Kevin Barral

MIAMI, FL—Prior to Wednesday's game against the Minnesota Twins, Marlins rookie catcher Agustín Ramírez told Fish On First that he has been contacted by the Dominican Republic's baseball federation (FEDOM) to potentially participate in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. "Yes, I would be interested," Ramírez said in Spanish. "There have already been a couple calls had with them. We are aware and we are in a positive spot right now with them." Ramírez added that "they are going to the dugout," essentially saying that he will be a lock for the DR roster if everything works out. The Marlins acquired Ramírez from the New York Yankees a couple days prior to the 2024 trade deadline in a deal that sent Jazz Chisholm Jr. the other way. Ramírez was called up to the major leagues on April 21. Since then, he's slashing .252/.302/.479/.780 with 12 home runs, 33 RBI and a 111 wRC+, ranking among the top NL rookies in those categories despite spending the first few weeks of the season in the minors. He's been splitting time between catcher and designated hitter. "I'm really happy. This is a dream I've had since I was a kid," said Ramírez regarding his time at the major league level thus far. "To have my name as a possibility for all these awards is extremely important to me, but as I've said, I want to stay up here for a very long time and have a very long career, learn something new every day and give everything I've got for the team and do everything that needs to be done." Highly regarded entering the 2023 WBC, the Dominican Republic was knocked out early. Their catching tandem in that tournament was Francisco Mejía and Gary Sánchez. Looking ahead to next year, the likely DR catchers are Yainer Díaz of the Houston Astros and Ramírez as long as the federation is willing to sacrifice some defense for great offense. The DR team has been placed in Pool D along with Venezuela, Netherlands, Israel and Nicaragua. Those games are taking place at loanDepot park, so if selected, Ramírez would be playing in front of his home crowd throughout the tournament. View full article

MIAMI, FL—For the first time since 2008, the Miami Marlins have won eight straight games. A big reason for the series-opening win against the Minnesota Twins was Edward Cabrera. The Marlins defeated the Twins by a final score of 2-0, shutting out an opponent for the fifth time in 2025, with Cabrera working seven of those innings himself. "We've said it many times, Cabrera has premium stuff," said manager Clayton McCullough. "He's got a lot of weapons. The first couple innings was probably behind counts a little bit more than he wanted to, but made some pitches when he needed to and his stuff allowed him there to get behind and get outs and then once he got into the third inning on, I felt like he really locked in and was ahead of every hitter. Lot of first-pitch strikes, had the count in his favor. The changeup was terrific and his use of the breaking balls. This was a really frontline, outstanding effort by Cabby today." Cabrera recently found himself in a similar situation back in his start against the Philadelphia Phillies on June 19. He entered the seventh inning with a 1-0 lead, but was taken out after recording one out. The Marlins went on to lose that game. On Tuesday night, he got his opportunity to battle through the seventh and made the most of it. The Twins threatened with runners on first and second, but the 27-year-old right-hander struck out Brooks Lee swinging to escape the jam. "It means a lot," said Cabrera following the game. "Those emotions actually come out naturally mostly when you have big moments like that one, and that was very exciting." Cabrera went seven innings of shutout ball, allowing only two hits and one walk. He also struck out six. Cabrera generated 14 total whiffs, six each with his changeup and slider. His curveball was used to finish off half of his strikeouts. His fastball averaged 96.8 mph and topped out at 98.3 mph. For the seventh straight outing, Cabrera held his opponent to two earned runs or fewer. His ERA over that span is 1.46. Although Cabrera has made an impressive case to be a first-time All-Star, Kyle Stowers may as well begin to book his ticket to Atlanta. In the bottom of the second inning, Stowers took Twins starter Joe Ryan deep for his team-leading 14th home run of the season. Stowers extended his hit streak to eight games. He is now slashing .283/.359/.509/.868 with 14 home runs and 44 RBI. "The belief in himself and also understanding that over the course of a long season, you're going to go through spells where you're just missing pitches or your timing is a little off, your swing might not be in the best place," said McCullough. "Just stick with it and I think we started to see Kyle get back to really driving some balls to the middle of the field and the other way like he was doing early in the year. He's able to stay through a splitter that he was able to catch out in front and pull for a home run." WEQyajNfQlZOTUJnVkFFbGRmRlJGYkFraENXRk1SX1ZRRUFVUUFGQXdVQVhsQUxVUUFIVXdNREFGZ0dWRkFBQVZjTUFnc0NWd1ZkQVFOWA==.mp4 As good as Cabrera was, Ryan was just as dominant, going seven innings, allowing one run on five hits, no walks and four strikeouts. He generated ten total whiffs, with six of them coming on his fastball. In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Twins intentionally walked Otto Lopez to have reliever Louis Varland face Nick Fortes, who by the numbers was the better matchup. On the second pitch of the at-bat, Fortes laced an opposite-field base hit to right field, driving in Jesús Sánchez, who hit his third triple of the season in his at-bat. That gave the Marlins a 2-0 lead. The Marlins are now one win away from tying a franchise record for consecutive victories. They stand at 38-45 and just moved into third place in the National League East standings. The Marlins will aim to take their fourth consecutive series on Wednesday night. Janson Junk takes the mound at 6:40 pm. View full article

MIAMI, FL—Many Marlins players are expected to compete in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. On Tuesday, Otto Lopez became the first to confirm his participation. It will be Lopez's second time playing for Canada, having previously done so in 2023. "It means a lot," Lopez said in Spanish, expressed his gratitude to both the Canadian baseball team and the Miami Marlins. "This is a team that since the beginning have treated me extremely well and have given me an opportunity to play in Major League Baseball, and that means a lot to me. I feel super honored to represent the Marlins, but Canada as well." Lopez, 26, was born in the Dominican Republic, but moved to Montreal at age 12 when his father relocated there for work. He spent four years of his childhood north of the border, then returned to the DR to pursue a professional baseball career. In the last WBC, Canada was eliminated during pool play. USA and Mexico advanced from Pool C instead. In four games, Lopez slashed .294/.333/.588/.921 with one home run and six RBI. "I felt great, the vibes were great and I am extremely excited to return once again," said Lopez. "This is a team that has given me an opportunity and I feel very proud to be representing them." Back in 2023, Lopez had only nine games of major league experience as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue Jays traded him to the San Francisco Giants in February 2024, then the Marlins claimed him off waivers in April of that year. This season with Miami, Lopez is slashing .260/.331/.392/.723 with eight home runs, 40 RBI and a 99 OPS+. He is currently riding a ten-game hit streak and has driven a run in seven straight games. In addition to enjoying a career year offensively, he has taken over as the club's starting shortstop, where he has provided above-average defense at a premium position (2 OAA and 2 DRS in 36 games). Canada is part of Pool A, which will be hosted in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The other countries in their pool are Puerto Rico, Cuba, Panama and Colombia. The games will take place from March 6-11. "These are other teams that really like to compete," said Lopez. "That is going to motivate us a lot. We are going to go in there and give it our all and I am sure the other teams will have the same mentality. Especially playing in a different country, it'll be something new for me as well." There are two other Canadian players on the Marlins roster: catcher Liam Hicks and starting pitcher Cal Quantrill. Quantrill was teammates with Lopez during the 2023 tournament. View full article

The Miami Marlins offense had its best game of the season on Thursday. Friday's series opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks came close to matching it. The Marlins picked up their fifth win in a row by a final score of 9-8, and NL All-Star candidate Kyle Stowers was right in the middle of it. Stowers was coming off a great series in San Francisco, going 4-for-14 with one home run and three RBI. He extended his hit streak to five games, going 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBI against Merrill Kelly and the D-backs. He is now slashing .277/.352/.496/.848 with 13 home runs and 40 RBI. In the top of the fourth inning, the Marlins hit back-to-back-to-back doubles, all with two outs. The first one was from Otto Lopez, providing the first hit of the ballgame for either team. Agustín Ramírez drove Lopez in on a 116.9 mph RBI double, tying the game at one apiece. That marked the hardest-hit ball of Ramírez's young MLB career. Stowers then had a 108.5 mph double, taking the lead, 2-1. "Just sticking with it," Stowers told the Marlins Radio Network postgame. "Trusting the process. We play 162 games and so there's just many ups and downs throughout the season. It's just trusting that things are going to turn and I just think that's what's happening." Marlins manager Clayton McCullough spoke about Stowers postgame: "The ability to impact and slug. For him to drive a changeup to center field for that RBI and then take a fastball to the pull side for a homer, getting back and seeing this road trip has been great for him. Seeing him stay through, hit some balls for power and he's sitting there in a good spot where those guys get on base for him. The ability to hit a gap or hit a home run and drive in runs is something he's been doing a lot this year." There was more two-out success in the fifth inning. Kelly made a throwing error on Lopez's bases-loaded infield single, allowing two total runs to score and giving the Marlins a commanding 4-1 lead. In Eury Pérez's fourth start of the season, he went 4 ⅓ innings pitched, allowing three runs on two hits, three walks and strikeouts. Pérez went four-seam fastball/curveball heavy. His fastball averaged 98.2 mph and topped out at 100.3 mph. He generated a total of 11 whiffs, with all three of his strikeouts being swinging strikeouts. Although it was his third-most-used pitch, his slider generated four whiffs, including one that put away Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in the bottom of the fourth inning. Similar to what we have seen in recent weeks with Sandy Alcantara, the Diamondbacks lineup made Pérez work, making him average 5.17 pitches per plate appearance (league average is 3.87 Pitches/PA). Posting a 56% first-pitch strike rate is a big reason for the high amount of pitches along with the 27 pitches that were fouled off. "I think I am doing a good job with the pitches," said Pérez following the game through an interpreter. "They have a good eye and making a lot of swings and just being very aggressive, but yes, they are swinging at a lot of pitches and making contact with the ball that isn't positive, but not negative either because I am throwing a lot of pitches. I just need to try to finish hitters, which I think is the mission for my next start." In the bottom of the third inning, Pérez walked Diamondbacks number seven hitter Jake McCarthy, who stole second and later on a wild pitch, moved up to third base. Eight hitter Alek Thomas drove him in on a sac fly, taking an early 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the fifth, McCarthy took Pérez deep for his first home run of the season, making it a 4-2 game. After Thomas flew out and Pérez walked José Herrera, Clayton McCullough took him out and went with Ronny Henriquez, who surrendered a game-tying two-run shot to shortstop Geraldo Perdomo. One of the runs was charged towards Pérez. "I'm satisfied that we won," said Pérez. "The team was able to win, I am able to stay healthy and I feel good. I was a bit annoyed because I wasn't able to complete the fifth inning, couldn't finish that appearance there doing a good job." Heriberto Hernandez hit his second home run of the season, once again with two outs. The Marlins finished the night with five two-out RBI. Javier Sanoja, Stowers, Hernandez and Lopez were the ones who knocked in those runs. Otto Lopez added two insurance runs with a homer in the top of the ninth, his seventh of the season, making it 9-5. Lopez is now riding an eight-game hit streak and is slashing .261/.332/.386/.718 through 65 games this season. "I'm trying to look for a good pitch," said Lopez postgame. "I know that before that I struck out with a ball, but I can make an adjustment and just stay focused on one pitch, one that I can hit." The broadcast noted that Lopez made an adjustment with the lower part of his body. He spoke about it following the game: "I feel the ground more, sit where I want to be and I feel good when I load and everything." With a comfortable four-run lead, the Marlins called upon Tyler Phillips to finish the game, but things went downhill pretty quickly, allowing a base hit, fielder's choice and another base hit, loading the bases for Geraldo Perdomo. He worked a walk, making it 9-6. After Phillips struck out Ketel Marte, Florida native Pavin Smith smacked a single, driving in two more runs. The game came to a close when Tim Tawa grounded into a double play. With the win, the Marlins are now 35-45 on the season. Ever since being swept by the Colorado Rockies—baseball's worst team—the Marlins are 12-8. The Marlins look to take the series with Sandy Alcantara taking the mound for the Fish and Brandon Pfaadt for the Diamondbacks. First pitch is at 4:10 pm. View full article

Players signed as international amateurs can develop quickly. Despite receiving much smaller bonuses than many of their teammates earlier this year, right-handed pitcher Pedro Montero and infielder Luis Arana have been two of the most impressive players from the 2025 Miami Marlins free agent class, per Fish On First sources based in the Dominican Republic. There is a "consensus" that Montero, who turns 18 next month and signed for $35,000, is the "most complete pitcher right now" from that IFA class, according to a source within the Marlins organization. Through three starts in the Dominican Summer League, he has a 1.80 ERA, 2.31 FIP, 13.50 K/9 and 2.70 BB/9 in 10 innings pitched. The Dominican right-hander is "smooth, subtle and explosive" and "generates easy velo," said a Marlins scout. "He creates elite arm speed and checks a lot of the delivery/mechanics boxes we look for." Montero is listed at 6'1", 144 pounds. His fastball currently tops out at 97 mph, Baseball America reports. Like Montero, Arana is playing for DSL Miami. He signed for $30,000 out of Venezuela. "Every player development staff member and players says he’s our best position player," a front office member told Fish On First. The Marlins decided to sign Arana after a week of tryouts. "He displayed hand-eye coordination, barrel accuracy and the ability to recognize pitches. There was rarely any swing-and-misses/chases during the week we saw him, and when combined with his offensive skillset, should provide adequate offensive value. The raw athleticism here is intriguing enough to warrant a commitment as he has the requisite traits to provide future impact with appropriate development." In 18 games, Arana is slashing .328/.474/.492/.966 with two home runs, 12 RBI and a 142 wRC+. Most notably, he has struck out only once. His 1.3 K% is second-lowest among all qualified hitters in the DSL. Although officially listed as a switch-hitter, Arana has been hitting exclusively from the right side this season. He turned 17 in March. ul7qhv_1.mp4 A plus runner, Arana has stolen 11 bases on 12 attempts. Defensively, he's been splitting time between shortstop and third base. Both players are expected to spend the entire 2025 season at the Marlins Dominican Academy. View full article

Fish Unfiltered—Episode #76 Weeks away from conducting his second MLB Draft with the Miami Marlins, director of amateur scouting Frankie Piliere joins Unfiltered with Kevin Barral, Hector Rodriguez and Ely Sussman. They revisit Miami's 2024 draft class, preview this year's crop of talent and discuss how the Marlins approach scouting, player data, the selection process and more. Find Fish Unfiltered on the Fish On First YouTube channel, our new-look Apple Podcasts channel and wherever else you get your pods. FOF's audio programming also includes The Offishial Show, Swimming Upstream, Big Fish Small Pod and more. The Marlins have the seventh overall pick in the 2025 draft. Here is Fish On First's latest mock draft exercise, covering seven rounds of hypothetical selections. The draft is a two-day event this year, beginning on July 13. Follow Kevin (⁠@kevin_barral⁠), Hector (@Hector_Baseball), Ely (@RealEly) and Fish On First (⁠@FishOnFirst⁠) on Twitter. Join the ⁠Marlins Discord server⁠! Complete Miami Marlins coverage here at ⁠FishOnFirst.com⁠. View full article

Future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander remains winless in a San Francisco Giants uniform. The Marlins defeated Verlander at Oracle Park on Tuesday night. The 4-2 victory was Miami's seventh in the last 11 games. In the top of the second inning, Eric Wagaman drove in Kyle Stowers on an RBI double. It marks Wagaman's 17th double of the season, which is the highest total on the Marlins. It also moved him into the top spot amongst all MLB rookies. After Liam Hicks struck out, Connor Norby, who had been in a deep slump for much of the past month, drove Wagaman in on an RBI single, extending the Marlins' lead to 2-0. "Just be on time for the fastball," said Wagaman postgame. "He threw a lot of fastballs and I figured later in the at-bat he was going to throw some sort of breaking pitch and I felt like he just threw it right there and I was on time for it." The Marlins extended their lead in the top of the third inning thanks to an Otto Lopez RBI single, driving in Jesús Sánchez, who hit his ninth double of the season. Lopez went on to finish the night with his 12th multi-hit game of the season. Cal Quantrill, who made his 15th start of the season, gave the Fish 4 ⅔ innings, allowing two runs on four hits, two walks and three hits. After four scoreless innings of work, Quantrill surrendered a leadoff base hit to third baseman Casey Schmitt in the fifth, then a two-run homer to second baseman Christian Koss. That made it a one-run game. Per usual, the Canadian right-hander relied on his cutter as his most-used pitch, generating two whiffs and one of his strikeouts coming on that pitch. His fastball averaged 93.0 mph, topping out at 94.0 mph. Quantrill has not earned a win since May 18. He came very close to qualifying for one, getting Rafael Devers to hit into a potential inning-ending double play, but Devers made it down the line quickly to beat the throw to first and extend the inning. "Did a great job," said Marlins manager Clayton McCullough. "Probably just the one hanging slider there to Koss for the homer, but he threw the ball well again. Got a bunch of outs and the rest of the guys behind him tonight really did a good job." Following Quantrill, McCullough deployed Anthony Bender, who worked 1 ⅓ innings, striking out two. Between Bender, Cade Gibson, Ronny Henriquez and Calvin Faucher, the Marlins bullpen only allowed one hit, which came off of Bender, and even that resulted in an out. In the top of the seventh inning, Xavier Edwards knocked in a Marlins insurance run, driving in Norby and making it a 4-2 lead. Edwards is slashing .360/.435/.427/.862 with six RBI ever since returning from the IL and making the move to second base. With the win, the Marlins improved to 32-45. Notes - Cade Gibson continues to be an unsung hero for this Marlins bullpen. Through 23 ⅔ innings of work (16 appearances), Gibson has a 1.90 ERA and on Tuesday, he struck out two in 1 ⅓ innings of work. - Max Meyer is scheduled for season-ending left hip labral repair surgery on Friday with Dr. Thomas Byrd in Nashville. The recovery timeline is approximately 6-8 months. - The Marlins and Toronto Blue Jays are finalizing a trade that will send the recently DFA'd Robinson Piña to the Blue Jays in exchange for 24-year old reliever Colby Martin. Drafted by the Blue Jays last year in the 16th round, Martin has posted a 1.54 ERA, 2.84 FIP, 11.57 K/9 and 5.40 BB/9 through 21 appearances (23.1 IP) between Low-A and High-A. - The red-hot Edward Cabrera will toe the rubber against Giants ace Logan Webb on Wednesday. The Fish are looking to win back-to-back series, which they have yet to do in 2025. First pitch is at 9:45 pm ET. View full article

With the 2025 MLB Draft only a few weeks away, now is a good time to check in on the picks that the Miami Marlins made in the previous draft. The 2024 draft class was the organization's first with president of baseball operations Peter Bendix and director of amateur scouting Frankie Piliere. The Marlins had the 16th overall pick, landing high school hitters in the first two rounds, then going heavy on college bats after that. They signed 20 out of their 21 selections. The 2025 minor league stats below were updated prior to Thursday's games. Round 1, Pick 16—PJ Morlando, OF, Summerville HS (SC) Current level: Low-A With the first pick of the Piliere/Bendix era, the Marlins shocked everyone by selecting high school outfielder PJ Morlando. Going into the draft process, Morlando was one of the top rated players, but he was pitched carefully during his senior season and had limited opportunities to show off his game power (.403/.602/.571/1.173 with two home runs and ten RBI). The Marlins noted following the selection that they were impressed by the athleticism he showed at the MLB Draft Combine and he had the potential to play center field in the pros. Since joining the organization, Morlando has suffered three injuries to his back, elbow and most recently his hamstring. He has drawn plenty of walks in 21 career games, but simply isn't hitting, slashing .148/.404/.279/.683 with two home runs, five RBI and a 126 wRC+. Morlando turned 20 in May. It has been tough to evaluate Morlando's progress with the organization considering his uneven playing time. "I genuinely believe it's been a run of bad luck," said Frankie Piliere in an exclusive interview with Fish Unfiltered. "It's a tough sequence of events, but PJ's body is in a great spot. When you draft an 18, 19-year-old player, there's just naturally not just a learning curve to facing professional pitching, but staying healthy. I think over time, he's going to figure this out and he's just been through a patch of bad luck." Round 2, Pick 56—Carter Johnson, SS, Oxford HS (AL) Current level: Low-A The Marlins went overslot with the selection of Alabama native Carter Johnson. Through 61 games in 2025, he is slashing .190/.278/.275/.553 with two home runs, 29 RBI and a 67 wRC+. He has been Jupiter's primary shortstop this season, though that is largely because of the time missed by Starlyn Caba. "We figured it would be a longer road with the bat," said Piliere regarding Johnson. "It's a defense-first player with a younger body and he is going through the bumps and bruises right now. Obviously, we want him to do really well out of the gate, but I don't think you can go into players like this and be shocked or taken off track when it's not an instant success. We really believe in Carter. He's actually gotten faster and stronger since he got here. He's just going through the bumps and bruises of facing Jupiter-level pitching." It has been a bit of a surprise that the Marlins have not demoted Johnson to the FCL, giving him some time to get back on the track. Competitive Balance Round B, Pick 70—Aiden May, RHP, Oregon State Current level: FCL (60-day IL) The first college player that the Marlins took was Oregon State's Aiden May. With the Beavers, he had a 3.05 ERA, 10.3 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 through 73 ⅔ innings pitched. May has yet to make his organizational debut as he underwent right elbow arthroscopic surgery back in March and should be back around mid-July. Round 3, Pick 92—Gage Miller, 2B, Alabama Current level: High-A Gage Miller slashed .381/.474/.702/1.176 with 18 home runs and 56 RBI with the Crimson Tide last year. In his lone season in the SEC, Miller was a Second Team All-American and an ABCA/Rawlings All-Southeast Region Second Team selection. After an awesome start in Low-A Jupiter, Miller was promoted to High-A Beloit in 2024. He began the 2025 season in Beloit and through 57 games (246 PA), he is slashing .239/.346/.344/.690 with three home runs and 14 RBI. In the month if June, Miller is slashing .222/.329/.460/.789 with three home runs and four RBI. Round 4, Pick 122—Fenwick Trimble, OF, James Madison Current level: Double-A (7-day IL) "As soon as he got into pro ball and we started working with him, swing decisions improved quite dramatically and all of a sudden, you have a really interesting player," said Piliere about Trimble. "He's a little bit quicker than he was when we got him, swing decisions are better and it's still the same contact ability, same power and upside." Through 34 games this season between High-A and Double-A, he is slashing .277/.407/.429/.835 with two home runs, 17 RBI, 16 stolen bases and a 143 wRC+. He was the first draftee to be promoted to Pensacola. Round 5, Pick 155—Grant Shepardson, RHP, Mountain Vista HS (CO) Current level: FCL The Marlin went overslot with this selection and they're happy they did. Shepardson represented them well at the 2025 Spring Breakout game. Through seven starts in the FCL, he has posted a 2.84 ERA, 3.58 FIP, 10.66 K/9 and 4.26 BB/9 through 25 ⅓ innings pitched. Round 6, Pick 184—Payton Green, SS, Georgia Tech Current level: High-A In his lone season at Georgia Tech, Green slashed .308/.407/.577/.984 with 12 home runs and 42 RBI. He is hitting almost as well in the Midwest League as he did in the ACC despite it being a more pitcher-friendly environment. He is slashing .307/.379/.497/.876 with four home runs, 24 RBI and a 144 wRC+ through 41 High-A games. Green is a clear candidate to move up to AA-Pensacola following the trade deadline. Round 7, Pick 214—Nick Brink, RHP, Portland Current level: High-A "Nick Brink has the ability to move fast," Piliere noted on Unfiltered. In 2025, he has posted a 3.77 ERA, 4.27 FIP, 8.15 K/9 and 3.62 BB/9 in 13 appearances (12 starts). Brink leads this class in minor league innings pitched so far. Round 8, Pick 244—Jacob Jenkins-Cowart, OF, East Carolina Current level: High-A In his time at East Carolina, Jenkins-Cowart was named to the 2024 All-AAC First Team. He finished the season slashing .340/.386/.558/.945 with 13 home runs and 79 RBI. Through Low-A and High-A, Jenkins-Cowart has slashed .211/.303/.339/.642 with two home runs, 21 RBI and an 85 wRC+. Round 9, Pick 274—Dub Gleed, 3B, UC Irvine Current level: Low-A Gleed was briefly given a taste of Triple-A to provide emergency depth, though most of his time this season has been spent between the FCL and Low-A Jupiter. Overall, he's slashing .203/.382/.304/.686 with one home run, nine RBI and a 113 wRC+. Round 10, Pick 304—Michael Snyder, 3B, Oklahoma Current level: Double-A In his time at Oklahoma, Snyder was named to the All-Big 12 First Team, NCAA Norman Regional All-Tournament Team and ranked fifth in the country with 26 doubles. Across two levels in 2025, Snyder is slashing .247/.401/.386/.786 with four home runs, 37 RBI and a 130 wRC+. A versatile defender, most of his action has been coming at first base and left field. Turning 25 in September, Snyder is also the oldest member of this draft class. Round 11, Pick 334—Jake Faherty, RHP, Arkansas Current level: Low-A MTY2RDRfV0ZRVkV3dEdEUT09X0R3RlRCd0FHQWdvQVhRWUdVUUFIQ0E4SEFGa0RVQVFBQVFSUUJWQU1DRmNIVkZNRA==.mp4 Sources told Fish On First that multiple teams were after Arkansas pitcher Jake Faherty despite only throwing 15 ⅔ career innings in college. He currently finds himself in Low-A posting a 4.91 ERA, 3.71 FIP, 14.11 K/9 and 5.52 BB/9 through 14 ⅔ innings pitched. Faherty joined the Marlins for their exhibition game against the New York Yankees right before Opening Day where he topped out at 100 mph Round 12, Pick 364—Connor Caskenette, C, Purdue Current level: High-A Caskenette got off to a scorching start in High-A, but slowed down when promoted to AA, only playing in two games there before being sent back to Beloit. Through 35 games played across two levels, he is slashing .219/.364/.281/.645 with 11 RBI and a 97 wRC+ while only throwing out 11% of base-stealers. Round 13, Pick 394—Cody Schrier, SS, UCLA Current level: Low-A Coming out of UCLA, Schrier has played primarily in Low-A, where he's currently slashing .241/.302/.391/.693 with two home runs, 18 RBI, 11 stolen bases and a 98 wRC+. With so many other Marlins prospects needing shortstop reps, he has been playing first base more than anything. Round 14, Pick 424—Cam Clayton, SS, Washington Current level: Low-A Clayton has been one of the better players for a lackluster Jupiter Hammerheads offense. He is slashing .292/.361/.510/.872 with three home runs, 13 RBI and a 144 wRC+ through 27 games played since his promotion to the Florida State League. At the age of 22, you can take some of these numbers with a grain of salt, but overall, great start for the former Washington Husky. Round 15, Pick 454—Coen Niclai, C, Service HS (AK) Niclai was the only player in this draft class who did not sign. He honored his commitment to Oregon, where he slashed .242/.324/.455/.779 with one home runs and four RBI in 23 games played as a freshman. He entered the transfer portal and has since signed with Arizona State. Round, 16, Pick 484—Eric Rataczak, 1B, Niagara Current level: High-A Although drafted as a first baseman, Rataczak is regularly playing right field for the Sky Carp in 2025. Through 42 games in High-A Beloit, he is slashing .241/.346/.346/.692 with two home runs, 19 RBI and a 99 wRC+. Round 17, Pick 514—Micah McDowell, OF, Oregon State Current level: High-A Between Low-A and High-A, McDowell is slashing .221/.341/.356/.697 with two home runs, 13 RBI and a 105 wRC+. Round 18, Pick 544—Nate Payne, LHP, Central Dauphin HS (PA) Current level: FCL Payne was the lone left-handed pitcher drafted by the Marlins last year and through eight starts in the complex league, he has posted a 2.03 ERA, 2.48 FIP, 12.77 K/9 and 4.06 BB/9 through 31 innings pitched. Similar to Shepardson, expect Payne to be promoted to Low-A later this summer. Round 19, Pick 574—Luke Lashutka, RHP, St. Leo Current level: High-A As a 23-year old in Low-A, there wasn't much to take away, but credit to Lashutka for finishing his Hammerheads stint riding a streak of 19 ⅓ consecutive scoreless innings. His High-A debut last Saturday was a much different story, allowing six runs on six hits, three walks and three strikeouts in 1 ⅓ innings of work. Round 20, Pick 604—Chase Centala RHP, UCF Current level: High-A Centala has quietly been great. He began the 2025 season in Jupiter, where he posted a 3.38 ERA, 4.36 FIP, 9.82 K/9 and a 3.99 BB/9 through 29 ⅓ innings pitched. Since his promotion to High-A, he has a 0.90 ERA, 4.17 FIP, 5.40 K/9 and 0.90 BB/9 through 10 innings pitched. There has been some luck, but the command has been great thus far. View full article

The Marlins are visiting San Francisco for the only time this season, beginning a three-game series against the Giants on Tuesday, but it's possible some of their players will be coming back here in the near future. After three straight years floating around the .500 mark, the Giants look like true postseason contenders again, and they are acting like it. They got the 2025 MLB trade season off to an early start by acquiring Red Sox infielder Rafael Devers on June 15 for a four-player package. Meanwhile, the Marlins (31-45 record) are going to be sellers. They were extremely active at the 2024 deadline by adding 15 total players in July trades and will once again focus on strengthening their organization with young prospects. There could be a match here. The Giants have a strong starting rotation. Led by ace Logan Webb, the staff ranks 12th among MLB teams in ERA and first in FIP. However, Justin Verlander is showing his age at 42 years old and he'll be a free agent after this season. Also, they lost Kyle Harrison in the Devers trade, who would've been a potential long-term rotation option. Depending on how the next month goes, they could be one of many teams involved in the Sandy Alcantara sweepstakes. If that's the case, the Giants would have a chance to make the strongest offer for Alcantara by including top prospect Bryce Eldridge. A 20-year-old left-handed hitter who is currently in Triple-A, Eldridge is slashing .263/.329/.484/.812 with ten home runs, 33 RBI and a 124 wRC+ this season. His tool grades, according to MLB Pipeline, are a 50 hit, 70 power, 40 run, 60 arm and 45 field, with an overall grade of 55. FanGraphs also values Eldridge as a 55-grade prospect, while Baseball America rates him a 60. Across the board, Eldridge's numbers have come back down to earth from his 2024 breakout season, including an increase in strikeout rate (25.4% to 29.0%) and decrease in walk rate (11.4% to 8.7%). It's still very impressive considering that he is nearly seven years younger than the average AAA player. It is rare to see trades involving consensus top-25 prospects, but Eldridge is in an unusual situation now that the Giants have acquired Devers to be their first baseman/designated hitter for years to come. After beginning his minor league career in right field, the Giants moved him to first base in 2024 and president of baseball operations Buster Posey said that he will continue to develop there despite being blocked by Devers. There is a clearer opening for Eldridge in Miami. Their first base combination of Eric Wagaman and Matt Mervis has done poorly this season. Neither of them are guaranteed money or roster spots beyond 2025. Fellow power-hitting prospect Deyvison De Los Santos is on a similar timeline as Eldridge, but Eldridge has the upside to be a much more complete hitter. On Tuesday afternoon, the Giants announced that Eldridge has a moderate right hamstring strain that will require an estimated 3-4 weeks of rehab. Assuming there are no setbacks, he should be able to resume baseball activities soon enough so that the injury has no impact on his inclusion in a potential deadline deal. Unless Alcantara completely dominates over his remaining pre-deadline starts, the Giants might demand an additional piece to balance the trade and help with their playoff run. The Giants have arguably the best defensive catcher in baseball in Patrick Bailey, but they aren't getting any offense from the position. San Francisco catchers are dead last in wRC+ and batting average. As crazy as it sounds, they may see significant value in pairing him with Nick Fortes (slashing .245/.294/.372/.666 with a 82 wRC+), who has caught the majority of Alcantara's starts. Fortes is under club control through 2028. This kind of trade would put a lot of pressure on Peter Bendix. He'd be acquiring the best position player prospect of his Marlins tenure, but the focus on quality over quantity means Eldridge needs to succeed to justify dealing one of the best pitchers in franchise history. View full article

Miami Marlins right-hander Sandy Alcantara speaks with the media at loanDepot park after earning a win against the Atlanta Braves on Sunday. After struggling throughout April and May, Alcantara has posted a 2.74 ERA in the month of June. View full video

MIAMI, FL—Thanks to a Sandy Alcantara quality start and Kyle Stowers snapping a long homerless streak, the Miami Marlins will head to San Francisco on a happy flight. They defeated the Atlanta Braves in Sunday's rubber game by a final score of 5-3. Alcantara, who made his 15th start of the season, gave the Marlins six innings of work, allowing three runs on six hits, two walks and striking out four. In his last four starts, Miami's 2022 Cy Young Award winner holds a 2.73 ERA. Alcantara's slider was his most-used pitch, generating three whiffs and in two of his four strikeout pitches. His sinker averaged 97.1 mph and topped out at 99.0 mph, generating two whiffs. "They (the Braves) struggle with breaking balls," said Alcantara. "I saw Eury (Pérez)'s start yesterday, so a lot of breaking balls and that's where I took a couple things from those first two games. Today I was executing my breaking balls, throwing a lot of cutters with fastball combination was great today." Similar to his last outing against the Phillies, Braves hitters made Alcantara work, fouling off 25 pitches and posting a low 58% first-pitch strike rate. In the top of the first inning, Alcantara surrendered a first-pitch double to Marlins killer Ronald Acuña Jr. He was driven in by third baseman Austin Riley, giving the Braves an early 1-0 lead. In the top of the third, catcher Drake Baldwin drove in Acuña, giving the Braves a 2-1 lead. Alex Verdugo grounded into a force out that allowed the Braves third run of the ballgame to score. "He's pitching closer to what everyone expected coming into the season," said manager Clayton McCullough following the game. "It was going to happen. He's on a good run now. He used all his pitches really well. To lefties, the ability to throw that cutter, throw the slider, harder breaking balls to complement the fastball/changeup helped him." For the first time since May 14 Marlins outfielder Kyle Stowers hit a home run, taking Braves starter Bryce Elder deep in the bottom of the second inning, tying the game at one apiece. It marked Stowers' 11th home run of the season, tying him for the team lead with Agustín Ramírez. "I'm sure he probably felt great running the bases," said McCullough, who was coincidentally doing an in-game interview with FanDuel Sports Network Florida while Stowers was at the plate. Otto Lopez notched his 11th multi-hit game of the season. In the third inning, Lopez hit a 102.5 mph RBI single, driving in Xavier Edwards and tying the game at two. In the fifth inning, Lopez put the Marlins ahead, 3-2. Dane Myers gave the Marlins an insurance run, making it a 4-2 game. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Xavier Edwards drove in Nick Fortes on an RBI single. It marked his 19th multi-hit game and 16th RBI of the season. He also stole his 14th base of the season in the bottom of the third. With the win, the Marlins move to 31-45 on the season and are an even 12-12 against National League East opponents. For the first time since September 15-17, 2023, they won a series over the Braves—Atlanta had beaten them in three of their last five series against each other and split the other two. The Marlins will head to San Francisco to kick off a three-game set against the Giants, but first have a rare Monday off-day. Cal Quantrill will take the mound for the Marlins on Tuesday. First pitch is at 9:45 pm. View full article

Miami Marlins right-hander Edward Cabrera speaks with the media at loanDepot park after taking a no-decision in Thursday's start against the Philadelphia Phillies. Pitching one of the best games of his MLB career, Cabrera was removed with a 1-0 lead in the top of the seventh inning. The Marlins lost, 2-1. View full video

MIAMI, FL—The Miami Marlins are the only team in baseball that has not had a starting pitcher complete seven innings of work this season. That remained true on Thursday night as manager Clayton McCullough took the ball away from Edward Cabrera with one out in the top of the seventh inning, only 82 pitches into a scoreless outing. Everything went downhill after the that and the Marlins went on to lose by a final score of 2-1. Cabrera went 6 ⅓ innings allowing two hits, walking three and striking out five. He is only the second Marlins starting pitcher this season to record an out in the seventh inning. He joined Max Meyer, who did so on May 9 against the Chicago White Sox. "I wanted to stay, but the manager makes the decisions," Cabrera said postgame via an interpreter. "He's the boss, so you gotta respect that." After taking Cabrera out, McCullough summoned lefty Cade Gibson from the bullpen. With Alec Bohm on first, he surrendered a base hit to Max Kepler to put runners on the corners, then threw a wild pitch moving Kepler to second. Otto Kemp was hit by a pitch to load the bases and a Bryson Stott fielder's choice tied the game at one apiece (the run was charged to Cabrera). "Cade's been great for us and with Kepler coming back up there at that particular time in the game, Kepler's third time coming up, just liked that matchup there to get Cade in the game and have him and a run of hitters to give him the best chance to get us out of that particular inning," said manager Clayton McCullough. "Thought that Eddie certainly threw the ball terrifically to that point and I liked Cade coming in there with Kepler hitting." Although Gibson had the platoon advantage against Kepler, Cabrera has posted reverse splits in 2025, performing better against lefties than righties in terms of strikeout rate and OPS allowed. In the top of the eighth inning, Kyle Schwarber took Anthony Bender deep for his 23rd home run of the season, giving the Phillies a 2-1 lead. Cabrera generated 14 whiffs, six with the curveball and five with the slider. He went sinker-heavy, with that pitch averaging 97.5 mph and topping out at 98.9 mph. The changeup, which has been his most-used pitch this season, was only thrown 12% of the time. "I think he did a good job taking some shots in, which opened up breaking balls away, kept the ball off the barrel as far he was," said McCullough. "Other than a couple walks on some of the lefties, some side misses, he was competitive in close pitches. Looking at Edward as we continue to go through this season, just another really encouraging step." Cabrera was given some run support in the bottom of the fifth inning thanks to a Nick Fortes RBI infield single. Going into Thursday's game, Fortes was sporting a .919 OPS in the month of June. That was all the Marlins were able to get against Phillies starter Cristopher Sánchez, who gave his team eight innings of work, striking out four. "It's the same thing as Cabbie—when a guy's got his good stuff, it makes for tough at-bats," said Fortes postgame. "You just have to compete and try to move the ball forward." With the loss, the Marlins fall to 29-44 on the season and dropped three out of four to the Phillies. Next, they will welcome the Atlanta Braves to town for a three-game set. Janson Junk will take the mound for his first start of the season. For the Braves, Didier Fuentes, a 20-year-old righty who is the Braves number ten prospect according to MLB Pipeline, will make his Major League debut. View full article