Kevin Barral

After a rough two starts to begin his 2024 season, Braxton Garrett was tasked with facing the National League champion Arizona Diamondbacks. Garrett not only out-dueled former Marlin Zac Gallen, but he threw the first complete game of his MLB career, a 95-pitch "Maddux" to defeat the Diamondbacks by a final score of 3-0. Efficiency was key for Garrett, averaging 10.6 pitches per inning and on top of that, not issuing a single walk. Garrett's sinker/slider combo was great, recording five out of his six strikeouts between those two pitches. He used his whole arsenal and ended up generating 11 whiffs. Four of his 11 whiffs were swinging strikeouts. "I think I pulled him more than anyone in the sixth inning last year," said Marlins manager Skip Schumaker following the game. "To do a complete game this year just shows you where he's at and how much better he's gotten since maybe the first day I met him in spring training last year." "Hard to put into words, really," said Garrett in his postgame on-field interview. "After the fifth, sixth inning, I was just telling myself to keep getting quick outs, go as long as I can and look what happened." Because the game was close throughout, Schumaker still had to manage carefully entering the final inning. Closer Tanner Scott was warming in the bullpen just in case. "I knew (Garrett) was going to go out in the ninth and then I was going to give him one hitter until he got two outs. When he got two outs, I was gonna give him two hitters. I didn't wanna just leave Scott out there and not give Brax a chance to win the game, but Corbin (Carroll) hit a ball pretty hard and I was getting a little bit nervous. Then (Jesús) Sánchez made a good play, (Jake) Burger made a good play and seems like (Christian) Walker just missed it, but credit to Braxton: got quick outs and allowed himself to get into the ninth inning and obviously get the complete game shutout." Jesús Luzardo and Braxton Garrett are the first Marlins pitchers to pitch at least eight innings in back-to-back games since Dan Straily and Wei Yin-Chen (8/31/18 and 9/1/18). Garrett also became the second Marlins lefty (joining Dontrelle Willis in 2005) and the fifth Marlins pitcher overall to toss a Maddux. He became the first Marlin since Sandy Alcantara on (4/4/23) to throw a complete game. This marks the fifth shutout that Nick Fortes has caught this season, all five of them happening in the last 11 days. "Me and Nick were talking and I felt like I could throw my sinker down and away every single pitch and they would've kept rolling over it," said Garrett. "I can't say enough about Nick. He's so incredible back there and made some really awesome calls." What took pressure off of the Marlins starter was the early 3-0 lead that the offense gave him against Zac Gallen. Entering Friday's game, Gallen was a perfect 3-0 against his former club, posting a 1.35 ERA. However, in the top of the second inning, three straight base hits set up Otto Lopez with the bases loaded where a hit up the middle drove in two runs. Ever since coming off the IL, Jake Burger was 6-for-59 with one RBI and 16 strikeouts. On Friday, Burger had a 2-for-4 night which included his fourth home run of the season. Lopez and Burger were the only Marlins to have multi-hit games. "He just needs to relax," said Schumaker about Burger. "You're not going to get four hits every at-bat. It's a long season. He's hit his whole life, he's gonna be fine...He's a middle-of-the-order bat that can do damage and I think at the end of the season, you'll see a lot of damage." Despite losing to his former team, Gallen gave the Diamondbacks seven innings, struck out five and only walked one. His head-to-head success against Jazz Chisholm Jr. continued. Chisholm laid a bunt down in his first at-bat, but was unable to reach base. He struck out the other two times. Nearly five years after they were traded for each other, Chisholm is now 0-for-12 with five strikeouts against Gallen. "He's one of the best in the game," said Schumaker about Gallen. "He's going to have Cy Young award votes again. Every single year he plays in the big leagues, he'll get Cy Young votes. He's that good." With the win, the Marlins are now 18-34 on the season and aim to clinch their fourth straight series win with Sixto Sánchez taking the mound on Saturday against Jordan Montgomery for the Diamondbacks. First pitch is at 10:10 pm EST.

MIAMI, FL—The last time Miami Marlins starter Jesús Luzardo entered the eighth inning of a ballgame, it was his final start of the 2023 regular season against the New York Mets. Luzardo ended up going 7 ⅓ innings, giving up one run off of four hits. He walked one and struck out ten. That game was cut short and ultimately ruled a Marlins loss after the infamous rain delay in Citi Field. On Wednesday against the Milwaukee Brewers, Luzardo finished the eighth inning himself. The Venezuelan pitcher was even more dominant, and he needed to be because a lead-off home run in the bottom of the first inning accounted for the only run in the Marlins win. "I think since he's come off the IL, it's the best version," said Marlins manager Skip Schumaker following the game. "One walk in 20 innings since he's come off the IL shows you what it's all about. He's in a groove." One of the biggest issues for the left-hander entering this game was his fastball command. Although Luzardo struck out seven in his last start, he still wasn't comfortable with it. This time around, he lowered his velocity and the location of his pitches heavily improved. His average fastball velo was 94.1 mph, down 1.7 mph from his season average. He generated six whiffs on the four-seam and threw 72 strikes on 100 pitches. "I still go back and try to reach for it," said Luzardo after the game. "Sometimes it's there, sometimes it's not, but in terms of health, I felt healthy and right now, I'm focused. The location and my misses had been really good, which is something that me and Mel (Stottlemyre Jr.) talked about a lot. Just emphasizing location over velocity." Along with strong use of his four-seam and slider, Luzardo's changeup has vastly improved from where it was prior to his IL stint, generating nine whiffs in his last start and six times on Wednesday. It's still his third most-used pitch, but it's been impacting the result of his starts a lot more. "Utilizing that side of the plate with his four-seam definitely opens (the changeup) on the other side of the plate," said catcher Nick Fortes following the game. "Everything kind of goes hand in hand, but yes, past three starts he's definitely had really good fastball command, really good slider command and then a really good changeup whenever we need it. It's been a complete package for him." The Marlins have thrown four shutouts in their last eight games. Fortes has caught all four of them. According to Fish on the Farm, Luzardo became the second Marlins pitcher to throw eight shutout innings in loanDepot park. Adam Conley was the last to do it, which came in 2016. He gave up four hits and struck out four. Opposing Luzardo was Brewers ace Freddy Peralta. His last time against the Marlins, he gave up four runs off of nine hits and only struck out four. On Wednesday, Peralta gave up one run off of four hits, one walk and struck out seven. His only mistake came against the first hitter of the game: Jazz Chisholm Jr.. On a 3-1 count, Peralta surrendered a lead-off homer to Chisholm off of his four-seam. It was Chisholm's second lead-off home run of the season and the seventh of his career, surpassing Chris Coghlan's Marlins career total. Hanley Ramirez holds the franchise record with 25. A few minutes earlier, former teammate and good friend of Chisholm, Luis Arraez hit his first home run of the season, a lead-off homer of his own for the San Diego Padres. Chisholm says he was "a little bit pumped up" to receive the notification on his phone about it and had to do the same. The Marlins have won three straight series and are now 17-34 on the season as they begin a six-game west-coast road trip to Arizona and San Diego. Braxton Garrett will take the mound for the Marlins in his third start of the season on Friday night. First pitch will be at 9:40 pm. 42fe77cb-a089420d-f39a10fd-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4

MIAMI, FL—For Trevor Rogers, Tuesday's start against the Milwaukee Brewers was an opportunity to take another step forward and help the Miami Marlins secure a series win. However, Rogers struggled with his control throughout the start did not factor into the decision. The Marlins ended up taking the lead in the bottom of the sixth, but their bullpen couldn't come through. The Brewers defeated the Marlins by a final score of 7-5. Rogers went only 3 ⅔ innings, gave up four runs off of six hits and four walks. He also struck out four. After initially showing higher velocity than usual, topping out at 94.8 mph in the first inning, his four-seam fastball averaged 92.6 mph overall vs. the Brew Crew. "I've been putting in a lot of work," said Rogers when it came to the increase in velocity. "Working on a small things and just trying to get back and working on so much, kind of getting out of my normal routine, but it's a necessity as far as me getting back to where I need to be. It's a long process and two weeks into this whole new routine. No excuse, gotta put the ball over the plate and give this team a chance." Walks were the main issue for the 26-year-old. Rogers walked the lead-off hitter in each of the first three innings and two of them ended up scoring, putting the Marlins behind early 2-0. A William Contreras double drove in Andruw Monasterio in the top of the first and in the top of the second, a Blake Perkins RBI single drove in Gary Sanchez. Rogers made a pitch usage adjustment, using his changeup only 6.7% of the time on Tuesday, the lowest rate of his MLB career. In his previous starts this season, opponents were hitting .323 off the changeup with a 91.0 mph average exit velo. The slider, which is his least-used pitch on average so far in 2024, had the highest usage against Milwaukee (35.6%). "Thought I was landing it pretty well back door," said Rogers on the slider. "(Home plate umpire Roberto Ortiz) missed a couple of calls, but that's gonna happen. Had a good swing-and-miss. It was more horizontal [movement] than I wanted it. That's a quicker fix to get depth back to that pitch, so in a good spot with that." Otto Lopez continued his success at the Major League level Tuesday night. In the bottom of the second inning, facing Brewers rookie Robert Gasser, Lopez drove in Jazz Chisholm Jr. on an RBI single to put the Marlins on the board. Lopez, who is a rather quick player, laid down a sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the sixth inning with runners on first and second. Chisholm, the runner on second, was able to take advantage of the throw to first on the bunt and scored from second. Chisholm's sprint speed on the play was 30.9 feet per second. That put the Marlins down one run. "Pretty electric place and good baseball play from Jazz," said Skip Schumaker. "I'm not sure how many people can run the bases like that. Really impressive instincts. Not a lot of people can do what he did." Chisholm shared his insight on the play following the game: "As soon as I saw the catcher field the ball, he was pretty far from home plate and then the momentum was still going away from the plate. Just used my speed to give us some runs and get a rally going." Along with the impressive baserunning, Chisholm notched another multi-hit game and scored two runs. Particularly since the Luis Arraez trade, he's been one of the Marlins' hottest hitters. "I called my grandpa, Franklin Stubbs," said Chisholm. "He's my baseball grandpa. So I called him and I was like, 'Man, I feel like I'm not hitting the ball the right way.' He's like, 'Yeah, you're not. Just go watch your old videos from when you were in high school. Go watch your first time coming into pro ball get back to that swing because that's the Jazz Chisholm I know.' I feel like I got back into that. Swinging down to the ball instead of trying to hit everything out of the park. Just trying to get hits and let the homers come." Marlins third baseman Emmanuel Rivera posted his third multi-hit game of the season. His last came on May 1 against the Colorado Rockies. Rivera's first hit of the night was a double, but his biggest hit of the game would be in the bottom of the sixth to drive in Tim Anderson on an RBI single to tie the game at four apiece. A Dane Myers sac fly drove in Rivera, who was moved up on a Christian Bethancourt base hit. The Marlins took a 5-4 lead during that rally, but it ended up not being enough. Since returning from the IL and going back to a bullpen role, A.J. Puk hadn't allowed a hit nor a run. Jake Bauers led off the eighth inning with a double against him. Even so, Puk was one out away from stranding Bauers on third and preserving the lead. Milwaukee's most productive hitter this season, William Contreras, worked a 3-2 count and walked to extend the inning. Puk got a more favorable lefty-lefty matchup, but it was against Christian Yelich. The 2018 NL MVP smacked a triple, driving in two runs. Puk then gave up a double to Willy Adames that drove in a third run. "I missed my first-pitch slider," said Puk recalling the Yelich pitch sequence, "and then went with a sinker in, hit it into the dugout. Did the same thing, hit it on the black and made a good adjustment. [He] put the ball in play and got me good." The triple had an exit velo of 111.0 mph, the hardest hit for either team on Tuesday. With the loss, the Marlins drop to 16-34 on the season while the Brewers move to 28-20. The rubber match will be a battle of aces. Jesús Luzardo will go up against Freddy Peralta. First pitch is at 6:40 pm.

After a putrid start to the season, the Miami Marlins currently find themselves at 16-33 on the season. Although they are on pace for the most losses in franchise history, the overall record doesn't truly reflect the talent that they have. In the month of May, the team is finally clicking, going 9-9 since the calendar flipped and showing improvement in every area. Understandably, there were serious concerns about Miami's offensive production once the decision was made to trade NL batting champion Luis Arraez to the San Diego Padres. The Marlins lost their leadoff hitter, creating a hole in a lineup that was already struggling mightily even with his help. Fortunately, several underperforming veterans have gotten hot at the plate to make up for Arraez's absence. Josh Bell, the most expensive player on the Marlins roster, has begun looking like his usual self. In the month of March/April, Bell slashed .181/.269/.285/.554 with three home runs and 10 RBIs. In the month of May, he has completely turned it around, slashing .328/.408/.522/.930 with three home runs and 15 RBIs. "It wasn't like I was gonna take him out of games," said manager Skip Schumaker regarding Bell's slow start. "He's good on both sides of the plate. It's just a matter of time and we needed him to get going." On Saturday, Bell took New York Mets closer Edwin Diaz deep for a three-run homer to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Marlins eventually won in extra innings. On Monday, Bell delivered the walk-off hit himself, ripping a single through the infield with the bases loaded to defeat the Milwaukee Brewers. 200d8dea-6909a21b-9c59957a-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4 Utility man Nick Gordon is a platoon player, mainly facing right-handed pitching. The recent scheduling has been favorable for him as the Marlins faced only three lefty starters in their first 18 May games. That has put Gordon in a position to start almost every single day in left field, and he's taken advantage of the consistent playing time. In the month of March/April, Gordon slashed .177/.208/.338/.547 with three home runs and 12 RBIs. In May, Gordon is slashing .327/.352/.481/.833 with two home runs and six RBIs. Schumaker noted following Saturday's game that Gordon isn't putting as much pressure on himself to hit for power, yet he's still making quality contact, raising his average exit velocity from 86.5 mph to 89.2 mph. The Marlins catching tandem has been extremely underwhelming offensively to begin the season, but this past weekend, both Nick Fortes and Christian Bethancourt hit home runs against the Mets. In the first month of the season, the catchers combined to hit 8-for-95 with five RBIs. They've improved to 13-for-54 with nine RBIs in May. The trade of Arraez and injury absence of shortstop Tim Anderson cleared the way for Marlins waiver claim Otto Lopez to get an opportunity. After torching the Triple-A level, Lopez has made a smooth transition to the big leagues, slashing .296/.339/.519/.858 with three home runs, 10 RBIs and a 140 wRC+. He also leads all Marlins position players with 0.8 bWAR (tied with Bryan De La Cruz). The Marlins have turned to Jazz Chisholm Jr. to be their new everyday leadoff hitter. Since the Arraez trade, Chisholm is slashing .286/.438/.492/.840 with two home runs and six RBIs in 16 games, closely resembling the production that made him an All-Star in 2022. In addition to these bats turning the corner, the Marlins' run prevention has been a lot better in May. Recently, their pitching staff threw three straight shutouts, becoming the first Marlins team in 19 years to do so. Jesús Luzardo has posted a 1.54 ERA and 0.84 FIP in two starts since returning from the injured list. The Marlins have also benefited from the emergence of Ryan Weathers. The young lefty went eight innings against the Detroit Tigers and seven more against the Brewers on Monday, keeping games close while also helping the bullpen stay rested. b06e2ab5-d65ac4b1-239ae9f4-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4 You can see the difference from a defensive standpoint. Marlins fielders combined for minus-20 outs above average in March/April, per Baseball Savant, by far the worst mark in MLB. Entering Tuesday, they are at plus-one OAA in May. The Marlins have nine games still to play in May: two at home against the Brewers, then they go on the road to face the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres for three games apiece before returning to Miami on May 31 to host the defending World Series champs, the Texas Rangers.

MIAMI, FL—After winning each of their past three games in shutout fashion, the Miami Marlins showed that their offense is also capable of leading them to victory. On Saturday, despite trailing the Mets 7-2 after five innings and 9-5 entering the bottom of the ninth, they found a way to tie it up and finish the job in extra innings, much like the team that had so many late-game rallies in 2023. The Marlins walked-off the Mets by a final score of 10-9 in ten innings. This season, Mets closer Edwin Díaz has struggled, posting a 3.57 ERA and 4.37 FIP. Díaz has also struggled to close out games as he only had five saves on the season, but three blown saves. On Saturday, he suffered his worst blow-up of them all. Vidal Bruján led off the ninth inning with a double and was driven in by Jazz Chisholm Jr., but still trailed 9-6. A Bryan De La Cruz base hit put runners on first and second with Josh Bell up. In his career against Edwin Diaz, Bell was 0-for-5 with three strikeouts. On the first pitch that the Marlins first baseman saw, he took Diaz deep 428 feet to dead center for a three-run shot that tied the game at nine apiece. "He might be a guy that you want to wait out." said Bell after the game. "Just watching Bruján, watching Jazz and De La get hits there, decided to try to jump on the slider over the heart of the plate." After what was a rough start to the season for Bell, a new month has been exactly what he needed. Entering Saturday's game, Bell was slashing .296/.387/.463/.850 in May with two home runs and 10 RBIs. On Saturday, Bell went 3-for-5 with a home run and four RBIs. "Didn't think he was going to hit .160 or .170 forever," said Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker following the game. "He's just too good of a player. He's gonna be playing every day. It wasn't like I was gonna take him out of games. He's good on both sides of the plate. It's just a matter of time and we needed him to get going." Bell tied it, but Otto Lopez walked it off for the Fish, the first walk-off hit of his career. With a runner on third, Lopez was facing former Marlins reliever Jorge Lopez (no relation to each other). On a 1-1 count, Lopez went with the sinker right down the middle that the rookie infielder was able to take advantage of and knock an RBI single to center field. After tough start to the season, Marlins utility man Nick Gordon has turned it around, slashing .302/.318/.465/.783 with two home runs and four RBIs in May. Gordon kicked the game off with an RBI double, driving in Jesús Sánchez to have the Marlins trail by one run in the bottom of the second inning. Gordon ended the game going 2-for-4 with an RBI, a walk and a run scored. "Not trying to hit it over our bullpen," said Schumaker following the game on what he's seen from Gordon this month. "When he's middled the other way, he's a good hitter. When you're seeing the doubles and singles the other way, that means he's staying on the ball. He's got enough power pull side. That's going to happen. He doesn't have to try to force it." In the bottom of the third inning, Jazz Chisholm Jr. took advantage of Mets starter Luis Severino's sinker and hit his sixth home run of the season, tying the game at two apiece. The ball left the bat at 106.4 mph and went 413 feet. That was Chisholm's third-longest home run of the season. Chisholm would then knock in an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Marlins center fielder ended the game going 3-for-5 with a home run two RBIs. He scored two runs as well. The lead-off hitter is now slashing .260/.333/.434/.767 with six home run and 24 RBIs. Starting pitcher Braxton Garrett took the mound for his second start of the season. Garrett ran into trouble right away. In the top of the first inning, the Marlins starter surrendered back-to-back RBI singles to give the Mets an early 2-0 lead. Both of those hits came on the changeup. In the top of the fourth inning, Francisco Lindor grounded out, but the runner on third scored, giving the Mets a 3-2 lead. Although Garrett struck out five, he gave up six runs. That's because in top of the fifth inning, Miami went to Declan Cronin with one out and the bases loaded. One of the best relievers on the team this season, Cronin had yet to allow any inherited runners to score. Different story for him in this appearance. The first hitter he faced was Harrison Bader who smacked an RBI single to drive in two runs, making it a 5-2 game and then Jeff McNeil drove in Starling Marte and Bader on an single, giving the Mets what looked at the time to be a comfortable 7-2 advantage. With the win, the Marlins find themselves on a season-best four-game win streak and move up to 15-32 on the season while the Mets drop to 20-25. The Marlins go for their second sweep of the season on Sunday with Sixto Sánchez taking the mound. First pitch is at 1:40 pm.

MIAMI, FL—On Friday, the Miami Marlins kicked off game one of a six-game homestand. The weekend series featured the division rival New York Mets. Jesús Luzardo, coming off an eight-strikeout performance against the Philadelphia Phillies, looked to repeat that again. Luzardo led the Marlins to their third straight win in shutout fashion by the final score of 8-0. It's the third time in franchise history that the Marlins have shut out their opponents for three straight games. It was previously done in 2004 and 2005. “I think it's super, super cool,” said Marlins catcher Nick Fortes who has been behind the plate the last couple of games. “I think that's kind of a very unique accomplishment accomplishment I would say so. It's something I take a lot of a lot of pride in. It's not just me. It's a testament to these pitchers who have been putting so much work in. It's really really cool to see.” If the Marlins shut out the Mets on Saturday afternoon, the 2024 Marlins would become the first team in franchise history to shut out an opponent four straight times. Luzardo was coming off his best start of the season, but had been on a pitch limit after spending time on the injured list. On Friday, he got a longer leash (89 pitches) and completed six innings for the second time this season. Everything clicked for the Marlins starting pitcher. As impressive as Luzardo's seven strikeouts were, Friday's game also marked the first time this season that he didn't allow a walk. e62541d2-84b1e958-dea58ab5-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4 “I think the fastball in up to righties really opened up the change,” said Marlins manager Skip Schumaker following the game. “The changeup was his pitch tonight. It was super effective. His slider is usually his pitch, but when he doesn't, not that he didn't have it, but the changeup was just the pitch to go to tonight.” Going with his usual fastball/slider combo worked. He generated 14 whiffs and six of his seven strikeouts were swinging. Luzardo mixed the four-seamer and slider well, using the four-seam 34% of the time while using the slider 35% of the time. Although he used those pitches the most, the changeup accounted for nine of the 14 whiffs. “I lean on it a little bit,” said Luzardo when talking about his changeup. "Not as much as I did tonight. I felt like it was basically my go-to pitch and it got me out of a lot of bad counts and jams.” Christian Scott, a Top 30 prospect in the New York Mets system according to MLB Pipeline, had been dominant through two starts. In his debut against the Rays, he went 6 ⅔ innings of one-run ball, striking out six. Against the Atlanta Braves, he struck out eight through six innings of work. On Friday, the Marlins got to Scott early in the second inning. Otto Lopez kicked off the scoring with a sac fly, driving in Jesús Sánchez to give Miami an early 1-0 lead. Production from Marlins catchers this season has been nothing short of disappointing. Any sort of offensive impact from the catching position is a plus. With runners on first and second with two outs, Nick Fortes took Scott deep for a three-run shot to extend the Miami lead to 4-0. Entering Friday’s game, Fortes had been slashing .127/.159/.190/.348 with one home run and five RBIs. Fortes has noted the struggles and knows that there’s room for improvement. “It’s tough because I know that there's so much more in there for me,” said Fortes. “I know I can do a lot better. It's been frustrating, but I've definitely been putting the work in and I think I'm starting to finally get to a point where I feel a little bit more comfortable. Hopefully, I can continue to ride that a little bit, but I'm just trying to keep my focus on our pitchers which is what Skip has told me is the most important thing.” The Marlins went on to score three more runs. Vidal Bruján scored on a wild pitch, Bryan De La Cruz drove in a run on a sac fly, Josh Bell grounded into a fielder's choice, but the runner on third scored and Jake Burger drove in his first run since returning from the IL. The Marlins took a commanding 8-0 lead that they never looked back from. With the win, the Marlins move to 14-32 on the season while the Mets fall to 20-24. On Saturday, Braxton Garrett will take the mound for the Marlins making his second start of the season while Luis Severino will take the mound for New York. First pitch will be at 4:10 pm.

We're pleased to welcome back Billy Gil of the Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz! Billy joins Kevin Barral and Isaac Azout for a wide-ranging conversation about the future of the Miami Marlins, their promotion with Burger King, key players they should rebuild around, what it's like to attend Marlins home games and much 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, Big Fish Small Pod, Swimming Upstream and more. The Fish On First podcast is now being presented by MPT College Consulting! They pride themselves on helping clients navigate the college application process. This includes preparation for standardized testing, guidance through high school, assistance with essays and applications, and choosing the right college. Visit them today at mptcollegeconsulting.com to learn more about their services and schedule a free consultation. Follow Billy (@billygil), Kevin (@kevin_barral), Isaac (@IsaacAzout) and Fish On First (@FishOnFirst) on Twitter. Join the Marlins Discord server! Complete Miami Marlins coverage here at FishOnFirst.com.

Through eight starts this season, Trevor Rogers has posted a 6.57 ERA, 4.59 FIP, 7.54 K/9 and 4.14 BB/9. These are all career worsts for the 26-year-old as he goes into Detroit on Wednesday afternoon looking to rebound. In his previous outing against the Philadelphia Phillies, Rogers allowed a season-high nine hits and didn't even complete the fourth inning. The Marlins have lost every time he's taken the mound in 2024 and the struggles are clearly getting to him. Rogers originally reached the big leagues in 2020, then emerged as a promising starting pitcher in 2021. Three years later, he doesn't look anything like the rookie version of himself. The most obvious difference is his velocity. In 2021, Rogers' four-seam fastball averaged 94.5 mph and was his most-used pitch. In 2024, Rogers' four-seam fastball sits at 92.0 mph, the lowest of his career. It continues to be his most-used pitch, but the results have fallen off a lot. Per Baseball Savant, it's gone from being among MLB's top four-seamers with a plus-16 run value to being a below-average weapon (minus-3 run value). merge-73rf7k.mp4 Rogers dominated as a rookie with his four-seam/changeup combo in part because of the large separation in velo between the pitches (9.7 mph gap). However, that gap is only 6.1 mph this season, leading to much less swing-and-miss on the change. Rogers has tried to expand his pitch mix with a sinker. He now uses it 21.1% of the time and it's part of his approach to both lefties and righties. It is not working out, unfortunately. His sinker ranks last in his arsenal in PutAway%, Whiff% and batting average against (.344 BA). Durability has been an issue for the Marlins lefty. Injuries interrupted each of his last three seasons and limited him to only 18 innings pitched at the major league level in 2023. There is also the question of his stamina during starts. In 2021, Rogers completed six innings of work or more nine times. Since then, he has completed six innings or more only six times. A lot of it has to do with the adjustments that opponents make once they get multiple looks at him. The first time through the order, hitters are slashing .258/.306/.470/.775. The second time through the order, hitters have an OPS of .927, and if he makes it to the third time through the order, hitters have a 1.234 OPS. In 2024, Rogers has yet to complete six innings. In 2021, only 5.0% of fly balls against Rogers went for home runs—that rate was lower than any qualified MLB starter. He hasn't been able to replicate that magic. Looking at 2024, his HR/FB rate is at 13.2%. He's allowed five home runs this season, only one away from tying his 2021 total. It's hard to just give up on Trevor Rogers, especially for a rebuilding team like the Marlins. He once showed that he had the chance to become of the best pitchers in baseball. With several members of the team's projected starting rotation on the injured list, there is nothing to lose by seeing what he can do. That being said, expectations for Rogers must be lowered. With reduced velo and an inability to go deep into games, he'll need to command his pitches better or consider a new role in the bullpen (following in the footsteps of Bryan Hoeing, for example). Maybe Wednesday's start against the Detroit Tigers can be a turning point for Rogers. This is a matchup where he should have the advantage given the ballpark he will be pitching in and how thin the Tigers lineup is.

On Saturday, the Miami Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies were tied at one apiece. Skip Schumaker went with rookie Anthony Maldonado, who had yet to give up a run in the major leagues. Maldonado left that outing giving up two runs (plus one runner inherited from Jesús Luzardo). On Monday in the series-opening game against the Detroit Tigers, the Marlins led 5-3 entering the bottom of the eighth inning. Schumaker went with Maldonado to see if he could redeem himself. Unfortunately, Maldonado gave up an RBI single to Andy Ibañez, and after striking out Matt Vierling, he threw a slider right down the middle that former number one overall draft pick Spencer Torkelson crushed for the longest home run of his career. That gave the Tigers a 6-5 lead in their eventual victory over the Marlins. Maldonado's best pitch is his slider and he has leaned on it heavily since being called up. That was especially true on Monday: all four of his pitches to Torkelson were sliders and so were 20 of his 23 overall pitches in the inning, "That's his out pitch," said manager Skip Schumaker. "I think he just failed to expand. It backed up, hung middle-up to a really dangerous hitter. Good big league hitters will make you pay. Unfortunately, he didn't miss it." Entering the game, the Marlins ranked second-to-last among MLB teams in hitter fWAR (-0.7), just ahead of the Chicago White Sox. Impressively, their offense scored five unanswered runs to come back from an early 3-0 deficit. Four players in the Miami lineup had multi-hit games. That includes Jazz Chisholm Jr.—his third consecutive multi-hit game—and Nick Gordon, who had his second three-hit game of the season. Gordon was inconsistent during his first month as a Marlin (he was acquired from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for Steven Okert during the offseason). However, with more consistent playing time, he has begun finding more success. So far in May, Gordon is slashing .353/.371/.559/.930 with two home runs and four RBIs. Josh Bell is heating up in May as well, slashing .293/.408/.488/.896. On Monday, down 3-1 in the top of the fifth inning, Bell smacked an RBI double driving in Bryan De La Cruz from first base. Back-to-back-to-back RBIs for the Marlins tied the game up at three apiece. In the top of the eighth inning, Otto Lopez hit a two-run homer to take a 5-3 lead. Lopez has played in 17 games this season since being claimed off waivers by the Marlins and has been everything they could've asked more and even more. Including his two-run home run, Lopez is slashing .313/.371/.656/1.027. Lopez is expected to be a mainstay in the Marlins lineup due to the back injury of Tim Anderson. "He just goes about it the right way," said Schumaker. "His preparation is excellent. The way he goes about it in infield drills and batting practice, the whole thing. He's a real likable guy that you root for because of how hard he works and how hard he prepares. We're giving him an opportunity with the (Luis Arraez) trade and he's making the most of it and I am proud with how he's going about it." The Marlins starting pitcher on Monday was Sixto Sánchez, who had his best start of the season, going 4 ⅔ innings, giving up zero earned runs (three unearned runs), five hits, two walks and two strikeouts. Sánchez only generated three whiffs, recording swinging strikeouts on his four-seam fastball and cutter. A big factor working in Sánchez's favor was his 71% ground ball rate. If not for an error by Vidal Bruján, he would have likely pitched even deeper into the game. "Defense was making some plays other than the one error, which was good for him," said Schumaker. "I thought the velo increased again...Everything else is so much better when he's like that." The expectation is that Sánchez will be back on the mound on Sunday in the series finale against the New York Mets. With the loss, the Marlins now find themselves with an 11-32 record while the Tigers are back over .500 at 21-20 and at .500 in one-run games. Ryan Weathers takes the mound for Miami on Tuesday, looking to even the series at one apiece. First pitch will be at 6:40 pm.

MIAMI, FL—The last time Jesús Luzardo stepped foot on a Major League mound was April 20 against the Chicago Cubs where he completed six innings. Luzardo then went on the 15-day IL due to left elbow tightness and made one rehab start before rejoining the team on Saturday. The Venezuelan went 5 ⅔ innings and struck out eight. Despite the strong performance, it wasn't enough as the Miami Marlins fell to the Philadelphia Phillies by the final score of 8-3. "He did enough for us to win," said Marlins manager Skip Schumaker, citing how Luzardo threw 72% of his pitches for strikes. "I thought he was as good as I've seen him all year." Schumaker added that Luzardo's approach against the Phillies was similar to Trevor Rogers' on Friday, except he had better execution. "Similar to what Rogers was trying to do yesterday, throwing the fastball in to open up the changeup and then throwing the slider off of it. Zeus was successful at that. When hitters think inside or have to think a little bit, it opens up everything else. His velocity was there, his command was there, first-pitch strikes a lot." Swing-and-miss was the name of the game for Luzardo on Saturday afternoon, striking out eight (all of them swinging) and throwing 57 strikes against 22 balls against the potent Phillies lineup. The Marlins starter kicked off his afternoon striking out Bryce Harper and he wouldn't look back from there. Great placements of his slider and changeup were the key to generating 18 whiffs. "I know that they're an aggressive team," said Jesús Luzardo following the game. "Top-five offense in baseball, probably. A lot of great hitters one through nine. We know that they're somewhat aggressive and they're looking to jump in early. Just the game plan that I took tonight and thankfully, it worked out for the most part." Aside from Harper, all of Luzardo's strikeouts came on low-inside pitches to right-handed hitters with great placement of the slider specifically, generating six of his eight strikeouts. Luzardo's eight strikeouts tied a season high, which he set on Opening Day against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Only once had Luzardo completed six innings of work this season. He had a chance to do it a second time, but gave up a double to Whit Merrifield in the top of the sixth and then an RBI double to J.T. Realmuto. After Luzardo recorded his eighth strikeout of the afternoon, Skip Schumaker made the decision to remove him from the game and go with Anthony Maldonado. The Marlins reliever went on to load the bases and give up a bases-clearing, three-run triple to second baseman Bryson Stott, giving the Phillies a commanding 4-1 lead. One of the runs counted towards Luzardo and the other two—who reached on Maldonado walks—were charged to him. Luzardo was scheduled to face Alec Bohm right before being taken out. Entering Saturday's game, Bohm had gone 1-for-11 with four strikeouts. Through two at-bats in Saturday's contest, Bohm struck out the first time, but knocked in a base hit in his second at-bat. "I'm not going to push him after an elbow injury," said Schumaker about removing Luzardo after 79 pitches. "I was not going to push him at all and I felt good about Maldonado. Maldonado has been great for us all year and just happened to struggle tonight. As tough as it is to take out Luzardo, I felt good about Maldo. Just didn't work out." Maldonado had not given up a run through his first six MLB outings. "The big thing was walking the two righties to get to the lefty," said Anthony Maldonado. "That just can't happen. I gotta get those guys. I gotta get the righties...I have to relook at the pitch to Stott to see where I missed on that 2-2, but at the end of the day, it's walking those two righties." Entering Saturday, Vidal Bruján had been hot at the plate, slashing .341/.396/.500/.896 with four RBIs and only five strikeouts over his previous 14 games dating back to April 26. He broke the scoreless tie with a solo homer to right-center field in the fifth inning off of Taijuan Walker to give Miami an early 1-0 lead. That was Bruján's first home run since October 5, 2022 when he was still a part of the Tampa Bay Rays organization. In his first season with the Marlins, Brujan is slashing .271/.338/.429/.767 with one home run and six RBIs. He continues to play around the infield every day as a nice switch-hitting option in the lineup. The Phillies pulled away by adding four more runs against Burch Smith in the eighth inning. In the bottom of the ninth, Marlins second baseman Otto Lopez hit his second home run of the year to make it 8-3. The ball left the bat at 107.7 mph and went 421 feet into the air. With the loss, the Marlins fall to 10-31 on the season while the Phillies improve to 28-12. The Marlins are back at it on Sunday with Braxton Garrett (left shoulder impingement) making his 2024 season debut. First pitch is at 1:40 pm.

Following the blockbuster trade sending Miami Marlins second baseman Luis Arraez to the San Diego Padres, the Miami Marlins have begun a rebuilding process once again. Arraez was the first to go, but certainly won't be the last. Particularly for Marlins players who are nearing free agency, it is just a matter of when they will be shopped to contending teams. At 22-15 entering Wednesday, the Chicago Cubs should be aggressive buyers. Their main weakness to this point in the 2024 season has been the bullpen, which ranks 23rd in the majors in fWAR, 24th in ERA and 26th in walk rate. According to Dave Kaplan of ESPN 1000, the Marlins and Cubs "could be working on a deal for a reliever." Miami closer Tanner Scott would make the most sense to be dealt if that is the case. Since being acquired by the Marlins in 2022, Scott has posted a 3.14 ERA, 3.03 FIP, 12.2 K/9 and 4.9 BB/9 with 36 saves in 154 ⅔ innings pitched. Last year, he had one of the best seasons in franchise history for a relief pitcher. Earning a salary of $5.7M this season, the 29-year-old is a pending free agent. 745f1362-e81fe94a-53e97fc8-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4 Scott has frequently struggled with his control during his career, including at the start of this season. Fortunately for the Marlins, he's been more effective lately, striking out the side against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday while averaging 97.5 mph on his fastball. He has allowed earned runs in only two of 15 appearances in 2024. Although the MLB trade deadline is nearly three months away, Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix can maximize the return for Scott by moving him earlier so that the acquiring team can use him more. Waiting until the deadline would allow Bendix to negotiate with more teams, but there is also the risk of an injury occurring between now and then. The Cubs opened this season with Adbert Alzolay as their closer, but have since switched to Héctor Neris. Even if Scott doesn't move into that role, he can be used in high-leverage situations, especially when there are left-handed batters due up. In the Arraez trade, the Marlins focused on quantity over quality. Let's imagine that for Scott, they try to get the best individual prospect possible. Kevin Alcántara, 21, was acquired from the New York Yankees in the Anthony Rizzo trade. The Dominican outfielder has progressed to the Double-A level where he is currently slashing .220/.268/.385/.653 with four home runs, six RBIs and a 97 wRC+. He is ranked as Chicago's #6 prospect, according to Northside Baseball. (There is no relation between him and Sandy Alcantara, to be clear.) Year Age AgeDif Tm Lg Lev Aff G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB 2019 16 2 Teams 2 Lgs Rk-FRk NYY 41 174 161 26 41 8 3 1 19 5 3 8 36 .255 .305 .360 .665 58 3 4 0 1 0 2019 16 -3.5 Yankees East GULF Rk NYY 32 128 123 19 32 5 2 1 13 3 3 3 27 .260 .289 .358 .647 44 3 2 0 0 0 2019 16 -1.8 Yankees DOSL FRk NYY 9 46 38 7 9 3 1 0 6 2 0 5 9 .237 .348 .368 .716 14 0 2 0 1 0 2021 18 2 Teams 2 Lgs Rk CHC 34 138 119 32 41 4 5 5 24 5 0 17 36 .345 .423 .588 1.012 70 2 0 1 1 0 2021 18 -1.9 Cubs ACL Rk CHC 25 107 92 27 31 3 5 4 21 3 0 13 28 .337 .415 .609 1.024 56 2 0 1 1 0 2021 18 -2.0 Yankees FCL Rk NYY 9 31 27 5 10 1 0 1 3 2 0 4 8 .370 .452 .519 .970 14 0 0 0 0 0 2022 19 -1.8 Myrtle Beach CARL A CHC 112 495 428 76 117 19 6 15 85 14 3 55 123 .273 .360 .451 .811 193 6 6 0 6 1 2023 20 3 Teams 3 Lgs A+-AA-Rk CHC 102 435 391 71 111 26 3 13 71 15 4 36 105 .284 .345 .466 .810 182 6 3 0 5 0 2023 20 -3.7 Tennessee SOUL AA CHC 5 21 16 4 4 1 0 1 4 0 0 3 7 .250 .381 .500 .881 8 1 1 0 1 0 2023 20 -2.3 South Bend MIDW A+ CHC 95 408 371 65 106 25 3 12 66 15 4 31 97 .286 .341 .466 .807 173 5 2 0 4 0 2023 20 0.1 Cubs ACL Rk CHC 2 6 4 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 1 .250 .500 .250 .750 1 0 0 0 0 0 2023 20 -2.4 Mesa AZFL Fal 21 97 86 11 22 7 1 5 23 3 1 8 30 .256 .330 .535 .865 46 1 2 0 1 0 2024 21 -2.8 Tennessee SOUL AA CHC 22 92 87 11 19 3 0 4 6 2 1 5 27 .218 .261 .391 .652 34 2 0 0 0 0 Standing at 6'6", 188 pounds, what stands out about Alcántara is the impressive speed and outfield defense he has at that size. He is capable of sticking in center, but his strong arm can profile him well in right field. Along with Jakob Marsee (Arraez trade) and Shane Sasaki (Jon Berti trade), the addition of Alcántara would complete the makeover of the Marlins' Double-A outfield. The righty hitter has the potential to be a middle-of-the-order run producer in Miami as soon as 2025. Would you be willing to trade Scott to the Cubs right now if Alcántara was being offered?

Dating back to the final month of the 2023 season, Luis Arraez served as leadoff hitter for the Miami Marlins whenever he was in the starting lineup. That had to change in recent days after Arraez was dealt to the San Diego Padres. Marlins center fielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. is getting the first opportunity to fill the void and had another productive game on Monday against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Although the Marlins lost by a final score of 6-3, Chisholm went 2-for-4, scoring the first run of the game. The Marlins are now 10-27 on the season. Marlins manager Skip Schumaker did an in-game interview with Bally Sports Florida and was asked about the decision to go with Chisholm as the team's new leadoff hitter. "I was trying to figure out who to put in that spot and did my homework," said Schumaker. "I think he loves setting the tone and showing what he's capable of...As the leadoff hitter, I feel as if he's more free and able to go. He's been really good at the top of the order the last couple of games." Entering Monday's contest, the 26-year-old had slashed .245/.299/.436/.735 with 25 home runs and 73 RBIs during his career in the leadoff spot. Schumaker noted that Chisholm had a .840 OPS in that role in 2022, when he earned an All-Star Game selection. "When we acquired Luis Arraez—who's a pretty good leadoff hitter—we had to move him down the order," said Schumaker smiling. "He liked hitting leadoff better, but he said, 'I'll do whatever you want'...So it just shows you what kinda teammate he is." In his first at-bat of the game, Chisholm worked a full count in a nine pitch at-bat against Walker Buehler, who was making his first start since June 10, 2022. Chisholm got to his sinker, which was way outside the zone, but got just enough for an opposite-field infield hit. He was driven in by Bryan De La Cruz to give the Marlins a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. WGczWWtfVjBZQUhRPT1fVUZKVFZWUlNYd2NBQzFNRkJ3QUFCbEJYQUFCWEFnSUFBbElHQUF0WEJ3QldBVlpS.mp4 Chisholm worked another full count in his second at-bat against the Dodgers starting pitcher. Buehler left a cutter in the zone on his seventh pitch of the sequence, allowing Chisholm's sixth double of the season (exit velo of 98.0 mph). This season in particular, the center fielder had struggled when hitting with a full count, slashing .059/.304/.118/.422, but had a lot more success the previous two years. Doesn't mean that Chisholm is turning the corner in higher-leverage moments, but certainly good to see him look like what we saw the last two seasons. WGczWWtfVjBZQUhRPT1fQVZCUVVWUlNVVlFBWEZBQkFBQUFBMVZVQUFBSFVnY0FCd1JUQ0ZjQ1VGY0JDQVZR.mp4 The Marlins' early lead did not hold up. On the bump for Miami was Roddery Muñoz who went 4 ⅔ innings, giving up six runs off of seven hits. Unlike his past two starts, Muñoz struggled to locate the strike zone at the beginning of his start, but ended the night striking out five with 12 whiffs. Also he walked four. Muñoz broadened his pitch usage in this start, going with five pitches, using them each at least 12% of the time. His slider was the only pitch that he did not allow any hard-hit balls. The story of the night for the Dodgers was their four home runs against Muñoz. In the bottom of the first inning, Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman went back-to-back to immediately erase Miami's 2-0 lead and make it 3-2. In the bottom of the second inning, nine hitter James Outman took Muñoz deep. The final blow would come in the third inning as Teoscar Hernandez hit his ninth homer of the season. All of the Dodgers' runs scored directly on those homers. Eli Villalobos, Declan Cronin and Anthony Maldonado combined to limit the damage from there. With injured starters Jesús Luzardo and Braxton Garrett both looking impressive in their recent minor league rehab outings, this could prove to be Muñoz's last turn in the rotation for the near future. Either of them would be fully rested by the time this rotation spot comes up again. The Marlins will look to tie the series up on Tuesday with Edward Cabrera taking the mound. For the Dodgers, Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start. First pitch at 10:10 p.m. ET.