walking a batter, and punching out 6. Despite being 0-4 on the season, Olson now owns a 2.08 ERA in 8 starts. Handing the ball of Tanner Scott in the bottom of the ninth, the left-hander pitched around a single and a walk to hold Detroit scoreless. Over his last 10 appearances dating back to April 16, Scott has not allowed an earned run, seeing his ERA dip from 4.15 to 2.15 over that stretch. Though not the sexiest of run-scoring plays, Miami would finally break through in the top of the 10th when a Jesús Sánchez force-out brought home inherited runner Bryan De La Cruz. Making his second appearance in as many days and since returning from the injured list, A.J. Puk, resuming his role as a member of the Marlins bullpen, would retire the Tigers in order to secure the 1-0 Marlins victory. Puk netted his first save since July 8, 2023, in the process. Of Note - With his 8 scoreless innings Tuesday, Ryan Weathers became the first Marlins' pitcher to do so since Sandy Alcantara on 8/1/2023. Alcantara owns 10 of the last 12 occurrences by Marlins starters dating back to 2019. - Full-circle family history: Weathers' father and longtime big leaguer, David, completed 8 innings 3 different times in his career. His first time doing so came as a member of the then-Florida Marlins against the San Diego Padres on 9/6/93. Like his son, Weathers allowed just 3 hits in his 8 scoreless frames. Ryan would make his big league debut with San Diego during the 2020 postseason. Looking Ahead The Marlins return to Comerica Wednesday as they'll look to secure their first road series victory this season. Trevor Rogers (0-6, 6.57) will look to avoid making it 10 consecutive winless starts as he squares off against Casey Mize (1-1. 3.58 ERA). First pitch is slated for 1:10 EST. View full article

Braxton Garrett shows sign of old self in return, Marlins get to Wheeler before walking it off in the 10th. Mother's Day at loanDepot park would mark the season debut for Braxton Garrett. Though, without context, his final line—5.1 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 8 K—would suggest an unremarkable return to action, Garrett's effort proved a boon for the Marlins in their eventual 7-6, walk-off victory over the Phillies. With the win, Miami improved to 11-31 on the season, snapping a six-game skid in the process. Facing Nick Castellanos and having already allowed the Phillies' No. 2 and No. 3 hitters to reach in the top of the first, Garrett threw a hanging curveball—a pitch the league hit .515 on in 2023—perfectly catered to Castellanos' long swing, as the longtime right fielder drilled a three-run home run into AutoNation Alley. "I would rather have not thrown it," said Garrett referencing the curveball thrown to Castellanos. "If I throw it with more aggression, he probably swings over it." Getting out to an early 3-0 lead is nice, but doing so when your starting pitcher, Zack Wheeler, has historically held the Marlins in check—his 2.48 ERA being the lowest of any pitcher with a minimum of 120 innings pitched against Miami—only makes that early cushion evermore sweeter. Miami would have none of it, though, as Jesús Sánchez's second-inning, RBI double would prove a sign of things to come against the Phillies ace. Soon resembling the Braxton Garrett who posted a 120 ERA+ between 2022 and 2023, the former first-round pick would retire each of the next eight hitters following the Bryson Stott single that proceeded the Castellanos homer. In the bottom of the third and with Josh Bell at the plate, himself a terrific performer against Wheeler (1.009 OPS in 33 PA), the Marlins would get a three-run blast of their own when Bell went dead-center for his fifth home run of the season. As we would soon be reminded, though, nothing comes easy for the 2024 Marlins. Entering the top of the sixth with the prospect of a quality start still in reach, Garrett would exit after allowing a Bryce Harper single and four-pitch walk to the aforementioned Stott, leaving Andrew Nardi responsible to keep the lead at 3. Unfortunately, the crux of Nardi in 2024 has been his inability to strand runners, as evidenced by 11 of the 15 inherited runners scoring to this point. In a span of just 8 pitches, Nardi would up that total to 13 as an Edmundo Sosa triple and Brandon Marsh sacrifice fly evened the score at 6-6. "I know what the line was, but he (Garrett) pitched a lot better than it suggested," noted Skip Schumaker. Miami and Philadelphia's bullpen would trade zeroes between the seventh and ninth, highlighted by a pair of scoreless innings from Tanner Scott in the eighth and ninth. In the bottom of the 10th, Emmanuel Rivera would deliver the final blow, a pinch-hit, walk-off single in what was Miami's first walk-off from a pinch-hitter since 2018. Of Note - In drawing his 115 career BB against the Marlins, Bryce Harper moved into sole possession of second-place all-time in walks drawn against Miami. Only Chipper Jones (148) drew more. - Sunday marked the eighth time in Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s career where he has reached base safely at least 4 times. - Tim Anderson was out of the lineup a second consecutive day due to lingering back tightness. Looking Ahead Miami will resume play Monday when they open up a three-game series against the Tigers. Sixto Sánchez (0-1, 7.50 ERA) will make his first career appearance against Detroit as he squares off against Matt Manning (0-1. 4.24 ERA) in the series opener. First pitch from Comerica Park is slated for 6:40 EST. View full article

Two solo home runs proved to be merely blips over Yoshinobu Yamamoto's 8 innings, as Cabrera again struggles to find the strike zone in loss. After the Marlins' first taste of the 2024 superteam Dodgers resulted in a four-home run barrage in Monday's 6-3 defeat, Jazz Chisholm Jr. only needed one pitch to get the ball rolling for Miami. Facing Yoshinobu Yamamoto—the Dodgers' $325M arm—newly anointed leadoff man Chisholm vaulted the opening salvo 96 mph fastball 404 feet over the right-center wall to give the Marlins an early 1-0 lead. Despite an offense polling near or at the bottom of most offensive categories, Miami's 32 first-inning runs rank tied for third-highest in the big leagues. But oh, how misleading can a game's early going be. For these Marlins, no lead is ever safe, even more so when depending on Edward Cabrera to protect that lead against a Dodger team 12-2 in its previous 14 games. As inundated are we with the 95 mph changeups that best many pitchers' fastballs, too are we with Cabrera's clinical lack of command of the strike zone, and on Tuesday, we were present to more of the same. After loading the bases via a sequence of walk-hit-by-pitch-walk, Max Muncy—the owner of a three-homer game on May 4—took one of the few Cabrera offerings to grace strike zone over the left field wall for his sixth career grand slam. Following a two-walk bottom of the second, manager Skip Schumaker had seen enough from his right-hander, Cabrera's final line indicative of a pitcher seemingly still unable to harness his raw stuff: 2 IP, 1 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 1 K Though a sound decision to remove a pitcher whose strike zone mirrored that of a chemically altered-Doc Ellis, the recently recalled George Soriano would not fare much better. Allowing a hit-by-pitch, double, and walk before Andy Pages plated the fifth L.A. run on a sacrifice fly, an errant throw from catcher Christian Bethancourt rolled down the third base line, allowing Muncy to score from second. Three pitches later, Gavin Lux would conclude the eventual plate appearance with his first home run of the season, the Dodgers now holding an 8-1 stranglehold over Miami. While Bryan De La Cruz would tag him for his team-leading seventh home run of the season with a solo shot in the 6th, the aforementioned Yamamoto further proved exceptional, striking out 5 over 8 innings of 2-run ball in the Dodgers 8-2 win. Excluding his 1-inning, 5-run drumming he suffered in his big league debut against the Padres in Seoul back on March 22, Yamamoto owns a 1.76 ERA In 41 innings since coming stateside. With the loss, the Marlins fall to 10-28, their worst 38-game start to a season in franchise history. Miami are currently playing at a 42-win pace, a mark that would be the second-fewest for a full-length MLB season since the start of the expansion era in 1961, trailing only the 1962 New York Mets, who won just 40 games in their inaugural season. Of Note - Unenviable record: Tuesday marked Edward Cabrera's fourth career start with at least 4 walks and 1 or fewer hits allowed, the most of any pitcher in franchise history. - With the loss, Miami falls to 99-124 all-time against the Dodgers. Since the start of the 2021 season, the Marlins are 8-14 against L.A. - Yamamoto becomes the fourth pitcher this season with a start of at least 8 innings pitched and 0 walks allowed against the Marlins. The feat was only accomplished four times between 2022-2023. Looking Ahead Miami will conclude their west coast road trip Wednesday when they close out their series against the Dodgers at 3:10 EST. Ryan Weathers (2-3, 4.54 ERA)—the owner of a career 4.66 ERA in 5 games against L.A.—squares off against Gavin Stone (2-1, 4.06 ERA) in the series finale. The Marlins will have Thursday off as they travel home to commence a brief 3-game, weekend homestand against the Philadelphia Phillies. View full article

A day after having a 20-spot hung on them, Miami give the A's their comeuppance, as the bats break out for 12 runs to salvage their final game in Oakland. To say the Marlins had a wild weekend would be a criminal understatement. Inside of ten minutes before first pitch of the club's three-game series against the Athletics on Friday, news broke that Luis Arraez—the reigning NL batting champion—was being traded to the San Diego Padres for a package of four players. Saturday's slated 4:07 EST start was delayed some three-and-a-half hours due to rare California rains. When play finally commenced just shy of 5 p.m. on the West Coast, the A's laid waste to Miami pitching to the tune of 20 runs on the strength of 6 home runs, highlighted by a 10-run third inning. Less than 24 hours after soon-to-be-former-Oakland A's put up double-digits in the R-column, the Marlins returned to the Coliseum for the fourteenth and final time hoping to exit with a regained sense of confidence. On Sunday, however, in the words of Bally's play-by-play voice Paul Severino, "what a difference a day makes," as it would be the Miami bats laying waste to opposing pitching in their 12-3 victory, their first in the post-Luis Arraez era. "We stayed back last night, watched some film, and just decided to go out there and have fun," said protagonist Nick Gordon. "We got our butt kicked last night," noted Skip Schumaker. "Up-and-down the order it was really good today, especially against the right-handers...taking our walks and staying in the strike zone." Miami's .650 OPS against right-handed pitching ranks 25th through play Sunday. Facing rookie Joe Boyle—owner of the second-worst BB/9 (6.8) among the 121 pitchers to throw at least 25 innings entering play Sunday—the Marlins fed off the power righties suspect command, drawing back-to-back-to-back walks to open the festivities. Leadoff hitter Jazz Chisholm Jr. continued the early Miami momentum, stealing second and third base. After a Jesús Sánchez forceout put Miami on the board, the aforementioned-Gordon's fourth home run of the year, a two-out, three-run blast to deep right-center, made it a 4-0 Marlins affair. Gordon would finish the day 4-for-4, falling just a triple shy of the second cycle in club history (Arraez, 4/11/23). Boyle would last just the one inning before being relieved by Mitch Spence. Though not throwing with the increased fastball velocity he showed in his previous 2 starts, Sixto Sánchez limited the Oakland lineup to a pair of runs over his 4 innings of work, walking 3 and punching out 2. Should Miami continue to run him out there, the hope is he can limit the traffic, as opposing offenses are hitting .366 (15-for-41) against him in his 3 starts this season. In relief of Sánchez, the Marlins bullpen, after coughing up 13 runs the night before, worked 5 innings of 1-run ball. Leading 8-3 in the top of the ninth, the Marlins touched up longtime reliever T.J. McFarland for a 4-spot—their second-such inning of the day—to increase their lead to 9. In the victory, Miami saw contributions from Christian Bethancourt, who collected a pair of hits and an RBI after beginning his Marlins tenure 1-for-38. Recently recalled and former A's draft pick Jonah Bride pitched in with a pair of RBI against his former club. Of Note - With his first-inning home run, Nick Gordon surpassed his brother and former Marlin Dee with career home run number 19. - Miami improves to 6-1 in games following ones in which they've allowed at least 20 runs. - Sunday saw the Major League debut of Eli Villalobos, who worked a scoreless bottom of the ninth, striking out Abraham Toro to secure his first career strikeout and win for Miami. Looking Ahead Miami will continue this west coast road trip on Monday when they head south to Chavez Ravine to begin a series against the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers. Roddery Muñoz (1-0, 2.45 ERA) will look to keep the good times rolling in what will be his third career start. Monday's series opener will mark the return of Walker Buehler (115 G, 3.02 ERA) in what will be his first appearance since June 10, 2022 after undergoing both Tommy John and flexor tendon surgeries. First pitch from Dodger Stadium is slated for 10:10 EST. View full article

Even after holding a 7-0 lead through the first third of the game, Miami finds yet another way to lose. Hall of Fame manager Casey Stengel was once asked his thoughts on leading the expansion New York Mets in their existence's infancy. Stengel, responding in his now-famous Stengelese, quipped, ""I've been in this game a hundred years, but I see new ways to lose I never knew existed before." Fast forward some sixty-odd years, and you know the site: Sunday. LoanDepot Park. Patrick Corbin has been the consensus worst pitcher in the baseball going on half-a-decade now, and Miami capitalized on the fallen ace's ineptitude. An early Jazz Chisholm Jr. grand slam puts the Marlins out in front early. Dane Myers, recently recalled with the news of Avisaíl García being placed on the 10-day IL, wasted no time pitching into Miami's first-inning outburst, walloping a triple in his first plate appearance of the season. Ultimately, the Fish tagged Corbin for 6 runs in that opening frame. Miami ought to have held on to see the win through, right? Marlins left-hander Ryan Weathers made quick of Washington in the top half of the first, retiring the side on 9 pitches, striking out 2. Weathers entered the afternoon on the heels of a 2.70 ERA over his last three starts. But a misleading honeymoon phase it would be, as Weathers' command would quickly regress to its early-season norms. Though managing to hold the Nats scoreless in the second, he was forced to throw 29 pitches in the inning, including a 12-pitch plate appearance for Alex Call that ended in a walk. In the top of the fourth and with Miami now holding a commanding 7-0 lead, Weathers allowed five of the first six hitters to reach base safely. CJ Abrams' two-run double cut the then-7-1 deficit down to four before Nick Senzel's fourth home run of the season made it a 7-5 ballgame. The prevailing thought no longer centered on whether Weathers would complete 5 innings to qualify for the win, but on whether the Marlins could simply hold on to win this game. 05261b13-9d2b5fd9-9d28cc2d-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4 Fans here at LoanDepot would not have to wait long for that prophecy to reveal itself. One inning later, Senzel, again at the plate with men on, launched a three-run homer into the AutoNation Alley in left field. What was once a 7-0 Marlins lead that was shaping up to be a feel-good Sunday win had done a complete 180, now a 9-7 Nationals lead. Washington would add another run in the sixth in the eventual 12-9 victory. "I'm the manager who has to figure this out, and all of the blame is on me," noted manager Skip Schumaker. "It's frustrating," said Chisholm. "You have a good game, and you give it away, finding new ways to lose. I feel like we've been doing that a lot." Chisholm's intuition was correct, as the Marlins have an MLB-worst eight losses in games in which they led after the fifth inning. Hypotheticals aside, having those eight additional wins and sitting 14-15 would make for an entirely different conversation surrounding the club's fortunes. With the loss and the White Sox's 4-2 win over the Rays, at 6-23, the Marlins now own the worst record in baseball. Miami has been outscored 161-102 through the first 29 games played (negative-59 run differential). Weathers, whose season ERA ballooned from 3.16 to 4.55, finished the day with 6 runs allowed (all earned) over 4-plus innings, walking three and hitting three batters. In his first 6 starts to begin 2024, Weathers has walked at least 3 batters in 4 of those outings. Miami would make it interesting, nonetheless. With his club trailing 10-7 in the bottom of the seventh and having already struck out 3 times on the day, Tim Anderson poked a double down the right-field line to score Chisholm, who added two walks to his aforementioned grand slam. The owner of a career 7.2 percent walk rate entering 2024, Chisholm has shown a better understanding of the strike zone early, walking in 14.7 percent of his plate appearances. Run number 9 would follow two batters later courtesy of a pinch-hit RBI single off the bat of Jesús Sánchez before the Nationals tagged Bryan Hoeing for a pair of runs in the top of the eighth. Looking Ahead Miami will close out this current four-game set against Washington on Monday. Trevor Rogers (0-3, 4.10 ERA) will look to continue his run as a quality innings-eater as he starts for the Fish, having completed 5 innings in each of his first 5 starts to begin 2024. Opposing him, Jake Irvin (1-2, 4.55 ERA) will make his fourth career start against Miami. In three prior starts against the Marlins, Irvin owns a 2.81 ERA across 16 innings pitched. First pitch from LoanDepot Park is slated for 6:40 EST. Of Note - With his first-inning grand slam Sunday, Jazz Chisholm Jr. joined Hanley Ramirez and Giancarlo Stanton in a three-way tie for second in franchise history with 5 grand slams. Only Jeff Conine (6) has hit more. - Sunday saw Weathers become the first Marlins pitcher to hit 3 batters in a game since Pablo López back on 7/3/22, also against Washington. - Weathers now finds himself in a seven-way tie for most starts this season of 3 or more walks, authoring his fourth such game this season. View full article

Making his first start in nearly 4 years, Sixto Sánchez flashed brief glimpses of his old self, jitters, and expected rust, as Marlins rally late but falter in extras. 1,309. That is how many days elapsed between MLB starts made by Sixto Sánchez (or 1,294 if you succumb to pedantic behavior and count his postseason start in Game 3 of the 2020 NLDS). However you have been keeping score, the team Sánchez went up against in that final regular season start, playoff start and on Wednesday night remained a constant: the Atlanta Braves. Expectations were not particularly high for Sánchez in this challenging matchup. He entered with a 6.14 ERA this season and as many walks as strikeouts. Even with that in mind, his first inning as a starter in a presidential term was deeply uncomfortable to observe. The sequence of events: - Ronald Acuña Jr. 4-pitch walk - Acuña steals second - Michael Harris II singles, Acuña to third - Acuña scores on balk by Sánchez - Austin Riley called out on strikes - Matt Olson hit by pitch in a 1-2 count - Marcell Ozuna singles, Harris scores The aforementioned balk by Sánchez proved another microcosm into what has been a historically terrible start for the Marlins. Noticeably flustered, Sánchez motioned as if he were throwing to second in an attempt to pickoff Acuña. The only problem: Acuña was already on third base. "The game sped up on him," noted manager Skip Schumaker. "The next few innings, though, I thought he looked his best in the third inning." And while Sánchez was relatively ineffective—being charged with 3 runs and 5 hits over his 2 ⅔ innings pitched—impressive was the quality of his stuff. Averaging 94.1 mph on his fastball over his first 7 games pitched, Sánchez's four-seamer averaged 96.5 and he eclipsed 97 four times, including twice in that noted third inning. A minor controversy ensued when a Matt Olson ball hit to right fielder Jesús Sánchez skipped past him to the wall, allowing Olson to reach second and was ruled a double. Olson would eventually come around to score the third and final run tagged to the former Sánchez. The latter Sánchez redeemed himself with a home run off Reynaldo López in the top of the second that put Miami on the board and snapped a 21-inning scoreless streak dating back to the eighth inning of Sunday's 6-3 win over the Cubs. For Atlanta's and López's sake, that would be all the Marlins would write against him, as he continued his early-season dissection of the league, allowing just 3 hits and scattering 2 walks over 7 innings. His 0.72 ERA through 4 starts leads all qualified major league starters. The Marlins bullpen in relief of Sánchez did their part, working 5 ⅓ scoreless frames as the Braves took a 3-1 lead into the top of the ninth. Facing Raisel Iglesias—a perfect 7-for-7 in save opportunities to begin 2024—the trio of Luis Arraez, Bryan De La Cruz, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled in consecutive order before a rare error at the hands of the 2-time Gold Glove first baseman Olson on a Josh Bell ground ball led to two runs, tying the score at 3-3. As has been the case more often than not, the Marlins would not wind up on the right side of the scorebook. Unable to capitalize any further, Schumaker managed to coax another scoreless inning out of Calvin Faucher, still sporting a perfect 0.00 ERA through 5 appearances and 7 ⅔ innings pitched. Miami would threaten in the top of the 10th after an Emmanuel Rivera groundout advanced inherited runner Nick Gordon to third. However, newly reinstated Christian Bethancourt—now 0-for-26 to begin his Marlins career—grounded to third baseman Austin Riley, whose accurate throw home nabbed the prospective go-ahead run in Gordon. On the night, Miami went 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position, and their .670 OPS this season in said situations ranks 19th in the majors. The Marlins would again turn to Tanner Scott in an attempt to thwart defeat at the hands of the Braves. Before thoughts of Miami avoiding a sweep could further crystalize in the minds of fans and viewers alike, Michael Harris II capped off a 3-for-3 day with a single to score Acuña to seal the Atlanta victory. The Marlins fell to 6-20 on the season. With the loss, Miami ties the 1995 and 1999 clubs for the worst 26-game start in franchise history. Looking Ahead In what will make for a much-needed off day Thursday, the Marlins will travel home as they prepare to begin a four-game series against the Washington Nationals. Jesús Luzardo (0-2, 6.58 ERA), fresh off his first quality start of the season on 4/20 against the Cubs, will look to continue getting his season on track as he starts Friday's series opener. First pitch from loanDepot park is slated for 7:10 EST. Of Note - With his 10th-inning single, Luis Arraez registered his 24th game since the start of 2023 of at least 3 hits, tied with the Dodgers Freddie Freeman for most in baseball over that stretch. - The Marlins' minus-47 run differential through 26 games ranks third-worst in the majors. Only the Rockies (-57) and the White Sox (-82) have been outscored more than Miami. - Manager Skip Schumaker noted that upon his return and as Braxton Garrett works his way back from his own injury, A.J. Puk (shoulder) will revert to pitching out of the bullpen. In 4 starts this season, the left-hander owns a 9.22 ERA. View full article

Edward Cabrera worked around some command issues and bad luck, but Marlins bats had his back as the Fish secured the win and series split. In his season debut against the Giants on April 15, Edward Cabrera looked as good as he ever had in his brief big league career, striking out 10 over 6 innings of 1-run ball. The Marlins' second trip aboard the E-Cab in 2024, though coming with a bit more turbulence, proved effective enough with how the Miami hitters responded in their 6-3 victory over the Cubs. While the wind further confirmed the city of Chicago's reputation in the series' first three games, Sunday brought with it a "sun game" where fly ball after fly ball was accompanied by outfielders shielding their eyes from the blaring sun. Featuring his mix of low-90s changeups, high-90s fastballs, and the at times suspect command we have become accustomed to, Cabrera worked in the most literal sense of the word, allowing 3 runs and scattering 7 hits and 3 walks over 5 innings. Through two starts and 11 innings pitched this season, Cabrera has punched out 17 hitters. Cabrera's most laborious inning, a 2-run bottom of the fourth, featured a string of weak hits off the bats of Cubs hitters that saw the right-hander at 85 pitches at the inning's end. Fortunately, a breezy, 11-pitch fifth inning put him in line for his eventual first win of the season. "Old Cabby would have given up 6 or 7 runs," said manager Skip Schumaker. "It just shows the maturity in him, and that's the guy we're looking for...He's got real stuff, and that's something we've needed in our rotation." Good fortunes awaited Miami, though, as the bullpen followed Cabrera with 4 scoreless innings, as the tandem of Bryan Hoeing, Andrew Nardi, Calvin Faucher, and Tanner Scott each authored a goose egg frame of their own in the victory. Most encouraging of the bunch was the 1-2-3 ninth inning put forth by Scott, who has now worked 3 consecutive scoreless outings a week after allowing a game-winning home run to Marcell Ozuna. After both teams posted zeroes in their respective halves of the first, Miami broke open the scoring when Jesús Sánchez—still without an extra-base hit through his first 50 plate appearances to begin the season—in the words of TV play-by-play man Paul Severino, got every last bit of an 88-mph Kyle Hendricks fastball, depositing it 460 feet over the center field fence. As a whole, Sunday against Hendricks proved a reckoning for a Miami club historically offensively oppressed by the crafty right-hander. In 7 career starts entering play, Hendricks owned a 1.28 ERA and .524 opponent OPS against the Marlins. Sánchez and his teammates would have none of it, touching up the former ERA-champ for 4 runs over his 4 innings. Akin to the Marlins on Sunday, the league has largely had its way with Hendricks, hitting a collective .378 against him through his first 5 starts. Tied at one apiece heading into the fourth, back-to-back singles from Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Josh Bell would materialize into two of Miami's three runs that inning, the first of which coming on the aforementioned Sánchez's second run-scoring hit of the day, a single to drive in Chisholm. Though the 3-run fourth would prove sufficient enough for the Marlins bullpen, Miami would tack on runs 5 and 6 in the fifth and seventh, the final coming on Chisholm's second hit of the day and fifth of the weekend series. Of Note - Edward Cabrera becomes the first Marlins pitcher Sandy Alcantara (2021) and just the sixth in franchise history to strike out at least 17 in his first 2 starts of the season. - The 113.6 mph tracked on Sánchez's home run made it the hardest-hit ball by a Marlins hitter early in 2024. - Calvin Faucher's 8 strikeouts make him the first Marlins reliever to accomplish this feat through his first 4 outings with the club since Huascar Brazoban (7/24-8/2/22). Looking Ahead From the Midwest to the Deep South, the Marlins will continue their slate of road games when they travel to Cobb County to begin a three-game series against their division rival Atlanta Braves. Ryan Weathers (2-1, 2.70 ERA) will look to keep with his effective ways—having allowed just 1 run over his last 11 innings pitched over his past two starts—as he starts Monday's series opener. Bryce Elder (12-4, 3.81 ERA in 2023) makes his season debut for Atlanta on the opener. First pitch from Truist Park is slated for 7:20 EST. View full article