Kevin Barral

MIAMI, FL—Each game has had a different hero, but the Miami Marlins keep winning in a familiar fashion. This time, Tim Anderson's 10th-inning RBI single drove in Jake Burger to clinch the opener of a three-game set against the Seattle Mariners. The final score was 3-2. Anderson is now riding a five-game hit streak, his longest since signing with the Marlins. It marked his seventh multi-hit game of June, which has been by far his best month of the season. "This is who we thought we got," said Marlins manager Skip Schumaker. "He's been good defensively. Made some good plays defensively...He had some really good swings again. He's up the middle. That's when he know he's right. He felt like he was getting closer, went away for a couple days and since he's been back, he's been locked in." Trevor Rogers set up the Marlins with a strong outing. After going a season-high seven innings against the Washington Nationals, Rogers followed it up with similar results, eating 6 ⅓ innings pitched, striking out five and only allowing two runs off of four hits and one walk. Rogers relied on both of his fastballs, going with the sinker as his most-used pitch. Rogers' changeup generated five out of his nine whiffs. He worked to a 47.1% groundball rate, similar to his 2024 average (48.0 GB%). After a long first inning, Rogers settled down, throwing only 14 pitches per inning overall. He did get into some deep counts, but was able to work his way through them. Rogers' velocity was a bit higher than usual on Friday. He averaged 92.2 mph on the sinker (topping out at 94.5 mph) and 92.4 on the four-seam fastball (topping out at 95.0 mph). "Trevor was incredible tonight," said Schumaker. He went on to credit pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr., bullpen coach Wellington Cepeda and pitching strategist Brandon Mann for helping Rogers make adjustments after allowing eight earned runs to the Oakland Athletics on May 4. In eight starts since then, he has a 3.89 ERA. His next scheduled start is projected to be on Wednesday, June 26 against the Kansas City Royals. In the top of the first inning, designated hitter Mitch Garver drove in J.P. Crawford on a sac fly to put Seattle on the board. The second Mariners run of the game came in the top of the second on a Ryan Bliss RBI triple to take a 2-0 lead. Through 5 ⅔ innings of play, the Marlins struggled to get anything going against Mariners starter George Kirby. Despite six hard-hit balls, Seattle's defense was great. Then, Bryan De La Cruz and Josh Bell took matters into their own hands by hitting back-to-back home runs to tie the game at two apiece. De La Cruz's home run marked his 14th of the season, while for Bell, it was his eighth. Kirby didn't dominate the Marlins to the same extent as last year, but once again, he didn't walk anyone and went seven innings of work. The two home runs would be the only runs scored on him, but he was as efficient, averaging 12 pitches per inning and generating 13 whiffs and five groundouts. A lot of the contact that the Mariners right-hander gave up was through the air. "It's not difficult on just us: he's good. That's a good pitcher," said Schumaker. "He's a good pitcher in the league. He's going to be a good pitcher in the league for a long time." In the series finale against the St. Louis Cardinals, De La Cruz and Jesús Sánchez went back-to-back. Per Marlins Communications, it marks the first time that the Marlins have hit back-to-back homers in consecutive games since June 21-22, 2022 against the Colorado Rockies. With the win, the Miami Marlins improve to 26-49 while the Mariners go to 44-34 on the season. Schumaker announced that Saturday's starter will be Shaun Anderson. Because Anderson was optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville only a week ago, a pitcher will have to be placed on the injured list so that he can be recalled.

Per MLB.com's Christina De Nicola, the Miami Marlins will be designating catcher Christian Bethancourt for assignment. This season (his first with the Marlins organization), the 32-year-old was slashing .159/.198/.268/.466 with two home runs and seven RBIs. Although not yet confirmed, it is likely that recently acquired Ali Sánchez will step into Bethancourt's backup role beginning on Friday. When the Marlins acquired Bethancourt from the Cleveland Guardians, they were expecting him to limit base-stealers and provide help offensively, at least in comparison to Jacob Stallings. He ranked in the 80th percentile of caught stealing above average and 82nd percentile of pop time, per Baseball Savant. There was hope that Bethancourt could get back to being his 2022 self when he posted a 100 wRC+. Instead, he began the 2024 regular season with a month-long hitless streak and was putting up the worst season of his career at the time of this DFA news. He was on pace for career lows in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and wRC+. The production just wasn't there. Per ZiPS, Bethancourt was projected to finish with a slash line of .210/.247/.348 with seven home runs, 24 RBIs and a 67 wRC+. If allowed to remain on the roster, the Marlins would have non-tendered him after the season anyway. On Wednesday, the Marlins traded for Chicago Cubs Triple-A catcher Ali Sánchez. He briefly played in the majors (seven total games) in 2020 and 2021. Sánchez got off to a hot start this season, slashing .324/.432/.541/.972 with one home run and 11 RBIs in the month of April, but since then has slashed .207/.298/.326/.624 with two home runs and 10 RBIs. Overall, he is slashing .240/.338/.388/.725 with three home runs, 21 RBIs and a 91 wRC+. His plate discipline is encouraging with a 12.2% walk rate and low 18.9% strikeout rate. Sánchez is also significantly younger than Bethancourt (age 27). Expect Nick Fortes to continue starting the majority of Miami's games. anFlNHhfV0ZRVkV3dEdEUT09X0JRZFVYVkJRVUZFQVd3WlFVZ0FBQ0ZJRkFBTlJXd0lBQWdSVEJ3SUJBUUJXVXdGWA==.mp4 Although Bethancourt underperformed for the Marlins, he was liked within the clubhouse and had some solid moments on defense. Earning a $2.05M salary this season, he's unlikely to be claimed off waivers. There is a chance he may sign with another organization on a minor league deal once he enters free agency.

MIAMI, FL—Playing time has been scarce for Miami Marlins utility man Vidal Bruján. When the other Marlins infielders are healthy, he's usually on the bench, under pressure to make the most of his limited opportunities. He did not deliver on Monday, popping up to strand the winning run on third base with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning. The same situation presented itself again on Tuesday, but this time, the pinch-hitter came through with his first career walk-off as the Marlins won by a final score of 9-8. "I'm really proud of Bruján," said Marlins manager Skip Schumaker. "He's beating himself up yesterday after the game and had a chance to win it and had another chance today. It's a sign of a professionalism and I'm proud that he had the confidence to slow the game down, see the ball deeper this time, use the big part of the field. Nice win for us." Following the game, Bruján spoke to the media and noted that slowing the game down truly helped him as well as recognizing that the difference between Monday and Tuesday was all mental for him. "I was very anxious," said Bruján through a translator on what happened on Monday. "I was just very interested in for whatever was coming. Today I was more relaxed. I was telling myself, 'You're at home, you're listening to the music you like and just relax.' I was more calm in the play and I was able to execute." Excluding Bruján's walk-off single, the Marlins offense scored eight runs off of 14 hits. Jesús Sánchez was at the forefront of the Marlins offense going 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs. Bryan De La Cruz, Josh Bell, Tim Anderson and Christian Bethancourt all had multi-hit games. Sánchez's home run came in the bottom of the first inning. Trailing 2-0 with runners on the corners, Cardinals starter Lance Lynn threw a slider that Sánchez was able to take 418 feet deep to right-center field for a three-run homer. That wasn't even his hardest hit of the game—Sánchez later added a single with a 112.3 mph exit velocity. "He's locked in right now," said Schumaker. "If we can get him somehow to be consistent, this guy is gonna be really good because nobody in the league hits the ball as hard as he can. There are guys like (Giancarlo) Stanton and (Aaron) Judge. He's literally in that club." Trailing 7-5, catcher Christian Bethancourt hit his second home run of the season to put Miami within one. The ball left the bat at 102.0 mph and went 388 feet to left field. Bethancourt also drove in another run prior to that with a groundout, marking his first game of the season with multiple RBIs. Tim Anderson's recent turnaround continues to impress. Since coming off the bereavement list, Anderson is 14-for-34 (.412 BA). He also stole a base and scored a run on Tuesday. Marlins starter Roddery Muñoz struggled after what was the best start of his Major League career. In the top of the first inning, he surrendered a home run to Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt to give St. Louis an early 2-0 lead. The second home run was given up to Brendan Donovan in the top of the second inning to retake the lead, 4-3. The final home run was hit by Alec Burleson in the top of the fourth inning to extend the lead to 7-4. Overall, Muñoz allowed seven runs (six earned) off of eight hits and two walks. He only struck out three. Left-handed batters have been giving the rookie right-hander a lot of trouble and that was the case again vs. St. Louis. With the win, the Marlins are now 24-49 on the season. Following the game, the Marlins announced that Yonny Chirinos would be the starting pitcher as they go into Wednesday's rubber match against the Cardinals. Kyle Gibson will take the mound for St. Louis. A pregame roster move will be needed to make room for Chirinos.

MIAMI, FL—The St. Louis Cardinals have a significant advantage over the Miami Marlins when it comes to revenue. They're projected to spend a franchise-record $181M on payroll during the 2024 season, per Roster Resource, nearly twice as much as Miami. That gives the Cardinals front office the flexibility to invest in proven veteran stars like Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt. However, for the second year in a row, Arenado and Goldschmidt are performing well below their career averages. Entering Tuesday, St. Louis holds a National League Wild Card spot with a 36-35 record mainly because their homegrown position players have taken the next step in their development. Seven of the 13 hitters on their active roster are players age 27 or younger who have spent their entire professional careers in the Cardinals organization. "Number one thing is they had Paul Goldschmidt and Yadier Molina to look up to and ask questions to, sit next to their locker and game plan with them and understand that every component of the game matters," said Marlins manager Skip Schumaker, a former Cardinals player and the club's bench coach in 2022. "You can't really ride the highs and the lows. You gotta stay as full as you can." Schumaker spoke about two key players in the Cardinals lineup: Iván Herrera and Brendan Donovan. This season, Herrera is slashing .280/.339/.381/.720 with three home runs, 19 RBIs and a 106 OPS+. After being limited to 26 MLB games over the last two seasons, he's been serving as St. Louis' main catcher, filling in well for the injured Willson Contreras. "He got to sit next to Yadi and watch him work," said Schumaker. "Then he gets to sit next to Contreras and watch him work. I think very fortunate. He has a lot of talent. He worked hard in the offseason. You can tell when watching the Caribbean Series where he really put together some really nice offensive days. He's a smart kid. I know that, so it's not surprising to see where he's at now." 4e15d472-479af066-095a35c5-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4 As a rookie in 2022, Donovan won the National League Gold Glove as a utility player. This season he's slashing .248/.321/.372/.693 with five home runs, 30 RBIs and a 98 OPS+, mainly starting in left field for the Cardinals. "Donovan is a special human," said Schumaker. "He tries to mimic everything that Paul Goldschmidt did when I was over there. Pretty good guy to follow because Goldy believes in the baserunning as much as he believes in the hitting. When you care about every aspect of the game, usually you become a winning player. Donovan no doubt is a winning player." On Monday, the Cardinals beat the Marlins in their series opener by a final score of 7-6 in 12 innings. Another homegrown hitter, shortstop Masyn Winn, supplied the game-winning two-run home run in the top of the 12th. Although the Marlins have earned a reputation for developing quality pitching, there is a huge contrast between them and the Cardinals on the hitting side. The only homegrown position player to spend any time on Miami's active roster this season is Nick Fortes. Fortes showed promise as a hitter when he first came up, but in 2024, the catcher has been among MLB's worst offensive players. Under new president of baseball operations Peter Bendix, the Marlins have begun trading away veterans for hitting prospects who can contribute in the future, but most of the organization's talent will need to come from the MLB Draft and international free agency. Triple-A Jacksonville's Victor Mesa Jr. and Javier Sanoja are among the homegrown options who could receive their first taste of the big leagues by the end of this season.

On Saturday, Miami Marlins starting pitcher Trevor Rogers turned in one of his better outings of the season, but Washington Nationals rookie pitcher DJ Herz completely dominated, leading the Nationals to a 4-0 win. For the first time since June 10, 2021, Rogers gave the Marlins seven innings of work. Less use of the sinker paved way for the slider/four-seam to succeed and although he generated only four whiffs, there were eight groundball outs. Rogers averaged 13 pitches per inning, allowing him to go as deep into his outing as he did. Rogers, who has struggled with command/control, didn't surrender a single walk. It's the first time he doesn't walk anyone in a start since April 17 of this season. Rogers also attacked the strike zone, throwing 62 strikes which led to three strikeouts and a lot of contact. He gave up six hard-hit balls. Rogers also posted one of the highest first-pitch strike percentages this season at 74%. Despite his strong efforts, he took the loss. In the bottom of the first inning, Joey Meneses drove in a run off of a sac fly. In the bottom of the third inning, Lane Thomas went deep for the second time this season, but this time a solo homer to give the Nationals a 2-0 lead. The ball left the bat at 100.6 mph and went 378 feet to center field. Nationals rookie lefty DJ Herz had a career start going six innings of shutout baseball, giving up one hit, no walks and striking out 13. Herz generated 21 whiffs, 13 of them coming on the four-seam fastball. His changeup did some work as well, generating six whiffs and ended up being his second most-used pitch of the afternoon. The Marlins offense didn't get anything going. Their one hard-hit ball against Herz came on a Jake Burger base hit in the top of the fifth inning. Herz also averaged 14 pitches per inning and had two innings where he struck out the side. He earned his first major league win. Tim Anderson led off for the Marlins. It's the first time he did it as a Marlin and rightfully so. Entering Saturday's game, Anderson had a four-game hit streak and in 2,055 career plate appearances in the lead-off spot, Anderson slashed .289/.320/.424/.744 with 52 home runs and 171 RBIs. Anderson struggled along with the Marlins offense going 0-for-4 with four strikeouts. It marks the first time this season that he has struck out four times in a game. In the top of the eighth inning, the Marlins had the bases loaded with two outs. After working a full count, Nationals reliever Hunter Harvey went with a splitter low and away and the Marlins shortstop swung right through it. The nail in the coffin was Joey Meneses taking Andrew Nardi deep for a two-run homer in the eighth inning to give the Nationals a 4-0 lead. With the loss, Miami drops to 23-47 while Washington improves to 34-36. This marks the eighth time this season the Marlins have been shut out.

The Miami Marlins currently find themselves with a 23-43 record. Holding the worst winning percentage in the National League, it's unlikely that they will be making the playoffs. On the bright side, a non-competitive season opens up opportunities for top performers from Triple-A Jacksonville to make their MLB debuts. Dating back to 2023, Troy Johnston has been a popular name in this conversation. Victor Mesa Jr. is the highest-ranked prospect on the Jumbo Shrimp roster and already on the Marlins 40-man roster. However, Griffin Conine is overshadowing everybody else with his recent hot streak. Conine's overall numbers in 2024 have been extremely impressive. The powerful outfielder has a slash line of .273/.377/.556/.933 with a 136 wRC+ which ranks fourth-best among all qualified Marlins minor leaguers at full-season levels. The most significant improvement for the 26-year-old has been lowering his strikeout percentage. Last season, Conine posted a 38.5 K% with AAA-Jacksonville and it was a similar story during his previous stops in the Marlins organization. In 2024, he is at a 27.7 K%, his lowest mark as a professional with the exception of his short-season debut in 2018. Conine's success did not come out of nowhere. He was a non-roster invitee at Marlins big league spring training and was selected to participate in the inaugural Spring Breakout exhibition (he homered in that game as well). Still, he wasn't in serious consideration for an active roster spot. He's been with Jacksonville ever since, primarily playing right field with occasional reps in left field and as their designated hitter. Conine leads the Marlins farm system with 14 home runs this season. Five of those have come since June 6 (a six-game span). Entering last week, "I had my holes, and if pitchers executed to my holes, I wasn't gonna compete," said Conine in a lengthy interview on Just Baseball's The Call Up podcast. "That was something that was tough to deal with—just knowing, numbers are in a decent spot, but I wasn't making that next step." Against the Charlotte Knights (Chicago White Sox affiliate), he felt a difference. "They were making pitches and I was putting good swings on pitches that were giving me trouble in the past." "I've had this feel before," added Conine. "It's not like it's a completely new thing. I've thought it before and it's worked before and I've ditched it before. The goal here is gonna be to not ditch it." The Marlins have a crowded outfield at the moment. Bryan De La Cruz and Nick Gordon platoon in left field, Dane Myers and Jesús Sánchez do the same in right, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. is Miami's everyday center fielder. Even the DH spot is filled (De La Cruz vs. RHP and Josh Bell vs. LHP). Perhaps there will be a clearer opening for Conine after the July 30 trade deadline. Conine and the Jumbo Shrimp will be hosting the Indianapolis Guardians (Pittsburgh Pirates) the rest of this week.

MIAMI, FL—On Friday, Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Logan Allen took on the Miami Marlins. He went six innings, giving up two runs off of four hits, three walks and struck out three. This was his second start against the Marlins, with his first being his major league debut in Cleveland last season. This rematch had plenty of significance as well considering it took place in the state where he was born and raised, minutes away from where he spent his college career. "It was definitely cool," said Allen. "Had a lot of family and saw some old college teammates. Being back in Florida feels good. Cool being this close to home. Definitely been a lot of fun. It's been a cool experience." Allen, 25, was born in Altamonte Springs, Florida. He played high school ball in University High School before coming down south to play for Florida International University. With FIU, he would spend three seasons (2018-2020) posting a 3.33 ERA, 12.1 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 and a 1.138 WHIP through 183 ⅔ innings pitched. On top of pitching, Allen was also a utility player for the Panthers. He had a career slash line of .297/.362/.411/.773 with six home runs and 23 RBIs. His achievements with FIU included all-conference second team and all-freshman team selections as a freshman, all-conference first team in his second season as a utility player, and he would be placed on multiple national award watch lists for both his pitching and hitting. "Met so many great people, relationships that last a lifetime," said Allen. "I see in here one of our old guys from FIU is one of the MLB compliance guys. Just seeing all the relationships down the road and just begin to talk to those guys is awesome." One of the reasons Allen chose FIU was because he had the opportunity to be a two-way player. On Friday, the coach that gave him a chance, Mervyl Melendez, was in attendance to watch Allen pitch. Mervyl's son, MJ, played with Allen as little kids and is now a Kansas City Royals outfielder. "Still got a great relationship with him and MJ too. It's cool every time we get a chance to play against him, but yeah, it definitely cool to have that family back around." In 2020, Logan Allen became the third-highest draft pick in FIU program history. He was not aware of that until told on Saturday. "It's actually really cool," said Allen. "Something I definitely take pride in. Developing a lot of good guys that roll through there. Definitely cool to be a part of that group." This past season, the FIU Panthers made the Conference USA Tournament. Prior to that, they hadn't made the postseason since the 2018 season, when Allen was a freshman. He was happy to see the program back to its winning ways with manager Rich Witten at the helm. "It's honestly kind of crazy because I feel like every year we always have a good team," said Allen. "We're always putting guys in pro ball, so I guess it shouldn't have been that long since they were last in the conference tournament, but good for them to get back. Witten has definitely rode the ship over there. He's doing a good job. That's gonna lead to a lot of success for them in the future. Hopefully they have a little more success than we did." This season, Allen has had his highs and lows and he knows it. His ERA (5.57) and FIP (5.49) have risen a lot from his 2023 rookie season while his strikeout rate has dropped from 22.2% to 19.0%. He is averaging less than five innings pitched per start. However, he feels that his start back home certainly was a step in the right direction. "Just taking it day by day. Even the bad ones feel like it's only one bad game sending me in with the good one. Just keep it rolling. Still trying to put in the work every week." The next scheduled start for Allen will be on Friday against the Toronto Blue Jays. Meanwhile, his Guardians teammates will be trying to win their rubber match against the Marlins on Sunday afternoon.

MIAMI, FL—Lefty A.J. Puk had already shown that he could be a good reliever at the major league level. Still, he believed he had even more to offer. The Marlins tried him out as a starter, and due to a combination of great spring training performance and injuries to his teammates, Puk earned a rotation spot. However, he struggled once the real games began, posting a 9.22 ERA and 6.29 FIP through four starts while walking more batters than he struck out. Puk landed on the injured list due to left shoulder fatigue and moved back to the bullpen upon returning. Since then, he's appeared in ten games with a much-improved 2.53 ERA and 2.85 FIP. In nine of those outings, he hasn't allowed an earned run. Puk's last four appearances have been hitless and he's showing the versatility to handle any situation, such as inheriting baserunners and going multiple innings. "Just kind of getting back into the swing of things that I've done in my whole career," said Puk. "It's a pretty easy transition and I am finally starting to feel better. I changed my mechanics a little bit and getting into a groove." Puk mostly relied on a fastball/sweeper combo in 2023, but as a starter, he needed to expand his pitch mix. That adjustment indirectly caused a mechanical problem. "It was one of those things where this year, I raised my arm slot," said Puk. "Really wanted to throw that splitter a lot and my body didn't like that new slot. Going back to the bullpen, I've dropped into a little more of a natural slot for me." Puk could not locate his pitches with the change in arm slot, leading to the huge increase in his walk rate. Also, his velocity dropped. Puk has gone from averaging 93.3 mph on his four-seamer as a starter in April to 95.6 mph since coming off the IL, which is much closer to his career average. "I was trying to force something that my body really didn't wanna do," said Puk. "It was causing some issues. Take care of that and then it kinda dropped back down to my arm slot and it gets thrown from a little lower slot." Puk made his first relief appearance of the season on May 13 and that has been a turning point for the Marlins bullpen overall. Since that date, their 'pen has combined for a 2.45 ERA, 2.91 FIP and 1.2 fWAR (tied for fourth in MLB).

MIAMI, FL—Following recent injuries to Sixto Sánchez (shoulder) and Ryan Weathers (finger), the Miami Marlins have openings in their starting rotation. Prior to game two of a three-game set against the Cleveland Guardians, Roddery Muñoz was recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville and given a chance to audition for a spot. Unfortunately, Muñoz struggled, giving up four runs. The deficit continued to grow against the Marlins bullpen, which had its scoreless streak snapped after 17 ⅔ innings. The Marlins were shut out for the seventh time this season by a final score of 8-0. Not ideal considering this was the rare occasion that their game was broadcasted to a national audience on FOX. Muñoz went four innings of work and entered the fifth, but did not record an out. The Dominican right-hander generated 12 whiffs, most of them coming on his changeup. Poor command was an issue throughout his outing. "Six three-ball counts, trying to fight to get back into counts all night long," said manager Skip Schumaker. "It was a tough lineup for him honestly with all the lefties in it, but it just felt like 50-something percent first-pitch strikes and just fighting to get back in the count against a good lineup and had to come in the zone against some good hitters. That kind of made him pay, but he has real stuff. If he learns how to throw it over the plate more consistently, he's going to be really good up here." The first run that Muñoz allowed was a solo homer to the hot-hitting José Ramírez. Taking advantage of an elevated four-seamer, Ramírez sent the ball 401 feet deep to right-center field to give Cleveland an early 1-0 lead. That was his 18th home run of the season and his 61st RBI, which leads the majors. In the top of the third inning, with runners on second and third with one out, Josh Naylor connected for an RBI single on a changeup way outside the zone. It wasn't necessarily a bad pitch by Muñoz, but just a good piece of hitting by Naylor that drove in Cleveland's second run of the game. The Marlins starter gave up a second home run, this time a two-run shot to Steven Kwan to extend the Guardians lead to 4-0. Muñoz would be taken out of the game following the home run. Four walks for Muñoz matched his total from his previous four AAA starts combined. Meanwhile, he only struck out three. If there was an aspect of the Marlins to be excited about these past couple of days, it's been the bullpen. Entering Saturday, they had held opponents scoreless in three straight games (17.2 IP). In relief of Muñoz, Declan Cronin could not keep the trend going. He gave up four of the six runs that the Guardians scored in the top of the fifth inning. "He's a groundball pitcher," noted Schumaker. "Some balls got through once again. Just felt like he was also behind and then trying to fight back and to try to get into counts...He was gonna have one of these outings eventually. He's been really good. He's going to be fine." Huascar Brazoban went 3 ⅔ innings pitched and only allowed two hits and two walks. Brazoban didn't record a single strikeout, but Saturday's relief appearance was the longest of his career. Emmanuel Rivera was the chosen position player to pitch in the top of the ninth inning. Guardians starter Ben Lively was as efficient as he could be. Averaging 13 pitches per inning, the Marlins grounded out eight times against the right-hander. Even with seven hard-hit balls, the Marlins only knocked in three hits and one extra-base hit. Lively ended up going five innings, striking out one and not permitting a walk. "He's like a low-release guy," said Josh Bell. "He's got good spin. So it's like 88-89 mph, plays up to like 90-94. Good command on his offspeed. He didn't make mistakes with it and he was pretty much underneath the zone or pounding that down-and-away quadrant." 746de435-1f74-433b-8078-692656c180f0.mp4 "Maybe check off on the offspeed," said Bell when asked what the approach against Lively will be next time. "Maybe on advantage counts, sit offspeed. Seems like they for the most part used our aggressive mentality against us." In four combined innings, Sam Hentges and Pedro Avila only allowed one hit and one walk to complete the shutout. "I feel like they have a lot of different angles," said Bell regarding the Guardians bullpen, which leads MLB in fWAR. "Some tall lefties. We haven't seen (Nick) Sandlin, but submarine guy. It's dealer's choice. They can pick arm slots, they can pick specialty pitches. There's a ton of different angles and some good velocity and good offspeed pitches." With the loss, the Miami Marlins are now 22-42 on the season, 20 games under .500 while the Guardians improve to 41-22. Trevor Rogers will take the mound for the Marlins for Sunday's rubber match against Carlos Carrasco for Cleveland. First pitch will be at 1:40 pm and the game will be on Bally Sports Florida.

As has been widely reported, including by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, Jesús Luzardo is going to be available at this year's trade deadline. There's no question that the 26-year-old Miami Marlins left-handed pitcher has widespread appeal—working full time as a starter, Luzardo has a 3.79 ERA since the start of the 2022 season and isn't a free agent until 2027. Last season, he ended up pitching a career high 178 ⅔ innings. Luzardo's current salary of $5.5M could fit with any team's payroll. Here is a brief overview of five possible Luzardo trade partners, including why they would be motivated to make a deal and notable prospects that the Marlins might target in return. San Diego Padres These teams already linked up on a trade this season involving Luis Arraez, which showed how serious the Padres are about winning now. Their pitching staff ranks 11th in fWAR and 14th in ERA, but those numbers should go down as they lean more heavily on organizational depth pieces. Veteran starters Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish recently landed on the 15-day IL. When trading both Arraez and Jon Berti, the Marlins went with very young players as the centerpiece of those packages. During Sunday's State of the Fish, Sports Grid's Craig Mish said that trend will likely continue. With top-rated catching prospect Ethan Salas highly unlikely to be available, Miami should be focused on 17-year-old switch-hitting outfielder Leodalis De Vries. He would immediately be the best hitting prospect in the Marlins organization. Other names to keep an eye out for: catcher J.D. Gonzalez, outfielder Homer Bush Jr. and utility man Graham Pauley. Baltimore Orioles Even while suffering key injuries, the Orioles still rank fourth in starting pitcher fWAR. The Marlins and Orioles reportedly were in conversations during the offseason, but after the Marlins' asking price was too high, the Orioles pivoted and acquired Corbin Burnes from the Milwaukee Brewers. Although Burnes has performed exactly as hoped, he's an impending free agent. Baltimore's rotation depth has taken a hit since then with John Means and Tyler Wells both going down with season-ending injuries, so adding Luzardo makes a lot of sense. Baltimore has a surplus of exciting prospects at Triple-A, led by outfielder Heston Kjerstad. With AAA-Norfolk, he's slashing .325/.406/.663/1.069 with 14 home runs and 50 RBIs, struggling during the very brief call-up to the Major Leagues he received earlier this season. The Orioles just don't have enough space for Kjerstad at the MLB level, though the Marlins obviously do. Catcher Samuel Basallo would be the ideal target. This season in AA, Basallo is slashing .284/.333/.454/.787 with nine home runs, 29 RBIs and a 121 wRC+. Ordinarily, a prospect as special as him would not be on the table, though the Orioles are a unique case because they already have Adley Rutschman in place as their catcher of the future. The Marlins would have to add another piece on top of Luzardo to get Basallo. More potential names that could be discussed include Coby Mayo, Connor Norby, Enrique Bradfield Jr. and 18-year-old Thomas Sosa. Houston Astros The Astros may not look like regular buyers at six games below the .500 mark, but they aren't going to let their streak of seven straight deep postseason runs end without putting up a fight. Their need for rotation help is obvious with both Cristian Javier and José Urquidy having season-ending surgeries this week. However, with one of the worst farm systems in baseball, it will be hard for them to outbid the other teams mentioned in here. Joey Loperfido can play all three outfield spots. When called up by the Astros, he's been productive, slashing .333/.381/.436/817 with one home run, five RBIs and a 138 wRC+. At AAA, the Astros prospect is slashing .267/.365/.593/.957 with 13 home runs, 29 RBIs and a 125 wRC+. The Marlins can also look lower into the lower levels of their system such as a 18-year-old shortstop Camilo Díaz who signed for $2.25M. In 2023, Díaz slashed .209/.374/.353/.727 with four home runs, 15 RBIs and a 103 wRC+ in the Dominican Summer League. This season in the FCL, his strikeout rate has made a concerning jump to 46.8%. Although he's currently listed as a shortstop, it seems as if third base will be his more likely long-term home. Jacob Melton is the Astros number one prospect, according to MLB Pipeline (#71 on their Top 100 list). This season at AA, he's slashing .268/.328/.455/.784 with five home runs, 24 RBIs and a 114 wRC+. Minnesota Twins The Twins have been arguably the streakiest team in baseball this season. A 33-30 record would be enough to lead the American League Central in some years, but little by little, that division is becoming more competitive and they currently trail the Guardians and Royals. They may need help from outside the organization to repeat as AL Central champs. Last time these teams struck a deal, they sent the 2022 American League batting champion Luis Arraez to the Marlins in exchange for Pablo López and two prospects. It would be fascinating to see them strike a deal for Luzardo, but not out of the realm of possibility. In 2022, the Marlins missed out on their opportunity to draft shortstop Brooks Lee, who stands as the number two prospect in the Twins organization, according to MLB Pipeline. Two years later, he is almost major league ready after rehabbing from a back injury and would be the ideal everyday shortstop for the Marlins if traded. Emmanuel Rodriguez still has some flaws, but has shown the potential to be a nice major leaguer. Strikeout percentages have been high, topping out at 36.6%, but he has lowered it to 27.5% in 2024 along with a slash line of .298/.479/.621/.1.100 with eight home runs, 20 RBIs and a 198 wRC+ in 167 plate appearances in AA. Recently sent down to AAA, Edouard Julien would also make sense. The Marlins don't have a clear successor to Arraez as their long-term second baseman. Julien had a breakout rookie campaign slashing .263/.381/.459/.839 with 16 home runs, 37 RBIs and a 136 wRC+. Cleveland Guardians This season, the Guardians surprisingly find themselves at the top of the AL Central with first year manager Stephen Vogt. Early on, Cleveland lost Shane Bieber for the season, plus Logan Allen and Carlos Carrasco have both struggled, so the need for a starting pitcher is there. Adding Luzardo would be a win-now move. The top prospect in the Guardians system is Chase DeLauter who tore it up in the Arizona Fall League, but has gotten off to rough start at AA, slashing .194/.301/.290/592 with one home run and three RBIs. He's coming back from an injury, so he's only played 17 games. One of the best prospects in Minor League Baseball before being promoted to the majors, first baseman Kyle Manzardo slashed .303/.375/.642/1.017 with nine home runs, 20 RBIs and a 148 wRC+ in AAA. It's unlikely they move Manzardo, but it would be worth a shot to ask from the Marlins' perspective. The Guardians also have the young tandem of Jaison Chourio and Ralphy Velazquez progressing well at Low-A. Chourio is a Top 100 prospect according to MLB Pipeline and at 19 years old, there's a lot of projection and upside. Jaison is the brother of Jackson Chourio, so the bloodline is strong.

MIAMI, FL—With the Cleveland Guardians 90 feet away from retaking the lead, Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker wanted to have his best reliever on the mound. That's why with Friday's game tied at 2-2, he brought in closer Tanner Scott despite there being only one out in the top of the eighth inning. The Guardians had a runner on third and the meat of their order due up: José Ramírez, Josh Naylor and David Fry. Although Scott got out of the jam, it wasn't all due to him. Dane Myers made the biggest defensive play of his young MLB career to complete an inning-ending double play. A Jazz Chisholm Jr. RBI single in the bottom of the eighth gave Miami a 3-2 win. Guardians pinch-hitter Daniel Schneemann led off the eighth inning with a triple. He attempted to score on Ramírez's fly ball to right field, but Myers unleashed a throw that put catcher Nick Fortes in the perfect spot to apply the tag. "That's a huge play," said Skip Schumaker on Myers' throw. "It had to be right there or he's safe. That kid can run. I thought when (José Ramírez) hit it far enough, right away and kept fading towards the line too—when the ball fades and your right-handed thrower, it's really hard to get your body in line to throw. Luckily, he was a former pitcher and he has a good arm and put it right on the money." Offensively, it was a quiet night for Myers. He went 0-for-3 before being replaced by pinch-hitter Jesús Sánchez. "I had a tough day at the plate," said Myers. "Kind of unlucky. Felt like myself again at the plate. Squared up three balls, but didn't have anything to show for it. When I first got here, I just want to help the team however I can, and defensively, that's how it was tonight." Prior to Myers' throw, Bryan De La Cruz had the task of holding Schneemann at third base. At the plate was Brayan Rocchio, who smacked a relatively deep fly ball to left (264 feet, per Statcast, the exact same distance as the ball that went to Myers). Schneemann took a few steps toward home, but held up when De La Cruz got rid of the ball quickly and accurately. "I'm very impressed with those guys," said center fielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. "They did a great job, especially De La Cruz. He went after that ball and when I saw that guy tagging, I thought he was actually going to go on De La Cruz's instead of Dane's. We all know Dane used to be a pitcher, so I wouldn't run on him...They made great plays." Leading up to Friday's game, the Guardians bullpen had the highest fWAR in baseball (4.1) and had only allowed one run in their last 27 innings. In the bottom of the eighth, Jake Burger hit a two-out double, which was followed by Chisholm's go-ahead RBI single. "We had some hard contact," said Schumaker. "(Josh) Bell smoked that ball right before Burger's double to right and then Jazz...That bullpen is good and I'm totally okay with just scoring one run if we're winning." In Chisholm's first at-bat of the game, he struck out on what was a questionable call that the umpire later apologized for missing. "I was really proud of Jazz," said Schumaker. "He probably had borderline calls in his first strikeout and Jazz could have taken that and the next three at-bats could've been bad. Instead, he moved on and ended up getting the game-winning hit. I'm super proud of him moving on, going at-bat to at-bat and not taking one at-bat and letting it flow into the fourth of that and there's so much game left. You're gonna get screwed at times. That's what happens. But I'm proud of him to come back and still win." Starter Ryan Weathers was removed in the top of the third inning with one out due to left finger index soreness. He gave up two runs off of four hits. He also struck out three. Weathers averaged 95.4 mph on his four-seam fastball, but his last couple of fastballs were only 91 mph. "There's concern when I have to pull him out," said Schumaker." I've pulled him out before with some cramping with his hand too. Just trying to figure that out...He couldn't really feel the ball coming off. Once we figure it out later tonight or tomorrow, then we'll have more." Weathers surrendered a two-run homer to Guardians shortstop Brayan Rocchio, which came off of his changeup. That was Rocchio's first career home run which left the bat at 104.6 mph and went 377 feet to left field. That home run gave Cleveland an early 2-0 lead. A group of Emmanuel Ramirez, Andrew Nardi, A.J. Puk, Calvin Faucher and Tanner Scott shut out the Guardians after Weathers left, limiting them to just two hits and one walk. The Marlins bullpen now has a scoreless streak of 17 ⅔ innings dating back to the first game of the Citrus Series on Tuesday. "Ramirez really stepped up for us," said Schumaker. "We needed length. He's not really a length guy, just kind of a multi-inning guy. But he gave us really strong innings. Nardi since the start of May had been pretty lights-out. Puk since joining the 'pen has given up three earned runs, something crazy like that. Scott with the huge, huge out against (José) Ramírez. Incredible night with the bullpen especially." In his return to South Florida, former FIU pitcher Logan Allen went six innings giving up two runs off of four hits and three walks. Allen also struck out three. In the bottom of the third inning, the former second round pick surrendered back-to-back home runs to first, Bryan De La Cruz and then Josh Bell. That was De La Cruz's 11th home run of the season and it was Bell's seventh. With the win, the Marlins are now 22-41 on the season and will go for the series win on Saturday with Roddery Muñoz taking the mound. A roster move will need to be made to add the Dominican starter to the 26-man active roster, but he is in Miami with the team. He will have to toe the rubber against Ben Lively. This game will be on FS1, so first pitch will be ay 7:35 pm.