Kevin Barral

MIAMI, FL—One of the flashiest shortstops in Miami Marlins history put on a Marlins jersey one final time on Wednesday night. Adeiny Hechavarría, who was the team's starting shortstop from 2013 through early 2017, officially announced his retirement. Hechavarría spent parts of nine seasons in MLB (2012-2020) and stayed active for several years after that in international and independent leagues. The 36-year-old last played in Puerto Rico during the 2024-25 winter ball season. "This is something that is very important to me," Hechavarría said in Spanish prior to the game. "I live in Miami, but it's been a long time since I have entered the stadium—the last time I was here was in 2020 with the Atlanta Braves. Honestly, coming back here is something that is very important to me. I feel proud because of what the Marlins are doing and I am really grateful to the team and I'm ready to have a good time." He threw out the ceremonial first pitch wearing a No. 3 Marlins Retrowave City Connect jersey (the same uniform number he had as a player). lpecry_1.mp4 Hechavarría, a native of Santiago de Cuba, signed in 2010 with the Toronto Blue Jays. During the first half of that season, he overlapped with current Marlins manager Clayton McCullough, who was managing Toronto's High-A Dunedin affiliate at the time. "Right away, this guy could really catch the ball," recalled McCullough. "It was a very smooth, almost like a spider. I can remember how wide he could get his legs and sink down to the ground and the ball disappeared in his glove with arm strength, and a real twitchy athlete that I felt had some potential with the bat. Great kid." After the 2012 season, Hechavarría was part of the biggest trade in Marlins history in terms of total players involved—he went to Miami along with Henderson Alvarez, Yunel Escobar, Jeff Mathis, Anthony DeSclafani, Jake Marisnick and Justin Nicolino in exchange for Emilio Bonifácio, John Buck, Mark Buehrle, Josh Johnson and José Reyes. "It was a marvelous time," said Hechavarría regarding his stint with the Marlins. "The person I remember the most is Dee Gordon. In reality, he was one of my best friends on the field because he was next to my locker. When I look back and begin to remember all the great moments establishing myself, it's emotional. All that time with José Fernández, Dee Gordon, (Marcell) Ozuna and (Christian) Yelich, all those people all joined the team almost at the same time that I did. We had some great times. The memories that I have here are very impactful for me." Hechavarría recalled being in the running for the 2014 Gold Glove. He believes he would've won it in 2015 had he not gotten hurt during the final month of that season. Overall as a Marlin, he slashed .255/.292/.336/.628 with 13 home runs, 168 RBI and a 74 OPS+. His best season was 2015, slashing .281/.315/.374/.689 with five home runs, 48 RBI and 2.6 fWAR. In 2017, the Marlins traded Hechavarría to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for Braxton Lee and Ethan Clark. That created room for prospect JT Riddle to get an opportunity as the club's starting shortstop. Hechavarría was constantly on the move from that point forward, a journey that included two seasons with the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball. "They were great experiences," Hechavarría said. "I never thought that I would play there one day in Japan. I always knew from Cuba that Japanese baseball players were great and still are great, as they have won two World Baseball Classics. Baseball over there is the same game, but the culture is different. Once you are there, you adapt." Hechy (@adeiny11) • Instagram photo WWW.INSTAGRAM.COM 2,482 likes, 34 comments - adeiny11 on July 29, 2022: "the Panther 🐾🐾🐾🐾 #uff". Hechavarría told Fish On First that he still remains in contact with Strange-Gordon, Ozuna and Stanton, specifically. View full article

MIAMI, FL—Just as Miami Marlins outfielder Kyle Stowers seemed to be on the verge of completing his rehab from a left oblique strain, he's been diagnosed with a right oblique strain, Marlins manager Clayton McCullough announced on Tuesday. McCullough acknowledged the possibility that Stowers' 2025 season could be coming to a close due to this setback. "Not sure exactly how long that's going to be," said McCullough pregame. "We know where we're at in the calendar. So halting the rehab right now and I think it'll take a couple of days to see what that downtime potentially looks like moving forward." Following Tuesday's loss to the Washington Nationals, the Marlins have only 17 regular season games remaining. Stowers told the media following the game that he hurt himself in his first at-bat of Friday's rehab game with Triple-A Jacksonville when fouling off a changeup low and away. He felt "pretty sore all over" on Saturday, which is why he was scratched from that day's game. "As the rest of my body began to calm down, I just noticed some tightness in my rib area and was a little bit in disbelief, to be honest with you," said Stowers. "That was when we ultimately decided to get things looked at little more." He rejoined the Marlins in Miami on Sunday. bmJCZzhfV0ZRVkV3dEdEUT09X1V3Z0VWRjBFVWdzQVd3RUhVQUFIVndNQUFBQldXZ1FBQUFGWFZWQlRBMUFHQlZFQw==.mp4 Going into the season, Stowers' lone goal was to be on the Marlins major league roster throughout the entirety of the season. He easily surpassed expectations by becoming the team's All-Star representative and emerging as the biggest offensive threat in their lineup. In 117 games, he has slashed .288/.368/.544/.912 with 25 home runs and 73 RBI. Prior to the oblique strain, he was on pace for one of the best individual seasons by a left-handed hitter in franchise history. "I don't really want to quite put a full recap on the year yet because I don't know what the next few weeks look like, but I'm very grateful for what's happened thus far," Stowers said. Rookie right-hander Adam Mazur once again struggled on Tuesday, allowing six runs (four earned) to Washington. In what was his second straight against the Nationals, he went 4 ⅓ innings, allowing six runs (four earned) on eight hits, three walks and struck out one. Hitters were smashing Mazur's breaking balls especially hard. The biggest mistake was a slider to Josh Bell that spun over the middle of the plate, resulting in a three-run home run, which was Bell's 20th homer of the year. The Nats held the lead for the rest of the night. Mazur has a 6.30 ERA through four MLB starts this season. He could potentially make three more starts if the Marlins keep him in their rotation down the stretch. Joey Wiemer, who the Marlins claimed off waivers from the Kansas City Royals, got called up last month when Stowers went down with his initial oblique injury. Wiemer's playing time has been limited, but through 12 games, he's slashed .278/.289/.500/.789 with two home runs and seven RBI. On Tuesday, he homered in the bottom of the second inning off Nationals starter Mitchell Parker and later recorded his first walk. "The one thing that really stands out with Joey is how well he's played defensively—he's made some really terrific plays," said McCullough. "He brings some edge and some energy to to our club, and offensively, he's gotten some regular playing time. We've seen him put together really good at-bats and has put a charge in a few balls. Joey is always ready and nice to see that he's got into a little bit of rhythm here now as he's gotten some more regular opportunity." In the bottom of the ninth inning, the Marlins made it interesting, tagging the Nationals bullpen for three runs. Representing the winning run, Agustín Ramírez grounded out to end the game. Eury Pérez will look to bounce back on Wednesday after a rough start against this same Nationals team. First pitch is at 6:40 pm. View full article

Marlins outfielder Victor Mesa Jr. speaks with the media at loanDepot park after homering in Monday's loss to the Washington Nationals. Mesa also doubled earlier in the night, raising his wRC+ to 122 through his first 11 MLB games. View full video

MIAMI, FL—On the day Victor Mesa Jr. turned 24 years old, he gave himself a pretty great birthday present by hitting his first career home run. In the eighth inning on Monday night, with runners on first and second, Mesa took Washington Nationals lefty Shinnosuke Ogasawara deep. The ball left the bat at 102.1 mph and went 394 feet into the second deck in right field. The game was already out of hand, however, in what was ultimately a 15-7 Marlins loss. Mesa became the first Marlins player and the seventh MLB player in the Wild Card Era (since 1995) to hit their first career home run on their birthday. Throughout franchise history, 15 Marlins have homered on their birthday. "It's a lot of feelings right now, to be honest," said Mesa after the game. "I was a little bit disappointed because I felt like I could've been better on the first days out here, but obviously, here right now, taking it day by day, trying to support the team as much as I can. Thank God I got a great day on my birthday. It's better than what I could've dreamed of. This is a dream come true, to be honest, and a day I'll never forget." Mesa Jr., who was recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville on August 31, also recorded multiple hits in a game for the first time as a Marlin. In the bottom of the fifth inning, he smacked a 104.8 mph double off of Nationals starter Cade Cavalli. That was tied for the hardest-hit ball of his young career. Mesa previously spent five days at the major league level in late May, but when it was clear that consistent playing time wouldn't be available, the Marlins sent him back down to Jacksonville. He only recorded one hit during that brief stint. "The initial first few games, someone comes up, there's so much emotion," said Marlins manager Clayton McCullough. "Your feet are off the ground for most of it." "At least you already have the first experience," said Mesa pregame in an exclusive interview with Fish On First. "At the end of the day, this is the big leagues, so every day you see something new that you need to adapt to. I've felt a lot better, a lot more relaxed. This time, I know what to do...I feel like I've adapted a lot more and I give a lot of credit to my teammates who have helped me." Through 11 MLB games, Mesa is now slashing .238/.360/.429/.789 with one home run and four RBI. Mesa has been limited to 57 total games this season across all levels due to a series of minor injuries. The "bad luck" has frustrated him at times. "Last year, it was a stress fracture, which could happen, but then this year it was even more weird—it was a wart in the foot and it's something I can't even control. But what I can control is what I've been doing every day because I know the hard work that I'm putting in and the talent that I have...I just turned 24. I feel that I can do a long career here, or at least that's my goal. I'm focused right now and control what I can control." Janson Junk, who was just activated off the injured list after missing a couple starts with right ulnar nerve irritation, surrendered six earned runs (tying a season-high), walking two and striking out three. His fastball averaged 93.1 mph and topped out at 94.7 mph. "It just wasn't as crisp as we've seen him, especially in that fifth inning," McCullough said. "Just seemed like he started to lack some finish to some of his pitches. Balls got elevated, they were able to put some good swings on. Not as efficient as we've accustomed to seeing him. They did a good job swinging the bats and I think there was just some mislocated pitches and maybe just not the life on the stuff there, especially towards the back half of the outing." Former Marlin Josh Bell had himself quite the game, going 4-for-6 with two home runs and six RBI. With the loss, the Marlins are now 66-78 on the season. Adam Mazur takes the ball for them on Tuesday. Mitchell Parker, whose 5.87 ERA is the highest among all qualified MLB starters this season, will toe the rubber for Washington. First pitch is at 6:40 pm. View full article

MIAMI, FL—The Miami Marlins snapped their five-game losing streak on Sunday afternoon as they defeated the Philadelphia Phillies by a final score of 5-4. Otto Lopez's first career multi-homer game accounted for most of the offensive production and six Miami pitchers combined for a solid bullpen game. Lopez was coming off a rough month of August, slashing .219/.278/.286/.564. Going back even further, he had hit only one home run in his previous 44 games. He is already off to a nice start to the final month of the season. In the bottom of the first inning, Jakob Marsee and Agustín Ramírez both knocked in base hits, setting up Lopez to hit his 13th home run of the season, giving the Marlins an early 3-0 lead. This was tied for Lopez's second-longest homer of 2025, trailing only his 429-footer against the Arizona Diamondbacks on June 27. Taijuan Walker settled in after those early struggles, so the Marlins would need some insurance to fend off a Phillies comeback. In the bottom of the seventh, Lopez took reliever José Alvarado deep. That extended the lead to 5-3. "One of those days when you do a bullpen game, it's gonna take a lot of contributions," said Marlins manager Clayton McCullough following the game. "I think getting some runs early offensively, then Otto's second home run—that was a really big run there late in the game." fcihv0_1.mp4 The Marlins have had 12 total multi-homer games by individual players this season. Per the Marlins, the only years in club history with more were 2008 and 2017. Maximo Acosta, who was recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville prior to the beginning of the series, recorded the other RBI for the Marlins on Sunday when he drove in Heriberto Hernández with a first-inning single. Acosta had a hit in all three games this series. The rookie is now slashing .206/.270/.500/.770 with three home runs and four RBI through 12 career games. "It was what we saw towards the tail end before he was sent down for a little while," said McCullough. "As he got some at-bats under his belt, he was able to get in and have really good at-bats, lay off some pitches and he's shown surprising power. He has shown the ability to impact the ball for extra-base hits, so good-looking young player." Tyler Phillips, a former Phillies pitcher, made his first start of the season for the Marlins, giving them 2 ⅔ innings pitched, allowing one run on one hit, one walk and striking out three. In the top of the second inning, South Florida native Nick Castellanos hit an RBI triple against him that was out of the reach of a diving Jakob Marsee. Following Phillips, the Marlins deployed lefty Cade Gibson, who went 2 ⅓ shutout innings, allowing only two hits and striking out one. In the top of the sixth, Calvin Faucher surrendered a home run to loanDepot killer Trea Turner, his 15th of the season. Brandon Marsh then drove in Kyle Schwarber on an RBI single, making it a 4-3 Marlins lead. Working on seven days' rest, Ronny Henriquez contributed 1 ⅓ scoreless frames. He has not given up an earned run since July 27. Lake Bachar picked up his third save. With the win, the Marlins are 66-77 on the season and will begin a four-game set against the Washington Nationals on Monday. Janson Junk will be activated off the IL and make his first start since August 23. First pitch is at 6:40 pm. View full article

For the most part, September stats should be taken with a grain of salt. Miami Marlins fans will remember Peter O'Brien in 2018 and Jonah Bride in 2024 as cautionary tales—players who enjoyed surprising success at the end of non-competitive seasons, but quickly regressed the following year. With that being said, any additional information the Marlins front office can gather is valuable as they consider offseason moves and how current big leaguers compare to top prospects who are almost ready to be promoted. The following players in particular have something to fight for over the final 22 regular season games. Agustín Ramírez Ramírez has slumped as an all-around player to fall out of NL Rookie of the Year contention. Since last month's memorable sweep of the New York Yankees, he is slashing .191/.289/.282/.571 with only two home runs. However, there is still a lot of optimism about his bat moving forward. The "Gus Bus" leads off this article mainly because of his defensive struggles. Ramírez, who hasn't even spent the full season in MLB, leads all catchers with 15 passed balls. He has 76 stolen bases allowed with only six runners caught attempting to steal. He is also the worst-ranked backstop in terms of blocking, according to Baseball Savant. For Ramírez to catch in a part-time role in future seasons, he must show signs of progress this month. Otherwise, the Marlins will be planning for a future where he learns a new position or focuses fully on being a designated hitter. Connor Norby Expectations were high for Connor Norby entering this season, who was looking to prove himself as an everyday player. Injuries have limited Norby to 77 games and his results have been frustrating. He's slashing .247/.298/.373/.671 with six home runs, 31 RBI and an 85 wRC+. Norby has been extremely aggressive at the plate, swinging at 54.3% of pitches (MLB average is 47.3%). It just isn't working for him. His numbers have been especially bad against left-handers (.151/.279/.219/.498), so even if the Marlins used him in a platoon long term, it's hard to feel confident in how he'd do. Defensively, it isn't going any better. More than a full year since converting to third base, Norby still rates poorly (-6 OAA and -9 DRS this season). When Norby missed time this summer, Graham Pauley stepped up as a nice alternative for the Marlins at third, especially on defense. Now's the opportunity for Norby to re-establish himself as the team's best option. Since coming off the IL, Norby is slashing .333/.409/.500/.909 with five RBI. Victor Mesa Jr. Being under pressure is a blessing for Mesa, because at other points this season, it seemed as though he was not in the Marlins' plans at all. The rookie has been limited to eight MLB games, slashing .182/.357/.182/.539 with one RBI. Outfield injuries have piled up to open the door for him. Kyle Stowers is scheduled to return within the next week, but the timeline isn't as clear for Griffin Conine, Dane Myers and Derek Hill, who are also on the IL. In a tiny sample, the Marlins have already used Mesa at all three outfield spots. His speed and power don't blow you away, so the team might not be as patient with him as they would with players who have louder tools. This is an important stretch for Mesa to show he's more than a depth piece. Troy Johnston/Eric Wagaman First base has been arguably the biggest weakness for the 2025 Marlins, so expect that to be addressed this offseason. Johnston and Wagaman seem to be battling for a single spot on the 40-man roster moving forward. Johnston got off to a slow start when called up in late July, but his numbers now look more respectable. He's slashing .273/.314/.379/.693 with one home run, six RBI and a 92 wRC+ while splitting time between the outfield and first base. Wagaman is slashing .237/.288/.370/.658 with nine home runs, 45 RBI and an 80 wRC+. He ranks last among active Marlins players with -0.5 fWAR this year. But he is attempting to finish on a high note. Since the beginning of August, Wagaman has an .822 OPS. He also has the ability to fill in as a corner outfielder and third baseman in emergencies. Adam Mazur We are expecting Mazur to finish up 2025 in the Marlins rotation. Through three starts, he has posted a 5.74 ERA, 4.42 FIP, 6.89 K/9 and 2.87 BB/9. He is limiting hard contact, though that hasn't translated to overall success yet. The pressure is lower on Mazur than the other players above because he is a pitcher—the injury rate is higher, so more opportunities will present themselves in the future regardless. That being said, a great September could put him in the mix for a 2026 Opening Day rotation spot. View full article

After taking three of four against the New York Mets to begin their road trip, the Miami Marlins looked like a completely different team in DC. For the first time in three months, they were swept in a series, trailing the Washington Nationals from start to finish on Wednesday and falling by a final score of 10-5. Eury Pérez, the Marlins starting pitcher, had been unable to complete the first inning in New York. He did go further into his start this time, but surrendered a career-high seven earned runs. In four innings, Pérez allowed seven runs on eight hits, one walk and struck out two. Opposing hitters posted an average exit velocity of 98.1 mph off Pérez's four-seam fastball, which is normally his best pitch. In the bottom of the second inning, he gave up a home run to former Marlins prospect Nasim Nuñez, who had never homered in the big leagues before. Pérez also gave up an RBI double to Jorge Alfaro and RBI single to Daylen Lile. Despite its ineffectiveness, he used his fastball 50% of the time. "The command's not been great," said manager Clayton McCullough. "He's behind in too many counts and they took advantage of some pitches that probably weren't located as well and it's just part of it. Eury is going to just have to keep his head up, go back to work tomorrow. He's not the first starter that's had a couple starts that are tough. It's more about what you do about it. So fully anticipate that Eury will go right back to work when we get back to Miami and be ready for his next one." On the bright side, Joey Wiemer hit his first home run of the season, taking Nationals starter Mitchell Parker deep 403 feet to left field. The ball left the bat at 107.6 mph. It was his major league home run since 2023. "He's not too far removed from having a good start to his career in Milwaukee," McCullough said. "There's strength there. He's tough. He's a great teammate, plays good defense, so nice to see him get some regular at-bats and be able to come through offensively for us and have some nice games here on this road trip. Hopefully that just gives him confidence to take that as we get back home and get ready for the Phillies." Heriberto Hernández drove in two more runs in the same inning on a two-run RBI single, making it a 7-4 game. In the eighth inning, a passed ball from Jorge Alfaro allowed Hernández to score Miami's fifth run. Nuñez hit his second home run of the game to put the nail in the coffin, giving the Nationals a 10-5 lead, one that they wouldn't look back on. The Marlins were most recently swept by the Colorado Rockies from June 2-4, the only NL team with a worst record than the Nats. They've now dropped to 65-75 on the season. The Fish will have an off-day in Miami on Thursday before they welcome the Philadelphia Phillies for a three-game set. There has been no starter announced for what would have been Edward Cabrera's turn in the rotation. Valente Bellozo is the leading candidate to fill Cabrera's shoes. View full article

While most Americans were celebrating a national holiday on Monday, the Miami Marlins were stressed out. In the morning, they placed right-hander Edward Cabrera on the 15-day IL due to a right elbow sprain, likely ending his exciting 2025 season and putting 2026 in jeopardy as well. Things didn't get any better on the field as they were shut out by the Washington Nationals and limited to a season-low two hits, losing Xavier Edwards to an ejection mere minutes after first pitch and then removing Derek Hill due to right hamstring discomfort. Cabrera, who last started for the Marlins on Saturday, has posted a 3.57 ERA, 3.68 FIP, 9.8 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 through a career-high 128 ⅔ innings pitched. "He's had a remarkable season," said McCullough. "The stretch of starts that we got from him, it was over months of time that he put himself as arguably one of the best pitchers in the National League from a performance standpoint. We saw the consistency I think everyone had been hoping for out of Cabby. He proved to himself that he can go out and pitch at a really high level at the major leagues over a stretch of time. Great season for Cabby. We'll wait to get further information on what next steps will be, but it certainly won't put a damper on the productive season that he had for us." Frankly, it was a boring game. Edwards' ejection would have to be considered the top Marlins highlight because of how manager Clayton McCullough came to his defense. After grounding out in the top of the first inning, Miami's leadoff hitter continued to exchange words with home plate umpire Brennan Miller. "(Edwards) had something to say as he ran across the field," McCullough explained postgame. "Wasn't happy with his second strike call and said some more from the dugout. Brennan had heard enough." Despite loudly cursing out Miller, McCullough was allowed to remain in the game. The rookie skipper has been ejected two previous times this season. Ryan Gusto was originally lined up to work on Monday, but recently landed on the IL with an injury of his own, so it turned into a bullpen game for the Marlins. Serving as an opener, Lake Bachar lasted two innings and allowed the lone two runs of the day. Bachar surrendered an RBI triple to Washington Nationals rookie Daylen Lile, followed by a sac fly, which drove in Lile. After Bachar, the Marlins went with Cade Gibson, Seth Martinez, Michael Petersen and George Soriano, all of whom prevented the Nationals from extending their lead. Petersen was making his Marlins season debut. On the flip side, left-hander Andrew Alvarez impressed in his first-ever major league appearance. Alvarez's no-hitter was broken up by Victor Mesa Jr. in the fifth inning. Heriberto Hernández smacked his tenth double of the season in the seventh inning. That was it. Alvarez earned the win by going five shutout innings, allowing one hit, two walks and striking out four. "From the start, it really wasn't a good offensive approach," McCullough said. "We chased around—chased a lot of balls down out of the strike zone. Disappointing with what we felt were some pretty nice days offensively coming into this, and today, we just didn't. Weren't able to string any at-bats, create much traffic and any scoring opportunities." In the top of the third inning, Marlins center fielder Derek Hill was removed after running down the first base line on a grounder and beating out a throw from shortstop CJ Abrams. Hill has already made three trips to the IL in 2025. He's been limited to 53 games. "We'll just get that evaluated and have a better idea about it tomorrow," McCullough said. As announced on the FanDuel Sports Network game broadcast, Janson Junk, Ryan Weathers and Griffin Conine will all be rehabbing with Triple-A Jacksonville this upcoming week. Junk and Weathers are scheduled for rehab starts on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively. They should be rejoining the Marlins rotation next week if those starts go smoothly. With the loss, the Marlins fall to 65-73 on the season. They will send out Adam Mazur on Tuesday night to make his third start of the season. Cade Cavalli will toe the rubber for Washington. First pitch from the nation's capital is at 6:45 pm. View full article

MIAMI, FL—On Thursday, Miami Marlins starter Cal Quantrill was claimed off waivers by the Atlanta Braves. With that rotation spot open for the first time all season, Ryan Gusto was recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville to start Friday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays. Gusto was overshadowed and out-pitched by Shane Bieber as the Miami Marlins fell by a final score of 5-2. Gusto struggled in the top of the first inning, allowing an RBI double to Daulton Varsho, driving in the game's first run. Ty France, who followed Varsho, drove in two more runs on a single, but was thrown out trying to get to second base, ending what was a 29-pitch top of the first for the recent trade acquisition. In his final inning of work, Gusto surrendered a 423-foot home run to Varsho, giving the Blue Jays a 5-1 lead. It marked Varsho's 14th home run of the season. However, he found "a nice groove" in between, in the words of Marlins manager Clayton McCullough. "Overall, his stuff was good and you saw a good fastball he used," said McCullough. "It's a deep mix with the cutter, sweeper, threw some changeups right-on-right, which is going to be a good pitch for him moving forward. Ryan came up, gave us six innings and unfortunately, in first and sixth, there was two-out base hits to cash in their runs. In totality, you look at it from a stuff perspective and and how well he got into a rhythm there in the middle part." Gusto posted a 70.8% first-pitch strike rate and a 54.5% ground ball rate. For the fourth time this season (including his time with the Houston Astros), the righty failed to record a single strikeout. He finished his outing going six innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and one walk. "Definitely love some strikeouts to be on that line as well," Gusto said. "I think that I was a little bit too uncompetitive with some of my two-strike offerings. I think that they're a good bat-to-ball team. They were seeing the ball well, sticking to their plan that we talked about and I think that I had a lot of weak contact in two strike counts and to me, that's still a win. It's not the strikeout, it's not the whiff that you want, but there's a lot of really weak contact into the infield and pop-ups, so I take that as a win." Seems like Gusto has done a lot of experimenting throughout his time at the big league level, throwing six pitches on Friday: four-seam fastball (33% usage), cutter (19%), changeup (14%), sinker (12%), sweeper (11%) and curveball (10%). "So far, I absolutely love it," Gusto said about the Marlins organization. "I think these guys are really smart. They have a lot of really good insight and they've been very helpful with a lot of things. I'm already seeing the fruit of some of that with a few of my pitches that have seen good improvement. It's just about working that into how I pitch and then getting the results. I'm looking forward to really seeing the the last month and a half go very well." The remainder of the season could be considered a trial period for Gusto, who will be competing for a rotation spot in 2026. Miami's more experienced MLB starters include Sandy Alcantara, Edward Cabrera, Eury Pérez, Ryan Weathers, Braxton Garrett and Max Meyer. Even if one or more of them are involved in offseason trades, prospects Adam Mazur, Robby Snelling and Thomas White are all on the brink of being called up at some point next season. Gusto will really need to perform to make his case to stick with the big league team moving forward. "They traded for me," Gusto told the media postgame. "They had some plans for my arsenal and some adjustments that I could make. I think finishing the season out is going to be, in large part, making those adjustments that they wanted to see and really trying to see some success with that and put me in a really good situation for next year." For the Blue Jays, Shane Bieber was pitching in the big leagues for the first time since April 2024 coming off Tommy John surgery. He gave the Blue Jays six innings of one-run ball, allowing two hits, no walks and striking out nine. "He got ahead, really good fastball command and then the ability to spin the ball down below," McCullough said. "Had his changeup going to some left-handed hitters. He can do enough work on the inside part of the plate to keep the outer lane open versus right. Going in, we needed to be aggressive against him because he's going to come in and fill up the strike zone. He did that tonight and we just weren't really ever able to string a whole lot. We did get in deep counts and he seemed to make some pitches when he needed to tonight." bfaa57c0-e4ef442e-3d940fdb-csvm-diamondgcp-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4 In the bottom of the second inning, Javier Sanoja took Bieber deep on the tenth pitch of the at-bat. It was Sanoja's fifth home run of the season. The Blue Jays still led, 3-1. "It was a great at-bat," McCullough said. "Bieber pitched a nice game. Had really been cruising at that point and Javi just kept spoiling pitches, kept fouling off and got something elevated and put a really good swing on it. We've seen that a lot from him this year—just the ability to stick his nose in there and spoil pitches battle." Maximo Acosta's first career hit was a home run on Wednesday night against the St. Louis Cardinals. His second hit? Also a home run. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Acosta took Blue Jays reliever Yariel Rodríguez deep. With the loss, the Marlins fell to 60-68 on the season. Janson Junk will toe the rubber against José Berríos on Saturday with first pitch at 4:10 pm. View full article

MIAMI, FL—Sandy Alcantara for the third time in 2025 completed seven innings of work. Alongside Maximo Acosta, who hit his first career home run, they propelled the Marlins to a 6-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday, salvaging the series finale. Alcantara threw what manager Clayton McCullough thought was his best overall game of the season on Friday night against the Red Sox. This performance was very similar, going seven innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits, one walk and striking out a season-high nine batters. "It's been a difficult season overall," said McCullough. "To come off an incredible start in Boston and back that up tonight with seven very strong innings, get through that finish with a punchout. His stuff seemed to be at his best there at the end. Even as things have gone this year, Sandy hasn't forgotten how to compete. He knows moments and he knew that was a moment there and we saw him dig down and empty it out." What made this one different from his start against the Red Sox was a relatively low 33.3% ground ball rate, which is uncharacteristic of Alcantara. His changeup specifically was up 1.6 mph compared to his season average. He generated six whiffs with the changeup. Alcantara struck out three hitters with the changeup. "It's been great since last outing," said Alcantara. "We had that plan since yesterday. We got to use it more in the game and I think me and Agustín did a great job trying to be more aggressive with it." Alcantara's four-seam fastball also topped out at 100.0 mph for the second time this season. It generated five whiffs and struck out two hitters. The sinker, which was used 21% of the time, generated three strikeouts. In the fourth inning, Alcantara struck out Willson Contreras, moving him into sole possession of second place in franchise history with 1023 IP, surpassing Dontrelle Willis. On top of that, Alcantara became one of five pitchers to throw over 114 pitches in a start. Alcantara, who the St. Louis Cardinals traded to the Marlins in December 2017, now holds a 1.66 ERA in eight starts against his former team. He also went five shutout innings against the Cardinals in his final start before the trade deadline. "It's always a great fight from both sides," said Alcantara. "I think they've did a great job since the first at-bat all the way through the last at-bat. I just feel comfortable to be out there—not just with the Cardinals, with everyone. Sometimes you're gonna have better results with one team and sometimes you're gonna have better results with different team. I think everything just comes together well every time I face the Cardinals." Another big difference was the run support provided to Alcantara. In the bottom of the second inning, Javier Sanoja grounded into a double play, but the first run of the game scored. Heriberto Hernández knocked in two more runs, making it 3-0 in the third inning. Troy Johnston drove in the fourth run of the ballgame on an RBI single. "I think we saw someone that was really trying to make things happen," McCullough said regarding Johnston. "Very aggressive, not letting (pitches) come to him. I think we've seen the at-bats are not just in swing mode. He is shrinking the area which he's looking for the pitch. He's getting himself in much better counts. He's getting into at-bats and giving himself a chance to have some success. It takes 10-15 at-bats up here to settle in a little bit. Now we're seeing a much higher quality of at-bat and the decision-making is better. That's led to some of these results that we've seen." In the bottom of the sixth inning, Maximo Acosta took Cardinals starter Andre Pallante 418 feet deep to dead center, for his first big league hit and home run. Acosta is the first Marlin to homer for his first hit since Jerar Encarnación (June 19, 2022), according to the Elias Sports Bureau. "I was thinking about my father right there," said Acosta. "That's the only memory in my mind—it's my father. My mom is not here. So it's a special night." Acosta was one of three prospects acquired in the Jake Burger trade and is the first of those players to debut. Through 106 games this season in Triple-A Jacksonville, he slashed .232/.319/.376 with 12 home runs, 49 RBI and 28 stolen bases. One tool that seems to have been consistent throughout his career is the power. On Wednesday night, he showed it off. With the win, the Marlins move to 60-67 on the season. There is an off-day on Thursday before the Fish welcome the Toronto Blue Jays, who will have Shane Bieber making his 2025 season debut, his first start since undergoing Tommy John surgery in early 2024. For the Marlins, it would normally be Cal Quantrill's turn to pitch, but he was placed on outright waivers on Tuesday. They'll wait for the waiver process to play out before listing a starter. View full article

In advance of his first Miami Marlins game, infielder Maximo Acosta speaks with the media at loanDepot park about the achievement of reaching the majors and what it means to his family. View full video

MIAMI, FL—After a very rough 3-8 road trip, the Marlins returned home looking to turn the page and get back to playing up to their usual standards. Unfortunately, mental errors on the mound and in the field caused the Marlins to fall to the St. Louis Cardinals Monday night by a final score of 8-3. "Not great," said Marlins manager Clayton McCullough. "This was not a very pretty brand of baseball tonight. When the game was invented, this is not how it was drawn up, so ugly. We gave up far too many free bases, didn't handle our chances. We had at least people get on base, but then you also think about the number of pitches your pitchers have to throw, start to stress them out more. We just did not take care of the routine at times tonight. We gave up too many extra bases and free bases to St Louis tonight, so we deserved to lose this game." Eury Pérez was on the wrong side of history, becoming the first pitcher in franchise history to throw four wild pitches in a game. He finished the night going 4 ⅓ innings, allowing three runs (one earned) on two hits, four walks and struck out six. His four walks marks a season-high. Pérez's fastball averaged 98.1 mph, topping out at 99.4 mph. It generated five whiffs and two of his strikeouts came on that pitch. He threw his fastball for strikes 80% of the time, but could not consistently locate his secondary stuff, landing only 53% of those pitches for strikes . On the bright side, Pérez posted a 60.0% ground ball rate and generated 14 total whiffs. The first of many bad plays happened in the first inning on a pop-up behind home plate. Agustín Ramírez took a couple moments to find the ball and couldn't recover in time to catch it. Although it did not lead to runs being scored, it extended the plate appearance and increased the workload for Pérez. MTZxWWdfWGxnR0RBeGJDMWM9X1ZGUllBZ0lHVlFjQVhRZFJVd0FIQndOVEFGZ01CMUVBQlZ4WEFGVlFBRkZSVXdSVQ==.mp4 Pérez held the Cardinals scoreless until the top of the fifth inning. Things began to unravel with one out and a 2-0 lead when rookie outfielder Nathan Church hit a grounder towards second baseman Maximo Acosta, who was making his MLB debut. Attempting to flip the ball to second for a force out, Acosta was unable to field it cleanly and was charged with an error. After another wild pitch from Pérez moved Pedro Pages to third and Church to second, Lars Nootbaar drove in the Cardinals' first run of the game. MTZxWWdfWGw0TUFRPT1fVWdoVFhBQldCMVFBV1FNS1VnQUhBVkJVQUFBRVYxRUFDZ1pVQVZJQlV3UmRWQXBl.mp4 Pérez threw his fourth wild pitch of the game and went on to walk Iván Herrera before leaving the game. Ronny Henriquez, who hadn't pitched since last Tuesday against the Guardians, entered in relief with the bases loaded. He surrendered an RBI single to Alec Burleson and Wilson Contreras drove Nootbaar in on a sac fly. The Cardinals took a 3-2 lead. With the game tied at three apiece in the seventh, Herrera hit a deep but routine fly ball to Dane Myers, but Myers took his eye off the ball and didn't make the catch, allowing Herrera to reach second. He was driven in by Burleson as the Cardinals retook a 4-3 lead. Even late in the game, the sloppiness continued. In the top of the ninth inning, with runners on the corners, Agustín Ramírez allowed his 11th passed ball of the season, which allowed pinch-runner Garrett Hampson to score an insurance run. Nolan Gorman hit his 12th home run of the season, extending the lead to 8-3. "Gus is going to have to continue to improve behind the plate," said McCullough. "We believe that we've seen strides made this year. The controlling of the baseball, the blocking game and throwing becoming more consistent are areas that Gus still needs to work on and he's shown a commitment to continuing to work to improve those. Like many young developing players, there are going to be moments. There are going to be games that just aren't as pretty as others and that is the nature of the learning curve that all young players go through at the major league level." Jakob Marsee's successful run continued on Monday, driving in the first run of the game on a sac fly in the bottom of the first inning. In the sixth inning, Marsee knocked in an RBI double to tie the game. Going into this game, Eric Wagaman was slashing .235/.333/.529/.863 in the month of August. In the fourth inning, Wagaman took Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore deep. It is the first time this season that he has homered in back-to-back games. With the loss, the Marlins are now 59-66 on the season. Edward Cabrera toes the rubber on Tuesday against Michael McGreevy as the Fish look to even the series. First pitch is at 6:40 pm. View full article

Hours after the Miami Marlins defeated the Boston Red Sox, Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase reported that Fish On First #11 prospect Maximo Acosta is on his way to Miami to join the team. No corresponding move has been made and the club has yet to make the move official. Acosta, 22, was one of three players acquired in the December trade that sent Jake Burger to the Texas Rangers. At the time of the trade, he was coming off a season in Double-A where he slashed .288/.353/.425/.777 with 11 home runs, 58 RBI, 26 stolen bases and a 118 wRC+. In very limited spring training action, Acosta slashed .273/.429/.545/.974 in six Grapefruit League games while looking comfortable at shortstop. There was talk of him potentially making the Opening Day roster, but he was ultimately optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville. The Marlins middle infield has had stability with Otto Lopez at shortstop, Xavier Edwards at second base and Javier Sanoja serving as the backup at both positions, so Acosta has remained in Jacksonville ever since. Through 106 AAA games played, he has slashed .232/.319/.376/.695 with 12 home runs and 49 RBI, 28 stolen bases and a 91 wRC+. After posting a .594 OPS from March 28 through May 31, his performance has come much closer to what was initially expected, slashing .244/.317/.472/.789 with 10 home runs and 32 RBI. There is still a concern about Acosta's increased strikeout rate, which has nearly doubled from 13.4% last year to 26.3% this year. That's due to the combination of a reduced contact rate and taking a lot of pitches in the zone. Although a right-handed batter, Acosta has once again done his best work against righties—slashing .238/.329/.400/.729 in 359 plate appearances—while posting a terrible .529 OPS against left-handers. The Marlins usually seek platoon advantages as much as possible, so it'll be interesting to see how they use somebody with reverse splits like this. Defensively, Acosta has played all but five games at shortstop this season. His ability there gives him a high floor at the major league level. acosta field 1.mp4 Graham Pauley is the top candidate to be placed on the injured list to make room for Acosta. He was unavailable to play Sunday due to right side tightness, according to MLB.com's Christina De Nicola. Pauley had been serving as Miami's starting third baseman over the past month. The Marlins welcome the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday with first pitch at 6:40 pm. View full article