Kevin Barral

HOUSTON, TX - Miami Marlins starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara summed it up pretty well when he spoke to the media following the team's ninth straight loss. "We've been like a way different than the first half." The Marlins, who played their closest game of the three-game set against the Houston Astros, tied at two going into the bottom of the eighth inning, fell victims to the best hitter in baseball, falling by a final score of 5-2. If there was one player on the Marlins roster that could come out and stop the bleeding, it would be their longtime ace. He was well on his way to doing that, completing seven innings of work and limiting the Houston Astros to just two runs. He received some run support thanks to back-to-back RBI from Javier Sanoja (double) and Joe Mack (single), tying the game at two. Alcantara, lauded for his ability to pitch deep into games with a high pitch count, came out for the bottom of the eighth inning with 97 pitches already thrown. The Marlins were counting on Alcantara to be the one to snap this streak. A case could've been made that maybe Alcantara shouldn't have come out with the pending off-day on Thursday, giving the opportunity to dig into your higher leverage arms, but the decision to have "El Caballo" go out there was the one Clayton McCullough and his staff made. The bottom of the eighth inning had Alcantara lined up to face the top of the Astros order: Jeremy Peña, Yordan Alvarez and Isaac Paredes. Peña started the inning with a base hit, setting the stage for Yordan Alvarez. Alcantara described Alvarez as "the best hitter in baseball right now," and rightfully so. It was the Marlins best pitcher in that moment against the Astros best hitter. On the third pitch of the at-bat, a fastball towards the bottom of the zone, Alvarez got a piece of it, taking Alcantara 394-feet the opposite way for a two-run shot, giving the Astros a 4-2 lead. Isaac Paredes followed it up with a home run of this own, extending the lead, 5-2. "(Alvarez) covers a lot of different pitches and both sides of the plate," McCullough said. "He's having an All-Star worthy season, MVP-type season, and he put some really good swings on balls. He got us." Alcantara finished the night entering the eighth, but unable to record an out. He surrendered five runs on nine hits, walked one, and struck out three. Calvin Faucher entered the game for Alcantara, striking out two and generating a pop fly. Anytime that your lineup does not combine for more than 10 strikeouts in the game, it is already a better night than Miami had had recently. On Wednesday night, the Marlins struck out six times, but were able to do some damage on Astros starter Peter Lambert, knocking in two runs on six hits. It would be the Astros bullpen that shut down the Marlins, allowing one hit between three relievers. "I thought we had a lot of really good at bats," McCullough said. "We created some opportunities. Thought we hit some balls hard, and I think we just kind of keep plugging along with that. The at-bat quality as a whole was good tonight." With the loss, the Marlins drop to 52-51, 1.5 games out of the third National League Wild Card spot. In a competitive National League, the Arizona Diamondbacks have won back-to-back games, giving them sole possession of the third WC while both the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates are half a game back. The Marlins and Washington Nationals both have the same record. "I think we gotta put things together and find a way to put ourselves in that situation that we were in the first half," Alcantara said. "This is baseball, someday you win 20 and someday you lose 25. We gotta keep fighting together.” The Marlins will go back to Miami to begin a two-team, six-game homestand, with what feels like a last sliver of hope to bounce back from this season-collapsing stretch. The San Diego Padres and Philadelphia Phillies are coming to town. First pitch on Friday is at 7:10 pm EST with a starter yet to be announced. View full article

HOUSTON, TX - For the first time this season, the Miami Marlins faced a right-handed starting pitcher without including outfielder Jakob Marsee in their lineup. Instead, Esteury Ruiz ninth and manned center field against the Houston Astros on Wednesday. This wasn't due to an injury or a day of rest, Marlins manager Clayton McCullough confirmed. It's a reaction to Marsee's lack of offensive production throughout the 2026 season, even when he's had the platoon advantage. "Talked with Jakob and I think we are at a point where it's no secret that Jakob has struggled this year from a performance standpoint," McCullough said. "Jakob is still going to play with regularity, but told him there's going to be some times here coming up where versus right, you don't start." Marsee's first month at the major league level was as good as the Marlins could've dreamed. In August 2025, he slashed .352/.430/.629/1.058 with four home runs, 25 RBI and nine stolen bases. The next month, he hit .231/.292/.327/.619 with one home run, eight RBI and stole five bases. Over the offseason, there were discussion of a potential contract extension, but those never went far. In 98 games this season, Marsee has continued where he left off at the end of 2025, slashing .192/.313/.287/.600 with five home runs, 25 RBI, 19 stolen bases and a 73 wRC+. Among players with a minimum of 400 plate appearances, Marsee has the lowest batting average, slugging percentage, OPS and wRC+ in baseball. Despite that, the Marlins have given him every opportunity to turn things around as he ranks third on the team in games played and plate appearances. That being said, Marsee provides value defensively and on the base paths. He has a plus-five outs above average in center and his 19 stolen bases are second on the team. "He has showed up on that side of the field defensively and played very well," McCullough said. "If he needs to pinch run, pinch hit or go on defense, we're going to use that because it's about trying to win games. On the flipside, Ruiz, who had played in 62 games entering Wednesday, is slashing .243/.363/.485/.848 with five home runs, 10 RBI, 20 stolen bases and a 132 wRC+. "In a limited sample of opportunity this year, he has done some really nice things for us and just kind of got to the point with where we're at where give Esteury some more opportunity to get into the lineup," McCullough said. On Wednesday, Ruiz went 1-for-4 with two more steals. Marsee remained on the bench during the 5-2 Marlins loss. View full article

HOUSTON, TX - It isn't for lack of effort that the Miami Marlins have lost eight straight games. Most of the games have been highly competitive, with seven of the eight decided by two runs or less. Tuesday's 5-3 loss to the Houston Astros was because "we shot ourselves in the foot a couple times," manager Clayton McCullough said. That started in the fifth inning. With Tyler Phillips on the mound, Lucas Spence grounded out for the first out of the inning and nine hitter Christian Vazquez reached on a throwing error from Javier Sanoja. McCullough took Phillips out of the game to avoid facing the top of the Astros lineup a third time. Tyler Zuber entered the game to get the final two outs of the inning, and to his credit, he executed. Jeremy Peña grounded out and Yordan Alvarez struck out...except the Marlins weren't able to complete the out due to a wild pitch. Isaac Paredes followed with a three-run homer, giving the Astros a 5-1 lead they wouldn't lose for the remainder of the game. "It's tough to give opponents extra outs and they were able to capitalize on that," McCullough said. Overall, Phillips gave the Marlins 4 1/3 innings of work, allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits (one home run), one walk and two strikeouts. He surrendered a leadoff homer to Peña in the bottom of the first inning and an RBI double to Lucas Spence in the ensuing inning, giving the Astros a 2-0 lead. "Threw a horseshit pitch to Peña," Phillips said. "Over convicted, tried to spin it hard and I spun it right into his barrel. Men on base in the second inning, lead-off walk is unacceptable. Gave up a hit to a guy I don't even know, good for (Spence). Can't be grooving stuff and getting into a 3-2 count. Didn't want to walk him, felt like a challenge and he got a hit. I settled in nicely, made pitches where I felt like I needed to." In 25 appearances (10 starts), Phillips now has a 3.52 ERA, 4.55 FIP, 6.58 K/9 and 4.08 BB/9. Within those 10 starts, Phillips has completed five innings or more in half of those and is now reaching his career-high in innings pitched (77.2), which he will surpass in his next scheduled start. "Going into the break, my arm was getting a little tired," Phillips said. "Every time you get close to your innings limit, your arm starts to catch up to you. It doesn't feel bad though. Went out there, I felt good to go. Been taking care of my body, did the best I can, doing good work with the trainers...I think the only thing for me tonight is if there was any fatigue or being tired, it was just after that long delay of nine days, and just keep building into it. I like the old school style of pitching, going deep into games. If it was up to me, I'd to throw 130 pitches every single time. I don't care how tired my arm is. Just gotta keep doing your job until they take the ball from you." For a second straight night, the Marlins struck out more than 10 times. In the series, opener it was 14 total strikeouts, and on Tuesday, it was 13. Xavier Edwards and Joe Mack both struck out three times. It marked the first time this season that Edwards had struck out three times in a single game. The Marlins also were 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position. A lot of credit needs to go to Astros starter Tatsuya Imai, who in six innings of work, allowed one run on four hits and struck out eight. The lone run he surrendered came in the top of the fifth inning, an RBI double from Kyle Stowers, scoring Otto Lopez from first base. Joe Mack gave the Marlins some life in the seventh inning, hitting his ninth home run of the season, a two-run shot. Mack now has a home run in back-to-back games. In 58 games this season, Mack is now slashing .243/.301/.438/.739 with nine home runs, 28 RBI and has a 101 wRC+. He also picked up his 18th caught stealing of the season, tying Milwaukee Brewers star William Contreras for the league lead. "It's pretty cool to hear that," Mack said regarding where he ranks in caught stealings. "I think that I attribute it to just the catching department. (Craig Driver) just putting in the work every day and getting good pitches to throw; sometimes not getting good pitches, but making the most of it. Being an athlete is just doing everything that I possibly can to help out the team." With the loss, the Marlins are now 52-50, only two games over .500. Their odds to make the playoffs, which were above 50% earlier this month, according to FanGraphs, have fallen all the way to 17.8% entering Wednesday. Despite the recent struggles, McCullough urges fans to not lose faith in the team. “People that want to jump off [the bandwagon], I wouldn’t do it. Stay on there. We’re gonna get this thing back going. We got a lot of baseball left.” The Marlins will send ace Sandy Alcantara out to the mound on Wednesday night in hopes of snapping the streak at eight, just like the 2023 team that made the postseason did three years ago. 8:10 pm first pitch. View full article

HOUSTON, TX - The Miami Marlins free fall continued on Monday night as they fell 8-5 to a struggling Houston Astros team. A team that once stood 10 games over .500, comfortably in the third National League Wild Card spot and even in the fight for the National League East crown, find themselves once again fighting to gain sole possession of the third Wild Card Spot and sporting the longest losing streak in baseball at seven games. Despite these struggles, Marlins manager Clayton McCullough does not believe that the pressure of competing for a playoff spot has been a factor, noting "that's something you guys bring up a lot" and calling it "a hot topic." "I thought for the most part we pitched very well in Milwaukee, and they just outplayed us for for three days," McCullough said pregame. "I'm sure that the headlines will continue to be that, and I look at it like this stretch of games and losing over the course of an entire season unfortunately happens on multiple occasions. Right now we're going through it, and I think myself and our coaches are just much more concerned with getting our guys back to playing a better brand of baseball." What should keep fans hopeful is what the 2023 Marlins looked like just three years ago. Coming out of the All-Star Break, they dropped eight straight games, standing at 53-47 before snapping the streak. That team finished the season with an 84-78 record, good enough for the second Wild Card spot. The National League may not require a high amount of wins to slip into the postseason, so that keeps the 2026 Marlins in a similar, but favorable spot. Marlins starting pitcher Janson Junk described his season as "up and down." On Monday night, we saw the down of Junk's season, allowing six runs in four innings pitched, walking three in the process. All six of the runs allowed came in a 42-pitch bottom of the second inning. With the bases loaded and one out, Junk had to face the top of the Astros lineup, starting with Jeremy Peña. He took Junk deep, for his second career grand slam, giving the Astros a 5-2 lead. Yordan Alvarez followed it up with his 32nd home run of the season, making it 6-2 after just two innings of work. "I think the second inning, that's the story of it," Junk said postgame. "I don't really care that I came out after, went a few more innings and put up zeros. That's what I'm trying to do. Putting the team in a 6-2 deficit after we go up to with a big home run, to have (the Astros) come back with a six-spot, that's pretty demoralizing." Junk's biggest struggles have come with his command. In 2025, Junk surrendered 1.06 walk per nine, which was the lowest in baseball (minimum 110.0 IP). It is still low this season, at 2.61, but certainly a jump compared to where it was just one year ago. What hurt Junk the most in that second inning was walking the lead-off hitter, LaMonte Wade Jr. He walked three in that second inning. "I think it could be just getting back into the groove, coming off the IL, you know," Junk said. "I think that's something I got like check mechanically, maybe just getting outside of myself a little bit and I think it's those leadoff walks. That happened a few times against the Mariners in my last outing, but I was able to come back from it. Tonight shows you that leadoff walks kill you, and I'll get better at that." As an offense, the Marlins struck out 14 times, tied for second-most this season. One through six in the lineup each struck out twice. Astros starter Ronel Blanco took the mound for the first time in 429 days and struck out eight in 4 2/3 innings of work. The Astros bullpen combined for the other six strikeouts. On top of that, the Marlins went one for seven with runners in scoring position. The Marlins' source of offense came from Joe Mack hitting his eighth home run of the season in the top of the second inning and Liam Hicks hitting his team-leading 14th home run in the fourth inning, both off Blanco. Heriberto Hernandez provided some signs of life in the ninth inning, knocking in an RBI single, but it was too late at that point. "Three innings or so there, I think we we did a good job," McCullough said. "We talked about just trying to create some traffic and we just weren't able to come through with some hits with runners in scoring position. We'll continue to give ourselves those shots. That'll turn, I know that will. The strikeouts, it's something that's a little atypical of our group for the most part, but we've been piling them up here recently, so got to try to put the ball forward with a little more regularity." With the loss, the Marlins fall to 52-49 on the season, still tied for the third National League Wild Card spot as the St. Louis Cardinals fell to the Los Angeles Angels after the Marlins game. Tyler Phillips will take the mound for the Marlins as they look to snap the losing-skid on Tuesday at 8:10 pm EST. View full article

HOUSTON, TX — On Monday afternoon, the Miami Marlins placed Max Meyer on the 15-day IL due to a neck strain. He will be eligible to return beginning on August 3. "It popped up for the first time in that start versus Seattle at home pre All-Star break," manager Clayton McCullough said. "He felt a sensation in the neck area in that outing and we went with the the extra time. He felt much better with that time down and was able to get through his throwing and bullpens. We all felt he was in a good place to go make that start after the break, and then third inning of the game in Milwaukee, he said he felt a similar sensation there. Felt like it was worth going to get some further examination on that, and he went out to to L.A. to get that looked." Meyer this season has made 20 starts posting a 2.68 ERA, 3.51 FIP, 9.81 K/9 and a 3.32 BB/9. He was selected to his first MLB All-Star Game along with Otto Lopez. His 111 innings pitched is already a career-high. To temporarily take Meyer's spot on the active roster, the team recalled right-hander Zach Brzykcy from Triple-A Jacksonville. We have seen the Marlins successfully use bullpen games this year to fill in for injured starters, but they could also call up a more traditional replacement prior to Friday's game (originally scheduled to be Meyer's next start). McCullough said they'll base that decision on how the Houston Astros series goes. Already on the 26-man roster, Ryan Gusto can go multiple innings and has already started six games this season at the big league level. Meanwhile, veteran Braxton Garrett in his last 31 innings at Triple-A has a 0.29 ERA. Garrett made two starts at the big league level during the month of May, but struggled with control, walking eight total batters. Overall, in 14 Jumbo Shrimp appearances (13 starts), Garrett has a 1.52 ERA, 3.85 FIP, 9.76 K/9 and 3.30 BB/9. The Marlins and Astros begin a three-game set at 8:10 pm ET. Janson Junk will make his second start since coming back from his own IL stint. View full article

The second half of the season for the Miami Marlins got underway on Friday night in Milwaukee, facing a Brewers team that sits atop the National League Central. Game one of the series had a playoff feel to it, with the game tied at 1-1 going into extra innings, but it would be Garrett Mitchell and the Brewers who came out on top, winning their 60th game of the season, defeating the Marlins, 2-1. Mitchell not only won the game with a base hit up the middle off Lake Bachar, but he robbed both Heriberto Hernández and Joe Mack of potential go-ahead hits in the ninth and 10th innings, respectively. "It's a real recipe for winning a lot of games," said Marlins manager Clayton McCullough. "They didn't walk anyone tonight and you make some really nice plays to save some runs, then in close games like this, it makes a difference. I think we've seen that on our end as well. The margins are very small to win a major league game, especially on the road. Tonight, it was really close the whole way through and they came through with a two-out hit there, which was the difference." Griffin Conine gave the Marlins a 1-0 lead in the top of the fifth inning when he took starter Logan Henderson 398 feet deep to right-center field. He's been limited to 31 games this season due to injury, but Conine leads the team in wRC+ (147) and slugging percentage (.543). Despite his success, the Marlins replaced Conine with pinch-hitter Leo Jiménez in the top of the seventh to get the platoon advantage against Brewers left-handed reliever Aaron Ashby. Jiménez popped out. "I felt like with a runner on base and less than two outs to take a shot there with Leo to extend the inning and try to give ourselves what was at the time the best opportunity to score a run," McCullough said. "Maybe you don't see some of those guys in the back end of the games. Certainly weighing that moment, and then what potentially could be a few innings later." Sandy Alcantara did his part to give the Marlins an opportunity to win. In six innings of work, he allowed one run on three hits (one home run), walked four and struck out seven. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Joey Ortiz took Alcantara deep for a solo homer, but there was very little hard contact outside of that. The teams combined to go 0-for-17 with runners in scoring position until Mitchell's walk-off hit. Dating back to before the All-Star break, the Marlins are now losers of four straight games, dropping them to 52-46 on the season. With the St. Louis Cardinals defeating to the Arizona Diamondbacks, St. Louis has taken over the third National League Wild Card spot. Working on 10 days of rest, Max Meyer takes the mound on Saturday for a 4:10 pm first pitch. View full article

MIAMI, FL - On Thursday, before the big-league team took a flight to Milwaukee, the Miami Marlins made the signing of 2026 first-round pick Jacob Lombard official. Francys Romero reported that Lombard and his representation agreed to a $5M signing bonus, which is $445k under slot value. "It's been a long time coming," Marlins Vice President, Amateur Forecasting & Player Evaluation Initiatives Frankie Piliere said. "We're lucky to get the opportunity to draft him. We weren't really sure until probably the night before, where it started to really look like an opportunity. It's really a culmination of a lot of work on a really awesome young player, and really excited that it came together." It was never expected that Lombard would fall out of the top 10. He was the fifth ranked prospect per both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America, so the fact that the Marlins took him at 14 was a shock to everyone. "I've participated in enough drafts to know that surprising things happen all the time," President of Baseball Operations Peter Bendix said. "That's why we were prepared to draft a player of Jacob's caliber anywhere in the draft." The Gulliver Prep product is no stranger to loanDepot park, having been coming as a fan to Marlins games and most recently, the World Baseball Classic. Lombard also played on the field, most notably at the Prep Baseball All-American Game. In his senior season, Lombard slashed slashed .477/.607/.864/1.471 with 10 home runs and 25 RBI. "Once the draft got closer, I started playing scenarios out in my head, but never really got too specific on what team since that was out of my control," Lombard said. "I was just waiting for the call and getting ready to get to go to whatever team chose me." Since his high school season came to a close, Lombard has been lifting weights and getting his body prepared for what he called a second season. "I love baseball, so I've been itching to get to play again, so I couldn't be more excited." Lombard comes from a baseball family. His brother George Lombard Jr., is the New York Yankees top prospect and his father George Lombard Sr. was a longtime Major League Baseball player and is now the bench coach for the Detroit Tigers. That and facing some of the top talent in the state of Florida has him in a good spot going into his first pro season. "I think growing up and having a family in the game prepares me," Lombard said. "I get to talk to my brother about what he sees on a daily basis in the minor leagues and of course conversations with my dad who had a 16-year career and is still around the game. I think I'm mentally in a very good spot and pretty prepared because I know what a daily schedule will look like, so there won't be too many surprises." Along with Lombard, the remainder of the Marlins draft picks will attend a draft camp down in South Florida. The Marlins have shown to be an aggressive organization when it comes to promoting players. We saw that last season with 2025 first-round pick Aiva Arquette beginning his professional career in High-A and players have been promoted quickly ever since. "We challenge our players, that's how we get better," Bendix said. "We put our players in environments that are not easy and it'll be no different with Jacob. We have all the confidence in the world about how he will handle it on the field and athletically. Even more so, we get to see the kind of person he is. He's going to respond really well to those challenges and it's going to be hard, but I think he knows that and that is how people get better." View full article

Fresh off inking his professional contract, first-round draft pick Jacob Lombard speaks with the media about his impressions of the Marlins organization, his past experience at loanDepot park and more. View full video

PHILADELPHIA, PA — It's always a hectic period every July from the MLB Draft through the MLB All-Star Game. Fish On First was in Philly to cover it all from a Miami Marlins perspective. Before the 2026 regular season resumes, below are the main Marlins takeaways from the festivities. Marlins get a steal with Lombard at 14 Gulliver Prep product Jacob Lombard entered the MLB Draft as the fifth-ranked draft prospect per MLB Pipeline and Baseball America. At the very least, he expected to go within the first 10 picks of the draft. Instead, Lombard was still on the board for the Marlins with the 14th overall pick and they took him. His signing was made official on Thursday morning. "It's an outcome that we really did not expect," said Marlins Vice President, Amateur Forecasting & Player Evaluation Initiatives Frankie Piliere. "Jacob Lombard is somebody that we've probably known about as one of the most, if not the most talented high school player in the class. As much upside as anybody could have expected on our team overall. Thrilled that the person we're welcoming into the organization is top notch and the player is top notch. I think we've got a room full of player development people that are so excited to work with him. It's just very rare to be able to acquire this type of talent." In his senior season, Lombard slashed .477/.607/.864/1.471 with 10 home runs and 25 RBI. He is most likely going to stick at shortstop and should be making his pro debut soon. Then in the eighth round, the Marlins made the stunning decision to select Stanford's Rintaro Sasaki. The famous Japanese slugger had already been a first-round pick in Nippon Professional Baseball and also could've gone back to Stanford with two more years of college eligibility. Reports are floating around that he'll sign with the Marlins, though that hasn't been finalized yet. In 2026, Sasaki slashed .262/.403/.549/.952 with 16 home runs, 47 RBI and a 106 wRC+. Milbrandt's short-lived Futures Game appearance Fish On First number six prospect Karson Milbrandt was the lone Marlins representative in the 2026 Futures Game. Milbrandt entered the game in the top of the sixth inning, throwing four pitches, inducing two quick fly balls. He was taken out right after that. Wen-Hui Pan entered the game for Milbrandt. "Looking around this locker room and there's a lot of guys that are really good that I'll also be facing for a while, so super cool to see and meet the guys and I'm excited," Milbrandt told Fish On First. Milbrandt started the 2026 season in Double-A Pensacola, where in nine starts, he posted a 1.34 ERA, 2.89 FIP, 13.40 K/9 and 3.29 BB/9. In six appearances (five starts) since being promoted to Triple-A Jacksonville, he's struggled a bit, with a 5.48 ERA, 4.80 FIP, 7.83 K/9 and 8.61 BB/9. "Not pitching as well as I'd like to, but lots of learning," Milbrandt said. "I feel like I am going to look back at this in a couple of years, or couple of months and going to be happy that I failed because I know how to adjust and how to attack these hitters. Lots of learning and I just need to keep on learning." Sheffield provides his thoughts on 2026 Marlins During batting practice before the All-Star Game itself, former Marlins great Gary Sheffield was in attendance. Sheffield was acquired during the inaugural 1993 season and represented Florida as an All-Star in '93 and '96. He was part of their 1997 World Series team and still holds franchise records for career on-base percentage (.426) and OPS. (.970). "I watch from time to time," Sheffield said of the 2026 Fish. "Lots of young great players over there that are turning the corner to get back to their winning ways. We set the tone when we were there and then the '98 team came in and did the same thing. Now, this is a new generation and it's their time. Once you start having success, you then start getting more confidence as a team and you'll see the difference in results." Regarding this year's Marlins All-Star rep Otto Lopez, Sheffield complimented him on his resilience. "When you can forget things that happen that don't go your way, you can process it, you gotta slow everything down and then you come back. He's probably sitting on top of the world mentally and that's the most important thing." Lopez finishes festivities on a high note Otto Lopez entered the All-Star Game as a defensive replacement in the top of the sixth inning. In the bottom of the seventh, Lopez faced Tampa Bay Rays starter Drew Rasmussen who struck him out swinging on six pitches. Lopez then bounced back in the bottom of the ninth, facing Rays closer Bryan Baker, with an opposite-field hit on the second pitch of the at-bat. "Coming off the bench, I was just trying to have a good at-bat, but struck out," Lopez told Fish On First following the game. "Something about me is that I never give up and I was hoping to have another at-bat to make up for it. I finally got a hit and I felt pretty good after that." The American League beat the NL by a final score of 4-0. The Marlins shortstop enters the second half of the season slashing .334/.368/.505/.874 with nine home runs, 45 RBI, 17 stolen bases and a 137 wRC+. Lopez leads MLB in batting average, hits and doubles. He is also tied for ninth in the NL in OPS, tied for third in triples, tied for eighth in extra-base hits and fourth in total bases. View full article

Marlins right-hander Max Meyer speaks with Fish On First about the keys to his All-Star-caliber production this season and who he's most excited to talk to during this week's festivities. View full video

PHILADELPHIA, PA - With the 14th pick in the 2026 MLB Draft, the Miami Marlins have selected shortstop Jacob Lombard . The slot value for the 14th pick is $5,444,900. The Marlins bonus pool is $11,960,100. Lombard is a Miami native who just wrapped up his senior season at Gulliver Prep and is currently committed to the University of Miami. This past season, Lombard slashed .477/.607/.864/1.471 with 10 home runs and 25 RBI. "We're thrilled, we didn't expect we'd get a chance to draft someone in Jacob Lombard," said president of baseball operations Peter Bendix soon after the selection was made. Considered one of the top hitting prospects in this draft class, he is also considered one of the top high school prospects in the 2026 draft class (second-ranked overall prospect and top-ranked prospect in Florida, according to Perfect Game). Among all draft-eligible players, Lombard is ranked fifth by MLB Pipeline and Baseball America. Lombard comes from a strong baseball family. His brother, George Lombard Jr., is the top prospect in the New York Yankees farm system. George Lombard Sr., the father of George and Jacob, was a longtime big leaguer and currently is the bench coach of the Detroit Tigers. Jacob joins his brother, George Lombard Jr., and father, George Lombard Sr., as one of three baseball families with three players selected in the first two rounds of the MLB Draft. What stands out offensively from Lombard is his plate discipline and approach are at a much higher level than most of the prep prospects in this draft class. However, he does have some swing-and-miss to his game and struggled with high velocity over the summer. Lombard has already started to fill in his frame by adding solid weight. Lombard should stick at shortstop as he is given a 60 grade field and arm rating. Baseball America calls Lombard "one of the best defensive shortstops in the class." When it comes to base running, Lombard was clocked running a 6.11 60-yard dash per Perfect Game. Baseball America Scouting Grades: Hit: 45 | Power: 55 | Speed: 65 | Field: 60 | Arm: 60 Standby for quotes... View full article

MIAMI, FL — The Miami Marlins announced on Thursday a flurry of roster moves. Outfielder Owen Caissie is going on the 10-day injured list due to a right calf strain. The corresponding move for him was recalling outfielder Rece Hinds from Triple-A Jacksonville. Left-handed reliever John King will be going on the 15-day IL due to a left lateral ankle sprain and right-hander Ryan Gusto has been recalled. The Marlins also sent down righty reliever Zach Brzykcy to Jacksonville to make room for Janson Junk's return. Caissie, who has played in 80 games this season, started for Miami in right field on Wednesday night, but left after the top of the first inning, not taking an at-bat in the game. Marlins manager Clayton McCullough told reporters that "he started to kind of grab on it a little bit" when running during pregame warmups. "Not something we wanted to really take a chance on." After a slow start to the season, Caissie is now slashing .239/.297/.459/.755 with 12 home runs, 50 RBI and a 101 wRC+. Since the start of June, Caissie is hitting .243/.314/.568/.882 with seven home runs and 21 RBI. Caissie told the media at loanDepot park that it is something he had never felt before. This is only the second IL stint of his professional career. There should be a clearer timeline for his return once the Marlins receive the results of his imaging on Friday. As for Hinds, who the Marlins acquired back in May from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for Zach McCambley, he has played in 51 games (28 with Jacksonville), slashing .265/.356/.508/.864 with 12 home runs, 33 RBI and a 124 wRC+. In his stint with the Marlins organization, he has struggled a bit, posting an 85 wRC+. Hinds last played at the major league Level on May 2 of this season, posting a -5 wRC+ in 12 games with the Reds. "Right-handed bat that can give us some options to start versus left or come off the bench," said McCullough. " He hits the ball incredibly hard and what intrigued about us is it's a young player that has some impact potential. The swing decisions being a big theme for him to work on." Part of the outfield shuffle will include even more Heriberto Hernández, who since returning from Triple-A has slashed .278/.333/.619/.952 with 12 home runs and 26 RBI. In the series finale against the Mariners, Hernández is hitting fifth as the designated hitter. Griffin Conine and Esteury Ruiz are the two other options that are going to get some more playing time. John King, who has been the Marlins' top left-handed reliever all season, suffered his injury while doing pitching drills in the outfield. The Marlins recalled Ryan Gusto to fill his active roster spot "Just went to go catch a ball and stepped awkwardly on the platforms out there and rolled his ankle pretty good," McCullough said. "It was looking like it was going to be at least a few days he wasn't going to be able to throw. With the All-Star break coming and the ability to build that in, hopefully it's not too long." King is eligible to be reinstated beginning on July 23. The lone lefty in the bullpen is now Cade Gibson, who in 16 appearances has a 6.00 ERA, but a 3.41 FIP. Since being recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville on May 20, Gibson has a 2.03 FIP. On Wednesday against the Mariners, Gibson tossed two shutout innings, striking out three. McCullough also mentioned Michael Petersen, Lake Bachar and Calvin Faucher as options who can get both right-handed and left-handed hitters out. "We have one lefty right now, and so if he's not available, we'll have to throw righties," McCullough said jokingly. "But I believe we have guys that are good enough to go get them out." The Marlins and Mariners wrap up their series on Thursday at 6:40 pm with Janson Junk taking the mound. It'll be his first MLB appearance since May 25. View full article