Louis Addeo-Weiss

Xavier Edwards' cycle serves as the main storyline from Sunday's Marlins game, the team's last before the MLB trade deadline arrives. In the aftermath of trades that shipped Luis Arraez and Jazz Chisholm Jr. elsewhere, Xavier Edwards has an opportunity to cement his place as a building block of the Miami Marlins' future. He took another step toward doing so during Sunday's getaway contest versus the Milwaukee Brewers. The speedy shortstop legged out a ninth-inning ground ball to his positional counterpart, Willy Adames, to complete the second cycle in franchise history in Miami's 6-2 loss. Arraez broke the Marlins' 30-year cycle-less streak against Philadelphia on April 11 last season. Edwards now joins him in that ultra-exclusive club. Acknowledging his lack of raw power, Edwards said postgame that it's the first time he has ever cycled during his baseball career at any level of competition. "It's pretty awesome," noted Skip Schumaker, who was Arraez's skipper in 2023 and working for the Padres when the club drafted Edwards with the 38th pick in the 2018 draft. "To be a part of one again is something I'll always remember." How it Happened Starting things off in not-so-Edwards fashion, the slap-hitting, Coconut Creek native took the first pitch he saw from Milwaukee's Tobias Myers over the right field wall for his first career home run. Following a third-inning walk, Edwards, batting in the top of the fifth and now facing reliever Jakob Junis, checked the double off his list. Two innings later, the rookie would add another first to his résumé, this time a leadoff triple that would shortly turn into the Marlins' second run of the day in the top of the seventh. His final adversary was Milwaukee closer Devin Williams, making his long-awaited season debut. The infield single also secured the first four-hit game of Edwards' major league career. "It means a lot. I don't think it has set in yet...I had been thinking about that for the past two innings or so," said Edwards, who was seen running sprints in the dugout ahead of that final plate appearance. Pitching Hurts Fish Following a nine-hit outing in his last start against Baltimore on July 23, the wheels seemed to further fall off for Kyle Tyler. Though he matched a season-high with five strikeouts, Jake Bauers' eighth home run of the season in the bottom of the first would give Milwaukee a lead they would never relinquish. Failing to cross the five-inning mark for a second consecutive outing, Tyler allowed seven hits and four runs in his four innings of work. Things would not get easier for Miami. In the bottom of the fifth, recently recalled Emmanuel Ramirez, would allow a Jackson Chourio home run and Bauers triple on successive pitches. Ramirez would ultimately settle down to pitch three innings. Now, 39-67, Miami are currently on pace for 59 wins. Of Note - Ahead of authoring the second cycle in franchise history, Xavier Edwards became the first player in Marlins history to hit a home run, triple, double, and draw a walk in the same game. - All seven Miami hits came from the top three spots of the lineup, with everybody else combining to go 0-for-21 against Brewers pitching. - Recently claimed Forrest Wall made his team debut Sunday, striking out on three pitches in the top of the ninth. Looking Ahead While the schedule defines it as such, Monday has the potential to be anything but an "off day" for the Marlins with the looming trade deadline. When Miami resumes play, all eyes will be on Tanner Scott, Josh Bell and which other familiar faces are absent. The Marlins play visitors to the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday in the latest edition of the Citrus Series. Edward Cabrera (1-3, 7.04 ERA) will look to get the walks under control as he starts the series opener. Jeffrey Springs will return to the big leagues following Tommy John surgery, which cost him most of 2023 and the majority of 2024. First pitch from Tropicana Field is slated for 6:50 EST. View full article

Jazz and Burger homer while four Marlins relievers silence Mets offense. Trevor Rogers failed to make it through five innings while his batterymate, Nick Fortes, made three errors. Fortunately, Jazz Chisholm Jr. had another case of the Sunday's while the bullpen in relief of Rogers held down the fort as the Miami Marlins took the third game of their series against the Mets, 4-2. Strong, Sealed, Delivered While only lasting just 4 ⅔ innings in the victory, starter Rogers—pitching on six days of rest—continued his run as the Marlins' most consistent starter. He allowed just two runs (one earned), striking out five. Crossing the 20-start threshold for the third time in his career, Rogers became the first Miami starter to cross the 100-inning mark this season. "I was really happy with how my stuff felt," noted Rogers, who sat 89-92 mph with his fastball. "Trevor was good. I thought could have gone deeper in the game, but we didn't play clean baseball behind him. His last 10 or 11 outings have been outstanding," said manager Skip Schumaker. In his last 10 outings dating back to May 27, Rogers has a 3.31 ERA. Power and the 'Pen Following the Mets touching Rogers for the game's first run in the top of the fourth, back-to-back hits from Xavier Edwards and Vidal Bruján put rookie Christian Scott in danger. Jazz Chisholm Jr. followed with his 13th home run of the season (and fifth on a Sunday) to give Miami a 3-1 lead. Combining the two career starts he has made in Miami, Scott has allowed 14 hits and seven runs across eight innings. Clinging to a one-run lead in the seventh, Jake Burger, author of a home run in Friday's 6-4 victory, provided Miami some much-needed insurance with a solo blast. Now up to 12 home runs on the season, Burger has rebounded to the tune of a .296/.356/.611 slash line with five home runs in 54 July plate appearances. In relief of Rogers, the bullpen tandem of Declan Cronin, A.J. Puk, Calvin Faucher and Tanner Scott combined to throw 4 ⅓ scoreless innings of three-hit, nine-strikeout ball to help preserve the Miami win. Picking up right where he left off before earning his first All-Star selection, Scott has pitched 2 ⅓ perfect frames, lowering his season ERA to a minuscule 1.27. Miami's closer last allowed an earned run on June 13. Of Note - Vidal Bruján collected his second three-hit game of the season Sunday, having previously done so against Oakland on May 3. - Wrong side of history: Nick Fortes became the first Marlins catcher to record three errors in the same game. - Reliever no-no: Following a 1-2-3 top of the ninth, Tanner Scott completed a "hidden no-hitter," as Miami's closer has now recorded 28 consecutive outs dating back to June 25 without allowing a hit. The league is hitting a collective .128 against the All-Star reliever in 2024. Looking Ahead Miami and New York conclude this four-game wrap-around series on Monday. Yonny Chirinos (0-1, 5.76 ERA) will look to bounce back from his last outing where he allowed 7 runs over 5 ⅔ innings against the Reds on July 12. The Mets will counter with David Peterson (4-0, 3.09 ERA). In eight career games (seven starts) against the Marlins, Peterson owns a 2.70 ERA. First pitch from loanDepot park is slated for 6:40 EST. View full article

Marlins escape Cincinnati with a win, thanks to Edwards' late-inning heroics. The Marlins' 3-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday felt like a throwback across eras of club history. Jazz Chisholm Jr. started his first game at second base in more than two years, Xavier Edwards bore a resemblance to the premier slap-hitters of Marlins past, and Trevor Rogers looked like the guy who was an All-Star in 2021. Though his 58-game score wasn't his best statistically pitched game of the season—allowing 2 hits and 2 runs over 5 ⅔ innings—an outing of this quality heading into the All-Star break after an otherwise disastrous first-half for him and the Marlins could prove the reset needed to Rogers finishing the season strong. Working around 3 walks, Rogers held a Reds team that had hit an MLB-best 28 home runs in July hitless through the first 5 innings. The 2021 NL Rookie of the Year runner-up would not allow a hit until two outs in the bottom of the sixth when a dead-center fastball to that year's winner, second baseman Jonathan India, turned into a double. One pitch later, Elly De La Cruz amended a baserunning error made in the 4th when the next pitch from Rogers found its way into the right field seats to tie the score 2-2. "My pitchability today has probably been the best it's been all year," said Rogers. Eschewing the pitching need for speed, Rogers relied more on spotting the fastball, not throwing any pitch above 92.7 mph. "He spotted his fastball up, his slider was good, his changeup was good...He did enough for us to keep us in the game," manager Skip Schumaker said. Recent Call-Ups Deliver Prior to De La Cruz's sixth-inning heroics, utility infielder Jonah Bride gave the Marlins their first two runs of the day with a single in the top of the fifth. Bride, recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville on July 4, has collected hits in each of his last three games dating back to July 10. Most encouraging, though, Xavier Edwards, Miami's everyday shortstop for the time being, continued to assert his case as a big league-caliber hitter, collecting a pair of hits, one of which included a go-ahead RBI single in the top of the eighth. Since being recalled from Triple-A on July 2, Edwards has hit .378. All-Star Finish Closer and lone Miami All-Star Tanner Scott struck out a pair of Reds to lower his season ERA to 1.34. This was the fifth time this season that he has recorded four-plus outs in an appearance. Among the 68 relievers to throw at least 40 innings this season, none have a lower opponent's batting average than Scott's .134. Of Note - OF Dane Myers suffered a fractured left ankle after Saturday's 10-6 loss. Schumaker noted he will "miss a lot of time." Myers told the media postgame that he took a swipe at the clubhouse door out of frustration after being ejected on a checked swing. - With his scoreless inning pitched Sunday, A.J. Puk continues a string of 10 consecutive outings without allowing a run. In 12 outings dating back to June 17, Puk has surrendered just one earned run, lowering his season ERA from 6.91 to 4.73. Looking Ahead As with the rest of the sport, the Marlins will enjoy some time off during the MLB All-Star festivities in Arlington. There are 66 regular season games remaining after the break. Miami will resume play on Friday, July 19, when they host the New York Mets at loanDepot park. Schumaker declined to note the Marlins starter out of the break. First pitch is slated for for 7:10 EST. View full article

Hoeing far less effective in second start as Miami drops an all-around sloppy Game 2 in Houston. If there were ever a pitcher to best expose the offensive shortcomings of the Miami Marlins, Framber Valdez may have been born to play that part. Entering the night with the most double plays (20) among big league hurlers in 2024, Miami and their MLB-high 50.3% groundball rate played the George Martin to Framber's double-play Beatles, as the sinkerballer induced three twin killings over his 7 innings en route to his eighth victory of the season in the Astros' 9-1 win over the Marlins. The two-time All-Star tied a season-high with 10 strikeouts in his latest effort. Miami's lone run came on an Xavier Edwards single in the top of the fifth. Entering Wednesday as the worst offensive team in the Majors according to wRC+ (77), the Marlins are averaging just 3.1 runs per game to begin July. Now 32-60, Miami ties their season-worst as they fall to 28 games under .500. It's the first time in franchise history that they've suffered 60 losses before the All-Star break. Houston, on the other hand, moved to 48-44. Hang with 'Em, Hoeing In his second start of the season, swingman Bryan Hoeing lasted just three innings, surrendering five runs, including four in the bottom of the second that saw rookie Joey Loperfido rip his second career home run. Of his 62 pitches thrown, Hoeing generated just one whiff, notable considering his four-seam and sinker were a tick under their season-average velocities. "I thought his stuff was good...we just didn't always play clean defense behind him," noted Skip Schumaker. Though Hoeing was responsible for the only Miami error on the evening, Houston picked up a run in the second when center fielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. misjudged a Jake Meyers fly ball that allowed Jon Singleton to score. Largely absent Wednesday was Hoeing's split-changeup, a pitch he featured 13% of the time in his prior appearances this season. In his latest outing, the 27-year-old threw just three such pitches. Of Note - Though otherwise ineffective, surrendering 4 runs, Declan Cronin became the second Marlin to strike out 5 in a single relief outing. Huascar Brazoban previously accomplished the feat on July 6. - Emmanuel Rivera made his fourth appearance on the mound this season, authoring a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth. Primarily a third baseman, Rivera has gone scoreless in each of his last three outings. - Jazz update: Some three weeks ahead of the July 30 trade deadline, Chisholm went 0-for-3 in Wednesday's loss. Miami's center fielder is now hitting .256 with 11 home runs through 89 games played. Looking Ahead In place of commonly seen getaway day games, Miami and Houston will conclude their series with a nighttime contest. Roddery Muñoz (1-3, 5.48 ERA) will make his ninth start of the season in the finale. Jake Bloss (0-0, 4.91 ERA) will oppose him in what will be just his second Major League appearance. First pitch from Minute Maid Park is slated for 8:10 EST. View full article

Trailing into the bottom of the ninth, Jake Burger's walk-off, three-run homer gives Miami series win over White Sox. In a game that commenced with the return of Edward Cabrera as the prevailing storyline, Jake Burger made it so that this was not the case when all was said and done. The Marlins were an out away from giving the Chicago White Sox—a team whose current incarnation is in the conversation for the moniker of "worst team of all-time"—their first road series win of the season. Instead, Burger would put the finishing touches on a comeback that took root in the bottom of the seventh. Facing the hard-throwing Michael Kopech and a 4-3 deficit, second baseman Vidal Bruján led off the ninth by drawing his second walk of the day. Catcher Nick Fortes then laid down a sacrifice bunt that would see Bruján execute a high-baseball IQ move, taking third base upon noticing no one was covering. With the count sitting 3-2, Josh Bell hit a fly ball initially thought to be caught by left fielder Tommy Pham, except it found its way through the 11-year veteran's glove and onto the warning track dirt, tying the score at 4-4. Two batters later, after Kopech had intentionally walked Jesús Sánchez, Burger got the hit that sealed Miami's 7-4 win over Chicago. He squared up a 99 mph fastball from Kopech, sending it 110.3 mph off the bat and 431 feet into AutoNation Alley in left-center for a walk-off, three-run home run. UVd4bzFfWGw0TUFRPT1fQkFsUlhBZFNWQVlBQzFNS1Z3QUFBUThBQUFNQ0JsZ0FWd0ZYVmd0UkJGSlZBUWRY.mp4 "Pretty special," said manager Skip Schumaker. "He was frustrated with his previous at-bats, maybe trying too hard against his former team." Entering that ninth inning at-bat, Burger had been just 1-for-10 during the series. Less than a year ago, Burger was dealt at the deadline by the organization that had drafted and developed him in exchange for pitching prospect Jake Eder. Burger told Fish On First how appreciative he was that the Sox stood by him through two Achilles injuries. Kopech is one of many former Burger teammates that remain with Chicago. So is Gavin Sheets, who was drafted the round after Burger in 2017. The two came up the minors together. “We got called up about six days apart," Sheets said. "We just went through it all together: seeing the good, the bad, the ins and outs.” Burger built bonds with White Sox players that are still going strong. He said he "felt the adrenaline coming to the field" this weekend. But in the heat of competition, he put those feelings aside to defeat them. The Marlins improve to 32-58 for the season and 2-4 in July with their victory. Cabrera's Return to the Hill In what was his first appearance since May 7, Edward Cabrera showed signs of his former self, topping out at 98 mph with his fastball and striking out 4 while generating 14 swings-and-misses. "I thought he was okay," Schumaker said. Though he only walked one in 3 ⅔ innings of work, Cabrera registered just a 41.1% first-pitch strike rate on the afternoon. "He hung a few sliders...The homer was a slider, the Jazz play was on a slider." The homer in question came in the top of the fourth when light-hitting Danny Mendick laced a mistake pitch over the left-field wall for his third home run of the season, ultimately ending Cabrera's day. Miami starters have now gone nine consecutive games dating back to June 28 without completing 6 innings. Cabrera ought to have the flexibility to go well beyond 82 pitches when he makes his next scheduled start. Of Note - Sunday marked the eighth time this season that the Marlins collectively struck out four or fewer times. Miami is now 6-2 in those games. - Jake Burger's walk-off home run was the fifth walk-off hit of his career and second in 2024. - Tanner Scott was announced as the Marlins lone All-Star representative in 2024. The left-hander earned the nod after a sterling 1.42 ERA in the season's first half. Looking Ahead The Marlins are en route to Houston to begin a series against the Houston Astros. Trevor Rogers (1-9. 4.91 ERA) will look to avoid joining the recently DFA'd Dakota Hudson in the double-digit loss club. If Hurricane Beryl permits, first pitch from Minute Maid Park Tuesday is slated for 8:10 EST. View full article

Kyle Tyler, Nick Gordon and Jesús Sánchez help lead Miami to Sunday's rubber match win. You would think a disastrous weekend for a sports franchise is one accompanied by plenty of losing. In the Marlins' case, their misfortune largely transpired off the field. On Saturday, it was announced that Jesús Luzardo would be held out due to a lingering back injury. Accompanying the Luzardo news was that Braxton Garrett, scheduled to start Sunday's series finale, would also miss his next outing due to elbow discomfort. Skepticism would turn to pessimism when the club announced both would be headed to the injured list. It's a huge blow to a club that could have benefited from trading the likes of Luzardo (60-day) and Garrett (15-day) at the deadline, or perhaps felt more confident in them as long-term contributors had they gotten the reps to rebound from mediocre first halves of the 2024 campaign. And yet, in the absence of Garrett, the Marlins still found themselves on the right side of the win column, beating Seattle 6-4 to secure their second consecutive series win. Seattle starter Bryce Miller allowed all six of Miami's runs in his four innings of work, tying his outing against Texas on April 24 for his shortest of the season. In night-and-day fashion, the Seattle bullpen tossed four scoreless frames, allowing just three base runners. Threatening with the bases loaded in the top of the ninth with Miami closer Tanner Scott in for the fourth time in five days, the left-hander sealed Miami's 27th victory of the season when a 96.6 mph line drive off the bat of Julio Rodríguez found its way into the netting of second baseman Otto Lopez's glove. Tyler Steps Up In place of Garrett, the recently recalled Kyle Tyler put forth a strong effort in his first career Major League start. Though not pitching long enough to qualify for the win, Tyler limited the AL Central-leading Mariners to two runs over 4 innings of work. "I was definitely nervous to start, but once I got to the bullpen and once the game got going, I was able to go out there and pitch the way I know how," said Tyler. Tyler largely worked around traffic a la three walks and a hit-by-pitch, though one of those walks—a fourth-inning issuance to Dominic Canzone—would come back to bite him when Luke Raley capitalized on a mislocated cutter to hit his ninth home run of the season. "Besides the three walks and hit by pitch, I thought he was really good" noted Skip Schumaker. Though still using the cutter as his primary offering (46%), Tucker found success with his curveball, with two of the four swings-and-misses he got coming on the breaker. Replacement Parts Make Good Playing center field in place of Jazz Chisholm Jr.—who was relegated to designated hitter duties on Sunday—Nick Gordon pitched in early with a three-run home run in the bottom of the first. Vidal Bruján, manning shortstop on what was a scheduled day off for Tim Anderson, reached base twice during his three trips to the plate. Believe in the Bop While hitting just .230 through his first 18 games in June, Jesús Sánchez has managed to slug .459 in those 61 plate appearances. His seventh home run of the season plated the Marlins sixth run of the game in the bottom of the third. While one look at Sánchez's surface-level numbers would lead one to cast off the Marlins' right fielder, his increased power output could be seen as a sign of the bad luck that accompanies his batted ball profile beginning to sort itself out. Of Note - Of his 7 this season, 5 of Nick Gordon's home runs have come on Sundays. He has a 1.183 OPS on this day of the week. - In addition to the news of Jesús Luzardo and Braxton Garrett being placed on the injured list, Miami also announced they had optioned the recently recalled Shaun Anderson to Triple-A. The start of Anderson's tenure with his hometown club has been less than ideal, as the Coral Springs native has allowed 17 hits and 13 runs in his 5 ⅓ innings over his two starts since being acquired from Texas on May 30. Looking Ahead Miami's run of play against competitive teams will continue Monday when they open up the week in Kansas City to face the Royals. Roddery Muñoz (1-2, 5.76 ERA) will make his first career appearance against Kansas City in the series opener. AL Cy Young contender Cole Ragans (4-5, 3.13 ERA) will oppose him. First pitch from Kauffman Stadium is slated for 8:10 EST. View full article

Luzardo guts through back stiffness to pitch five solid innings, but Marlins bats remain absent as Nationals secure sweep, concluding a 1-5 road trip for Miami. What do you get when your team scores all of two runs throughout a three-game series? Unless that team pitches like the 1907 Cubs, the answer is usually "swept." The Marlins and their feeble offense would succumb to the norm after the Nationals completed the series sweep with their 3-1 victory on Father's Day. Miami is now 0-7 against the Nationals in 2024 and falls to a season-worst 25 games under .500 at 23-48. Washington, on the other hand, improves to one game under .500 at 35-36. Upon the conclusion of Sunday's game, the Marlins saw themselves tied with the White Sox for the worst OPS in the sport (.630). Miami also joined the White Sox for a first-place tie with their twentieth game of one or fewer runs scored. Miami is now 2-18 in such games this season. "It's not a lack of effort, lack of preparation," said manager Skip Schumaker. "Just a lack of execution right now, but we'll keep going." That lack of execution can be seen in the club's efforts with runners in scoring position, as Miami went just 2-for-17 in those situations over the weekend. One of those hits proved a rare bright spot for Miami when Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s fifth-inning single plated the team's only run of the day. Parker Punches A day after DJ Herz authored a career-best 13 strikeouts, Nationals rookie Mitchell Parker—making his second career start against the Marlins—held Miami to just one run over 6 innings. In 12 starts this season, Parker owns a 3.06 ERA, including a 2.31 mark in four June starts. In 10 innings pitched against Miami, Parker has allowed just two runs. Parker's gem proved the latest in what was a dream weekend for Nationals starting pitching, as the trio of MacKenzie Gore and the aforementioned Herz and Parker combined to allow just two runs and strike out 27 over 19 innings pitched. Luzardo Puts Forth Solid Effort Despite waking up with what Schumaker referred to as "a stiff back," Jesús Luzardo gave the Marlins 5 innings of two-run ball. "I just feel it is our job to go out there. It is frustrating not having my best stuff, but somewhat content in being able to keep my team in it," noted Luzardo. Averaging a career-low 92.1 mph on his fastball, Luzardo worked around five hits and three walks, needing just 77 pitches to get through his 5 innings of work. Washington broke through early, though, when Lane Thomas opened the scoring in the first with his fourth career home run against the Miami left-hander. After Miami tied the game in the top of the fifth, Jacob Young, who robbed Otto Lopez of a hit in the top half, put Washington ahead for good with his first career home run. Despite the strong effort, Luzardo's season ERA sits at 5.00 through 12 starts. Of Note - Washington's 0.67 ERA is tied for their lowest against the Marlins over a three-game series since 9/4-9/6/17. - Lane Thomas' 1.581 OPS against Luzardo is the highest such mark among the 55 hitters with at least 10 career plate appearances against the Marlins lefty. Looking Ahead Returning to Miami in the midst of a five-game losing streak, the Marlins will welcome the playoff-hopeful St. Louis Cardinals for a three-game series beginning Monday. Sonny Gray (8-4, 3.01 ERA) will take the ball for St. Louis in the series opener, while Braxton Garrett (2-2, 6.10 ERA) opposes him. Garrett will look to right the ship on what has been both a rough start to the season and against these Cardinals, noted in a 6.14 ERA over three starts against the Redbirds. First pitch from loanDepot park is slated for 6:40 EST. View full article

Sloppy flashing of the leather from Miami, home run derby from the Mets, and shaky Brax lead to Game 2 loss for Marlins. After allowing 11 runs over his first two starts of the season, Braxton Garrett settled in to allow just one over his next two outings and 14 innings pitched. Then came his first June outing, one that saw him surrender five in just 2 ⅔ innings of work on June 5. The left-hander's 2024 campaign continues to be a mixed bag. While the defense failed to do him any favors, Garrett's latest effort proved more of the same in the Marlins' 10-4 loss to the Mets. The Marlins, now 23-44, have a minus-102 run differential, third-worst in MLB. Though he would venture further than his previous outing—recording two outs in the bottom of the fifth—the final line still proved another disappointing day at the office for a guy who proved Miami's most consistent arm a season ago (4.2 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 4 K, 2 HR). "He pitched better than what I think his line shows," said Skip Schumaker, largely eluding to what was an overall poor aesthetic performance from the club's defense. "I felt crappy about it either way," noted Garrett. Of note was the presence of Garrett's curveball a pitch that historically fared poorly for the left-hander in his parts of five seasons. Featuring the pitch just 3.2-percent of the time in his first five outings, Wednesday saw Garrett's curveball account for 10.1-percent (9) of his 89 pitches on the evening. New York would break out early against Garrett when Harrison Bader's fourth home run of the season in the bottom of the first landed in the left-center field seats. Now with an ERA of 15.00 in the first inning this season, Garrett has been scored upon immediately in four of his six starts to begin 2024. The Marlins would respond quickly, though, plating a pair of runs off fellow southpaw David Peterson (5 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 K) to tie the score at 2-2 in the top of the second. Unfortunately, Miami's fortunes would only grow bleak from thereon out. Following a Tyrone Taylor leadoff single—the first of four hits for New York's left fielder—an error at the hands of third baseman Emmanuel Rivera exacerbated the jam. Taylor would be chased home by a Francisco Alvarez single before Garrett uncorked a wild pitch that gave Mark Vientos and Alvarez an extra 90 feet. Otto Lopez's second error of the season on a ground ball through his legs allowed Vientos to trot home in what ultimately wound up being a three-run second for the Metropolitans. Garrett would settle into a short-lived groove that saw him hold New York scoreless in the third and fourth innings, with Miami cutting the deficit to 5-4 following run-scoring hits from Bryan De La Cruz and Jazz Chisholm Jr. before former teammate Starling Marte put the cap on Braxton Garrett's night with his first home run in a month of June that has seen him hit .435 with an 1.176 OPS. Francisco Lindor, New York's franchise shortstop, would kick off a two-run bottom of the eighth with his 14th career home run against the Fish. Lindor now owns a career .278/.358/.513/.871 line in 262 PA against Miami. Marte would plate New York's 10th and final run with a single to center. Of Note - Wednesday marked the long-awaited return of JT Chargois, who authored 1 ⅓ scoreless innings in his season debut. Chargois posted a 3.61 ERA in 46 games for Miami in 2023. - Braxton Garrett's first-inning ERA of 15.00 ranks second-highest among the 158 pitchers to make at least six starts this season, trailing only Sixto Sánchez (16.71). Looking Ahead Miami will wrap up their stay in the Big Apple Thursday night as they look to secure their first series victory since taking two of three from Milwaukee from May 20-22. Roddery Muñoz (1-2, 5.95 ERA) will make his fifth career big league start and second since being recalled from Triple-A. Opposing him, Luis Severino (4-2, 3.25 ERA) will make his third career appearance against the Marlins; he limited hitters to a .159 BAA in those two outings while a member of the Yankees. First pitch from Citi Field is slated for 7:10 EST. View full article

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