Kevin Barral

One short-term question which needed to be answered with the departure of Luis Arraez was who would bat lead off for the Miami Marlins for the remainder of the season. For Jazz Chisholm Jr., it's a return to a familiar role. 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. View full article

The Marlins and Cubs are logical trade partners this season. What could a deal between these two teams possibly look like? 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? View full article

Summarizing key takeaways from multiple interviews that the Miami Marlins president of baseball operations conducted on Saturday regarding the club's controversial trade. On Friday night, the Miami Marlins and the San Diego Padres struck a deal to send second baseman Luis Arraez to the Padres in exchange for prospects Dillon Head, Jakob Marsee, Nathan Martorella and Woo-Suk Go. Any trade involving a player with Arraez's track record and accolades would be big news, but that's especially true so early in the MLB season, nearly three months in advance of the trade deadline. Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix had some explaining to do on Saturday once the move became official. In 180 games played with the organization, Arraez slashed .343/.384/.450/.834 with 10 home runs, 74 RBIs and a 127 OPS+. Arraez also notched the first cycle in franchise history and became the first player in Major League Baseball history to win the batting title in back-to-back seasons in different leagues. "It was an incredibly difficult decision," Bendix told Bally Sports Florida's Kelly Saco. "He's not just a great player, but he's a phenomenal person, phenomenal leader and we don't take those types of positions lightly. Ultimately, it felt like this was the right decision for the Marlins organization to help us get to the place that we need to be." A report from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic noted that the Padres expressed their interest in Arraez throughout the offseason, but the talks didn't amount to anything at that point. "It really came together very quickly," Bendix explained. "It felt like this was too good of a deal to pass up, frankly." Bendix elaborated further to the Marlins Radio Network: "It came together in the last 24 hours when things really picked up to the point where there was a deal on the table that we felt like we had to say yes to." Bendix also held a formal press conference with local and national media. The full recording of it is available for Fish On First SuperSubs here, but let's summarize his key answers below. The Marlins were coming off of an 84-78 season last year, clinching a spot in the playoffs, but coming up short against the Philadelphia Phillies. With the departure of general manager Kim Ng, the Marlins hired Bendix from the Tampa Bay Rays. Bendix insisted that he was looking to build both for now and for the future of the franchise. However, the Marlins currently find themselves with a 9-25 record, which is the third-worst in baseball. Bendix admitted in his availability with the media that the team is unlikely to make the 2024 postseason, convincing him to proceed with a future-focused trade like this. "I understand that it's a difficult message in the short term," said Bendix. "I'm not gonna run from that and this is a very difficult type of move to make. Ultimately, this was the move that we felt like we needed to make to get the organization to the level of long-term sustainable success that I set out when I came here." The early-season struggles "opened us up to the possibility," he said. "When we have the record that we have, the frustrating start that we have, we have to take the incoming calls and we have to listen. Ultimately, we have to be open to moves that are going to help us in the long term." The Marlins took Arraez to an arbitration hearing prior to this season when they could not bridge a $1.4M gap in proposed salaries. With the Venezuelan infielder only under club control through 2025, Bendix confirmed that there was never a formal negotiation between Arraez's agency and the organization regarding a possible contract extension. "It's something that we had considered," said Bendix. "It was part of the conversation, we have a lot of different conversations about how to handle our roster and how to handle a player like Luis (Arraez). We never got to the point of having those conversations formally, but we decided that right now given our record so far this year, given the state of our minor league system, given our stated goals of developing this franchise into sustainably successful team that's winning 90-plus games a year in and year out." Other veteran Marlins players seem likely to become trade chips for Bendix and his staff as the trade market heats up. "We knew that this was going to be a series of difficult decisions to get us to where we want to go. Wasn't necessarily predicting that this would be the first of them, but that's what happened just given where we are so far in the season." As much as the public trade reaction has largely focused on what the Marlins gave up, the return is substantial beginning with reliever Woo-Suk Go, who signed a two-year free agent deal with the Padres in January. "He had quite the illustrious career in Korea," said Bendix. "I think sometimes the transition from a Korean league or any league that you're unfamiliar with coming into a new country where you don't speak the language, that transition can be very difficult. We're hopeful and optimistic that he's shown the ability to make that transition. We like his stuff, we like his demeanor, we like things that he's been able to do so far in his short professional career. We're optimistic that he can contribute to our major league bullpen." The main piece in this package is 19-year-old Dillon Head, who the Padres drafted with their first-round draft pick last year. Although Head is off to a tough start this season, slashing .237/.317/.366/.683, there is a lot of upside and belief that he will be just fine. "He's probably furthest away from the big leagues," said Bendix. "He has relatively minimal professional experience...He also probably has the highest upside of the group. The athleticism, the speed, the overall impact on both sides of the baseball is pretty exciting for us." The two other players involved in the deal were outfielder Jakob Marsee and first baseman Nathan Martorella. "I believe they've both been roommates throughout their entire professional career together," said Bendix. "They're both right around 23 years old. Both very well-rounded players—Marsee a good center fielder, Martorella a first baseman who can really hit." Head will report to Low-A while Marsee and Martorella will head to Double-A. Go will report to Triple-A Jacksonville. Bendix won't use the word "rebuild" despite clearly following that playbook. He has even borrowed the phrase "sustainable success" that Derek Jeter used when he first bought the team with Bruce Sherman in 2017. In his defense, Bendix comes from Tampa Bay where the Rays made the playoffs in each of his last five years as their general manager. "I've seen it be successful in other organizations," said Bendix. "I have people that work for us that have experiences other very successful organizations. There's a lot of different ways that you can be successful in this game regardless of where you rank in payroll, or different things. Ultimately, it relies on discipline in the long-term vision." Bendix ended off his press conference by offering a message to the fans: "We want the short-term payoff. Nobody wants to lose, we don't want to lose. We are taking this as hard as anybody and I understand the fans that are clamoring for a winner, fans that have seen frankly not as many winning Marlins teams as they would like to see. We have the same goal as you: we want to turn this organization into perennial winner. We're committed to doing that. I think this is one step towards in that direction." Meanwhile in Oakland, the Marlins will try to tie their series against the Athletics on Saturday. Not too far away, Luis Arraez is debuting for the Padres against the Arizona Diamondbacks, serving as their designated hitter and batting in the leadoff spot. View full article

Marlins baseball was still played on Friday night even with Luis Arraez on the verge of being traded to the Padres. Miami dropped to 9-25 on the season. Nine minutes before the start of Friday's game, the first reports surfaced that the Miami Marlins were finalizing a trade to send 2023 National League batting champ Luis Arraez to the San Diego Padres in exchange for four prospects. With Arraez scratched from the starting lineup, the Marlins still kicked off a three-game set against the Oakland Athletics with Ryan Weathers taking the mound. "Nothing's official yet, but one of my favorite players I've ever been around," said Marlins manager Skip Schumaker after the game in regards to the trade. "Pulling him late is not easy for any of us in the clubhouse, but it's part of the business and we understand it's part of this game." Schumaker received the news about 15 minutes before first pitch through a phone call and had to begin scrambling to set a new lineup and get everything ready. h0luiz.mp4 Expect more detailed comments from Schumaker on Saturday assuming that the trade is completed. In his seventh start of the season, Weathers went six innings, marking the sixth time that a starting pitcher has gone that deep into a game. It was Weathers' second time doing so. Going with his usual fastball/changeup combo, Weathers did get 13 whiffs, with the changeup responsible for nine of them. "Thought Weathers was good," said Schumaker. "Slider/changeup was excellent. I thought the command on both of those pitches and swing-and-miss was really good. One tough pitch that he probably wants back, but other than that, six innings, three runs kept us in the game, just couldn't get anything going on the offense." Compared to his last start, Weathers did use both the fastball and changeup more, shying away from the sweeper. Despite less usage on the sweeper, it did generate three whiffs. All of Weathers strikeouts came on the changeup. Weathers best start still came when his sweeper was the most used pitch in his arsenal, but since then, he's gone away from it. Weathers' only true mistake came in the bottom of the fourth inning when designated hitter Brent Rooker took the southpaw deep for a two-run homer, giving the Athletics a 2-0 lead. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Esteury Ruiz was just about to ground out to end the inning, but a misfire from Tim Anderson allowed Max Schuemann to score from third. That was Rooker's sixth home run of the season. The ball left the bat at 108.3 mph, which ended up being the hardest-hit ball of the game and the distance was 440 ft, also marked as the longest hit ball of the game. Athletics starter JP Sears went 6 ⅓ shutout innings, striking out six and only giving up four hits. For the first time in his career, Dane Myers was the lead-off hitter for the Marlins, taking over for Arraez. Myers ended the game with one hit and one walk. "Dane's one of our hottest hitters," said Schumaker. "He's really good against left-handers. Thought there was a good chance that he would get on base a couple times in front of the big boys which he did. I thought he was our best chance to get multiple at-bats because he's our hottest guy." In the top of the ninth inning, Vidal Bruján drove in Nick Gordon from first base. Bruján, who got off to a slow start, is now proving to be one of the Marlins' best hitters (127 wRC+ this season). On Friday, he had a three-hit night against Sears, who was cruising against the rest of the Marlins lineup. It wasn't enough as the Marlins fell by a final score of 3-1. With the loss, that moves the Marlins to 9-25 on the season and 0-1 post-Luis Arraez era. "I think it's human nature," said Schumaker when asked about how the Arraez news impacted the team's performance. "Arraez is one of our leaders in the clubhouse and great teammate, so of course, I think that it's human nature that there's an initial shock when it happens. When he gets pulled out of the lineup, I think these guys aren't dumb. They know what's going on and I think that the initial shock factor is definitely real." The Marlins and A's are back at it on Saturday with Trevor Rogers getting the start at 4:10 p.m. EST. For the Athletics, Paul Blackburn will be taking the mound. View full article

Three days after being disciplined by the Marlins for his lack of effort, the Dominican outfielder delivered the decisive 10th-inning hit to extend Miami's winning streak. MIAMI, FL—Monday was a low point for the Miami Marlins and for outfielder Jesús Sánchez in particular. He was removed from the game after the top of the third inning due to a lack of effort as the Washington Nationals completed a four-game sweep of the Marlins. However, the Marlins have not lost since. On Thursday afternoon, they beat the Colorado Rockies by a final score of 5-4 and it was Sánchez who walked-off the Rockies to clinch the three-game sweep. "Credit to him, he's moved on and I think he's grown from it already," said Marlins manager Skip Schumaker following the game. "I told him I still love him and doesn't mean I'm not gonna play you anymore. His teammates also built him up after that. There were a lot of good conversations and I'm super happy for him." Sanchez, who primarily faces right-handed pitching, saw himself going up against a lefty in Jalen Beeks. "Beeks is not easy to hit." said Schumaker. "He's got that induced fastball with a real cutter. That's not easy to hit against, especially as a lefty." Entering this afternoon's game, Sánchez had slashed .196/.228/.312/.541 in his career against lefties, but this season had only ten at-bats against them. "I was really feeling comfortable," said Sanchez through an interpreter when talking about the at-bat. "With a left-handed pitcher, he was throwing that fastball so I was thinking, 'let's go open up the field on this one.' Got me on two strikes and continued with the same plan. I was able to make contact." Per Marlins communications, with two walk-off wins vs. the Rockies this series, it marks the first time that the Marlins won multiple games in walk-off fashion in the same series since 2022 (July 13 and July 14 vs. Pittsburgh). After getting roughed up in his last start, Marlins starting pitcher Edward Cabrera took the mound against the Colorado Rockies and went four innings, giving up four runs off three hits and four walks. Despite some control issues, Cabrera now leads the team in strikeouts with 30. "It's lights-out stuff, but the walks hurt him," said Schumaker. (Jacob) Stallings set one off of him, but I think overall, three hits. He doesn't give up a ton of hits because it's hard to hit off of. It's just the walks again." During his two seasons as Cabrera's teammate, Stallings hit only one home run at loanDepot park, but his three-run shot in the top of the second inning was a no-doubter. Other than that mistake, Cabrera picked up a high amount of whiffs from what was a very aggressive Rockies lineup. Out of Cabrera's nine strikeouts, seven came on swinging strikes. Cabrera didn't rely on one specific putout pitch, keeping the opposing hitters guessing throughout most of the afternoon. Cabrera did enter the top of the fifth, but was unable to record an out as he walked Jake Cave, gave up a base hit to Stallings and walked nine hitter Hunter Goodman to end his afternoon. Following his start, Cabrera noted that he was under the weather and not feeling 100%. The Marlins offense would provide Cabrera with run support throughout the entirety of his outing. In the bottom of the first inning, Luis Arraez led off with a double and after Bryan De La Cruz worked a walk, Jazz Chisholm Jr. drove him in, moving De La Cruz to third. Sánchez drove in De La Cruz on a sacrifice fly to give Miami an early 2-0 lead. Josh Bell took Rockies starter Peter Lambert deep for a solo homer, his fourth of the season. With the home run, Bell finds himself on a three-game hitting streak, which can potentially lead him to turning the corner and getting back on track (69 wRC+ this season). "The guy works a lot," said Schumaker. "He is early hitting every day. He's hitting after watching video and hitting after the game. He really cares and he's trying to figure it out. He's not happy about his start. It's tough for me to take him out of the lineup because I know it's coming. There's been some really good, hard outs...He's walking, that tells me he's seeing it. That tells me he's really, really close. It's not surprising when guys work and that success comes." The Miami Marlins now travel to California to take on the Oakland Athletics, who have a record of 15-17 this season. Miami's projected starters for the series will be Ryan Weathers, Trevor Rogers and Sixto Sánchez. First pitch on Friday will be at 9:40 p.m. View full article

In his second career start, 24-year-old Roddery Muñoz went six innings, allowing only run and striking out seven. He also cemented himself into Marlins history. MIAMI, FL—Entering Wednesday night's game against the Colorado Rockies, the Miami Marlins looked to clinch their first series of the season and win back-to-back games. Along with accomplishing those feats, Dominican pitcher Roddery Muñoz earned his first major league win and Anthony Maldonado earned his first career save. The Marlins defeated the Rockies by a final score of 4-1. Acquired in the offseason in exchange for cash considerations, nobody thought that right-hander Roddery Muñoz would do what he has done through his first two Major League starts. After a strong first start, Muñoz went six innings against the Rockies, giving up one run off three hits. He struck out seven in the process. "I thought Mel (Stottlemyre Jr.) had a really good game plan with with Roddery and Christian Bethancourt," said Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker after the game. "The demeanor was great out there. Saw some fist pumps maybe after every inning, but that's a rookie being excited out there and we're excited for him." The only Rockies run came in the top of the sixth inning, when Elias Diaz grounded out, scoring Brenton Doyle. Compared to Muñoz's debut (eight whiffs), he made opposing hitters whiff a lot more (12). His four-seam fastball velocity averaged 95.9 mph and topped out at 97.5 mph. What stood out to Schumaker was the 70% strikes thrown and how successful he was in balancing that along with making opposing hitters whiff. "The slider was real, fastball command was great. Just excellent job by Roddery." Against the Rockies, Muñoz went cutter-heavy (38% usage) while utilizing five different pitches overall. Two of his strikeouts came on the slider while three came on the cutter and two with the sinker. "That is my best pitch right now that I can have confidence in," said Muñoz via intrepreter in regards to his cutter/slider. "Threw it quite a bit in in Chicago," said Schumaker. "Probably more tonight, but he threw it quite a bit and talking with the other side, they couldn't pick it up...In Chicago, some of the guys there said that it was just a really tough pitch to pick up." Muñoz became the fifth Marlins starter this season to complete six innings. Jesús Luzardo, Edward Cabrera and Ryan Weathers have all done it once while Max Meyer did it twice. He also became the sixth pitcher in Marlins history to strike out at least 14 batters in his first two career games. The last to accomplish this feat was Sixto Sánchez in the 2020 shortened season. Along with Muñoz's strong outing, the Marlins offense backed him up, getting to Colorado Rockies starter Dakota Hudson. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Luis Arraez drove in Emmanuel Rivera to give the Marlins a 1-0 lead. Bryan De La Cruz followed Arraez with an RBI double, scoring the Venezuelan from first. The Marlins extended their lead in the bottom of the eighth inning when Dane Myers, who pinch-hit for Christian Bethancourt, smacked an RBI single, driving in Otto Lopez and Rivera to give Miami a 4-1 lead. Since being recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville, Myers has gone 4-for-8 with five RBIs. For him, performing in late-game situations is nothing new. "I enjoy it," said Myers. "It's kind of been my type of thing my whole life. I pride myself in coming through in those situations." Although Myers walked it off in game one against the Rockies, he showed a lot of emotion in game two as well, knowing he very likely clinched the first Marlins series win of the season. "Yeah, 2-1 and 4-1 is a big difference going into the ninth. Giving Maldonado extra cushion is pretty big and showing a little motion, I felt good and I was pumped to get those couple extra runs." Anthony Maldonado earned his first career save with a scoreless ninth inning. "I've watched Maldo pitch now for a couple of years and stuff is electric," said Myers, who had been AAA-Jacksonville teammates with him dating back to 2023. "I think he has one of the best sliders in the league. You guys are seeing that a lot of swing-and-miss and he's a good guy. I think he deserves it all." Schumaker added that the intention originally was not to place Maldonado in this situation, but following the Myers hit, Tanner Scott had to sit for an extended period between innings and for him to go back out there was just too risky, so he put his confidence in the rookie. "I felt really comfortable with Maldonado coming in with especially a three-run lead." With the 4-1 victory over the Rockies, the Marlins have clinched their first series victory in 2024 and it was their first time winning back-to-back games. The Fish will conclude their homestand and go for the sweep on Thursday. Edward Cabrera will take the mound for the Marlins, while for the Rockies, Peter Lambert takes the mound. First pitch is scheduled for 12:10 p.m. View full article

Josh Bell speaks to Fish On First about the importance of Tuesday's comeback win and how he's working to break out of his early-season slump. View full video

Miami Marlins outfielder Jesús Sánchez addresses the media after being removed early from Monday's loss, accompanied by interpreter Luis Dorante. View full video

As the Marlins dropped their seventh straight game and to 6-24 on the season, outfielder Jesús Sánchez made a lackluster play in the outfield, costing a run and resulting in a teammate's injury. MIAMI, FL - On Monday night, the Miami Marlins looked to avoid their first four-game series sweep of the season, but were unsuccessful. Starting pitcher Trevor Rogers gave up three runs and despite a Jazz Chisholm Jr. two-run homer, the Marlins bullpen gave up four runs in the top of the seventh inning which helped Washington Nationals defeat the Miami Marlins by a final score of 7-2. On their way to losing a seventh straight game, Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker made a statement move by removing Marlins outfielder Jesus Sanchez from the game after the Dominican outfielder made a costly lackluster play. The right-fielder attempted to cut a ball off in the gap and once he retrieved it, Sanchez back-pedaled five times, allowing Alex Call to reach second with ease. Sanchez's throw was delayed and Tim Anderson ended up suffering a mild left thumb sprain on the slide from Call and was removed from the game. Following Sanchez's mistake, starting pitcher Trevor Rogers surrendered a two-run homer to CJ Abrams. "I have literally no rules except for giving me everything you have," said Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker following the game. "He lost the ball in the lights. I've lost the ball in the lights many times. I felt like the effort wasn't there, so I decided to remove him from the game." Sanchez then spoke on the issue and he accepted his mistake and knew that he deserved to be removed from the game. "I didn't get upset," said Sanchez when asked if he was upset when he was taken out. "I took myself out of the game. That's something I have to understand and he made that decision." Prior to the game, Schumaker mentioned that he would like to see Trevor Rogers complete six innings. On Monday night, Rogers was only able to complete and allowed three runs on four hits and three walks. Rogers also struck out three. The home run that Rogers gave was on a 2-0 count where the Marlins starter went with a middle-middle fastball. CJ Abrams took Rogers deep to right field for his seventh home run of the season, giving Washington a 2-0 lead. The final run Rogers surrendered came in the fifth when he walked Jesse Winker with the bases loaded. Rogers' biggest frustration is not being able to go deep into games, something he made clear during his postgame press conference. "The only thing is that I can't go deep into ballgames," said Rogers. "I am really pissed off right now and I'm not happy with it." The last time Rogers completed six innings was on April 14, 2023 against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Schumaker added. "I thought he was good. I think he'll tell you a couple of walks hurt him. I put one of the guys on obviously in Senzel to get to Winker, but other than that, I thought there was some soft contact. Thought he pitched well, overall. Think the fifth inning just caught up to him a little bit." The Marlins offense, despite being limited to four hits, made the game interesting in the bottom of the sixth inning. Vidal Brujan, who pinch hit for Sánchez, got a base hit and Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit his fourth home run of the season, making it a 3-2 ballgame. d The Nationals blew the game out of reach for the Marlins in the top of the seventh inning, though. Calvin Faucher, who struggled on Friday, made his first appearance since then and struggled once again, unable to find the zone and gave up a hit. He was taken out in place of Andrew Nardi, who along with Faucher, gave up a total of four runs, with only one of them being being earned. With the loss, the Miami Marlins have lost their first four-game series against the Washington Nationals since 2014, lost their first series against the Nats since April 30-May 2 of 2021 and first time they lose a series against Washington in Miami since June 25-27 of 2019. The Marlins are now losers of seven straight, holding a 6-24 record. On Tuesday, the Marlins kick-off a three-game set against the Colorado Rockies. Sixto Sánchez will take the mound in game one at 6:40pm. The Rockies will counter with right-hander Ryan Feltner. View full article

Prior to Sunday's game against the Washington Nationals, president of baseball operations Peter Bendix addressed the state of the Miami Marlins. MIAMI, FL—The Miami Marlins are off to the worst start in franchise history and currently on pace to win 35 games. President of baseball operations Peter Bendix did not hide his disappointment while addressing the media prior to Sunday's game. "It's been very frustrating. There's no other way to characterize it," said Bendix. "It's not the start I was hoping for, it's not the start anybody on this field was hoping for. I've been happy and impressed with the way the group has really held it together." Marlins manager Skip Schumaker shared the same sentiments the night before. Christian Bethancourt, who recently came back from the IL, collected his first hit of the season on Saturday, while Nick Fortes had a -4 wRC+ through 53 plate appearances as of Sunday morning. "I think it's very fair to say that our catchers have struggled," said Bendix. "I think both of these guys have track records to suggest that they're going to bounce back. These guys have a lot of talent, especially defensively, with our pitching staff and lot of the things that don't show up in their stats. I'm also very confident that their offensive performance is going to improve." Starting pitcher Jesús Luzardo was placed on the 15-day IL Friday due to left elbow tightness. With Luzardo heading to the IL, that opens up a second spot in the Marlins rotation, meaning depth is needed more than ever. With Max Meyer recently sent down to Triple-A Jacksonville, the Marlins rotation has seen Sixto Sánchez, Roddery Muñoz and Anthony Maldonado make spot starts. The Marlins lost each of the games that they started, in part because they couldn't last deep into those games. In regards to Luzardo, there's no new update—results of the testing that was done recently has not arrived yet. "We're always going to be addressing the depth," said Bendix. "The more guys that are injured, the more important that depth is. Unfortunately, that's something that is the case around the league. We knew this was going to be the case. It will be opportunities for guys to step up...We're going to have guys with that opportunity and it's up to them to take it." This past offseason, Bendix signed only one player to a major league deal: Tim Anderson. Through 26 games as a Marlin, the shortstop is slashing .222/.263/.244 with four RBIs and a 45 wRC+. Bendix did note that it is still only April and he's not ready to jump to conclusions about his offseason acquisitions. He did note he's been pleased with reliever Calvin Faucher. How much more losing would it take for the Marlins to begin behaving like "sellers" and shop some of their top current players in exchange for long-term assets? "We're always assessing," said Bendix. "We're assessing those moves from day one of the season, determining what the 26-man roster should look like, who should be on the team, who should be in AAA, what trades we might want to make and waiver claims. All of that is really an ongoing process." View full article

Prior to Sunday's game, Marlins outfielder Dane Myers discusses his promotion from Triple-A Jacksonville and how he fought through an early-season slump. View full video

Marlins right-hander Anthony Maldonado reacts to his performance on Friday against the Washington Nationals. Maldonado started the game and went three scoreless innings in his major league debut. View full video

The Marlins took an early lead thanks to the bottom of their lineup, but there weren't enough contributions from the rest of the team. MIAMI, FL—In a bullpen game that the Marlins entered with low expectations, Anthony Maldonado made his major league debut on Friday and impressed over three shutout innings. He was followed by various relievers who only gave up a total of three runs to the Washington Nationals. All-in-all, the Marlins offense only scored one run and the top four hitters in the lineup didn't generate a base hit. The 3-1 loss dropped the Marlins to 6-21 on the season. Prior to the beginning of the game, Schumaker noted that about nine of the players were out on the field getting early work. "We're doing different types of drills, machine and different type of drills...we're doing everything and it's not lack of effort. Those guys are putting in the effort and trying and the care factors are there and that's what I think is more frustrating." After taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning thanks to a Nick Fortes RBI single, driving in Vidal Bruján who had a multi-hit night, the Marlins would be shut out throughout the rest of the game. Hitters one through four in the lineup—Luis Arraez, Bryan De La Cruz, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Josh Bell—combined to go 0-for-14 at the plate. Marlins manager Skip Schumaker placed the blame on the lack of offense. "We scored one run," said Schumaker following the game. "It's tough when we're scoring one run and putting real pressure on the bullpen to throw scoreless inning after scoreless inning." In the top of the eighth inning, with the ballgame tied at one apiece, the Marlins went with Calvin Faucher. Entering the game, Faucher had not given up a run through five appearances. Faucher put himself into a bases-loaded situation with one out. Joey Meneses drove in the game-winning run on an RBI single. While Schumaker noted that Faucher uncharacteristically struggled with his control, he added, "that's not the reason why we lost, in my opinion. No offense tonight is what I think the story was of the game." Outside of appearances in the rookie-level Florida Complex League, Anthony Maldonado had never started a professional game before. On Friday, Maldonado gave the Marlins three shutout innings, only allowing three hits and striking out two. Maldonado's slider immediately came into play generating six out of his seven whiffs. The right-hander went with a slider/sinker combo along with just one cutter that he threw for the seventh whiff of the night. "I was trying to not let the moment get too big," said Maldonado following the game. "Taking the game pitch by pitch and really taking in the moment, and that's what a lot of veteran guys told me to do: just breathe and pitch. I thought I handled the emotions pretty well." Following Maldonado, making his Marlins debut was Kyle Tyler, a minor league free agent signing who was called up last week. He gave the Marlins two-plus innings, giving up one run and striking out one. Going cutter-heavy with a taste of the curveball and only one slider thrown, Tyler pitched primarily to contact, inducing five ground balls and one pop fly. For the Nationals, Trevor Williams went five innings and lowered his ERA to 2.70. Three Washington relievers combined to strike out seven Marlins over four scoreless innings. The Marlins will look to rebound on Saturday as Edward Cabrera takes the mound against Nationals rookie Mitchell Parker. First pitch is at 4:10 p.m. View full article

Washington Nationals rookie Nasim Nuñez discusses life as a Rule 5 Draft pick and his excitement to play in Miami as a visitor. MIAMI, FL—The call before the call-up came on December 6, 2023. Marlins prospect Nasim Nuñez learned that he had been selected by the Washington Nationals in the MLB Rule 5 Draft. "I had faith in my ability that whatever happens is gonna be the best thing for me," Nasim Nuñez told Fish on First on Friday at loanDepot park. "The Nationals picked me up, so it was the best thing for me." Having been in the Marlins organization since 2019, Nuñez admitted "it was weird coming through here" on the visitor's side. "I got drafted, I always dreamed of making the big league team with them, so it was definitely weird." Making the jump from Double-A—where Nuñez spent the 2023 season—to the major league level isn't an easy thing to do. Most prospects stop at Triple-A before debuting, and even then, they may have to return to the minors to make more adjustments (top-ranked MLB prospect Jackson Holliday being the latest example of that). Nuñez is facing a unique challenge. Being selected in the major league portion of the Rule 5 Draft means his team cannot option him down at any point this season. "At the end of the day, baseball is baseball," said Nuñez. "It's the same game. It's just more people, around new types of people. It's learning how to maneuver through everything else while not playing every day. I'm getting my work, learning and watching things very carefully." Through the first 24 games of the season, the Nationals find themselves with a modest 10-14 record. Nuñez has rarely seen the field, only stepping into the batter's box twice and playing in a total of seven games (most recently on April 20). Compare that to last year when he played 125 minor league games and 20 more in the Arizona Fall League. "I treat it as if I am a starter every day," said Nuñez. "I am doing the same thing I would do if I was playing in Double-A. It's the same thing." Although the former top prospect isn't a Marlin anymore, he still keeps up with some players. "Those are friendships and relationships that you are going to have forever," said the 23-year-old. Nuñez is motivated to go up against any opponent, so to kick off this four-game set against the organization that left him unprotected is just another day at the office for him. "You can say there's a chip, but I wanna beat every team just as bad as I wanna beat this one." View full article