Kevin Barral

MIAMI, FL — On Friday, just under two hours before Robby Snelling made his major league debut, Miami Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix spoke to local media for about 10 minutes, discussing a variety of topics. His most notable responses are featured below, along with some additional context and statistics. What are you seeing with Owen Caissie, and how much longer of a leash do you give in at the big league level? "Adjusting to major league pitching is the hardest thing a player is ever going to do. With guys like Owen (Caissie), he has never failed at any point in his career. So what happens when you get punched? What happens when you get knocked down? You have to figure out a way to get back up and adjust. Players do that at different points in their career. It takes them different amounts of time. We saw Kyle Stowers get punched in the face every single night at the end of 2024 and then he was able to use that to make an adjustment. I'm optimistic that Owen can do the same thing." Through 34 games this season, Caissie is slashing .202/.261/.323/.584 with two home runs, 16 RBI and a 60 wRC+. The biggest issue for Caissie has been his strikeout rate, which is at 41.4%, highest in baseball (min. 100 PA). His last home run was hit on April 1 against the New York Yankees. Starting pitching leash and bullpen management. Does Clayton McCullough make all the moves? "Before every game, there is a meeting that involves a lot of different people that is run by Clayton to talk through as many different scenarios as we can imagine coming up in that game. I think the best decisions are the decisions that are made ahead of time, in the sense that you don't want to be caught off guard. You want to be prepared for anything that might happen. What's option A, option B and option C. That's not to say it's scripted a predetermined, it's just thought about ahead of time. There's a lot of time spent on that. A lot of it is managing both to win today and to get through 162 games." What are you seeing with Eury Pérez? "Eury is still one of the youngest pitchers in baseball. He's got as good stuff as anybody, and he's still learning how to utilize it and best deploy it. The path to being a superstar is not always linear, and so I think that's what we're seeing." In eight starts, Pérez is sporting a 5.01 ERA, 4.90 FIP, 9.80 K/9 and 4.57 BB/9. In his most recent start, Pérez went five innings, allowing five runs on four hits (one home run), five walks and struck out six. At the moment, there is no plan to send Pérez down to Triple-A. How do you navigate that type of situation where you want Agustin Ramírez to develop up here, but you also don't want to take reps away from guys that are contributing? "I will sign up for the scenario in which we have three really good catchers. I think that very well could happen. If it does, then we'll deal with it. But that's the kind of problem we want to have." Since being sent down to Jacksonville, Ramírez is slashing .250/.333/.250/.583. The Marlins called up Joe Mack ahead of Monday's series finale against the Philadelphia Phillies, and since then, he is slashing .300/.300/.400/.700 with one RBI and a 92 wRC+. Liam Hicks is slashing .319/.372/.584/.956 with a team-leading nine home runs and MLB leading 34 RBI. "What Liam is doing is incredible. The fact that he set out this offseason to add power and improve his bat speed. He clearly did that and somehow also lowered his strikeout rate to be one of the best strikeout rates in all of baseball. He's hitting lefties, hitting guys who throw hard. He's hitting guys who throw breaking balls. He's hitting for power. He's hitting for average. Like, absolutely incredible." Why was Ramírez sent down? "He was called up after several other guys back here went down. He was called up relatively early in the year, and to his credit, he hit the ground running and took advantage of that, but didn't have the level of development, especially defensively in the minor leagues with us that we may have been planning for him. I think getting him down to Triple-A where he can really worry about getting better without all of the noise that comes with being at the major league level, I think is really going to do him a lot of things." Thoughts on Braxton Garrett and when we can see him back up at the big league level? "He's been great. I think the fact that Braxton is in Triple-A really speaks to the depth of pitching that we have. There will be an opportunity for him. I'm sure of it. He will be ready for it. I'm sure of that, too. The fact that he's healthy and throwing the ball well, that's what's important." View full article

MIAMI, FL - After the Marlins had trailed in the first inning of every game in the series against the Baltimore Orioles, the script was flipped, as the Marlins took the lead early, but after Baltimore tied it late in the game, it took a wild walk-off for the Marlins to defeat the Baltimore Orioles, 4-3, improving to 17-21 on the season. "You never know what might get some things going, and I think certainly enough to have a tight game and one tonight where we get out ahead and to claw back into it, hang in there, they tied up," Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said. "Good for us to hang in there and win a close game here at home and salvage this series. Hope this is something that kind of can get us going a little bit." In the top of the eighth inning, leading 3-2, McCullough turned to Fish On First No. 20 prospect Josh Ekness. It marked his first high-leverage moment in the big leagues, but failed to hold the lead, allowing an RBI single to none other than Pete Alonso, tying the game, 3-3. He kept the game tied, as Samuel Basallo grounded into a double play and Tyler O'Neil flew out to Heriberto Hernandez. "Everyone was available," McCullough said. "I think (Josh Ekness) is a really good pitcher. It's big time stuff and he's had a couple of outings under his belt to this point. You can see Josh get put into a lot of various situations and scenarios. I just think that the time is going to come for him where I'm going to continue to ask him to maybe be in some of those spots, and proud of him for being able to wiggle out of that, at least keep it tied." Although the Marlins had runners on second and third in the bottom of the eighth, the inning concluded after Hernandez popped out to Gunnar Henderson. The Marlins went with Kyle Stowers to lead off the bottom of the ninth, pinch-hitting for Esteury Ruiz, but popped up on the second pitch of the at-bat. After Jakob Marsee struck out, Joe Mack, who entered the game in the top of the eighth inning, mainly for his defense as McCullough later noted, smacked a double into the right field corner. It marked his first career double. With a runner on second and two outs, Javier Sanoja was up for the Marlins. He hit a grounder to third baseman Coby Mayo, who bobbled it while Mack was on the move to third, and after not attempting to tag Mack, Mayo made the throw to first, which was off and allowed Mack to score the winning run. "I definitely have to work on my base running," Mack said postgame. "We're probably going to have some work on that tomorrow. Honestly, it was just kind of as soon as he swung the bat, I was going, and he kind bobbled it a little bit, so I ran past him and ducked in front of him. Just seeing that whole thing unfold, then running home, looking at Otto (Lopez) with this hands up and jaw open, it was really cool experience." Through his first four big league games, Mack is 3-10 with an RBI. Behind the plate, Mack has looked comfortable and as McCullough said, he will be playing almost everyday. "It's been awesome," Mack said. "The guys here have been so awesome in every single way. They've been just joyful to be around, very happy and just welcoming. It's a great group of guys, the staff's also phenomenal. It's just awesome to be around these guys. Truly a dream come true." After Connor Norby, who was hitting second, worked a walk in his first at-bat, the stage was set for Liam Hicks to hit his team-leading ninth home run of the season. Hicks now leads all Major League Baseball with 34 RBI on the season. Following the first inning, the Marlins led, 2-0. In the bottom of the third inning, Norby drove in the Marlins third run of the game. Meyer, who had the best start of his season against the Philadelphia Phillies in his last appearance, went five innings allowing two runs on six hits, two walks and struck out five. He threw 94 pitches, in which 55 landed for strikes. The righty mixed his pitches well, throwing his slider and sweeper 29% of the time. The slider, generated seven whiffs, but only struck one out with the pitch. The sweeper on the other hand generated only three whiffs, but three of his five strikeouts came on that pitch. "Just one of those outings that make it really tough on the pitcher," Meyer said. "Fell behind in some counts, lacked a little bit of my fastball location, that kind of made it hard. Other than that, yeah, just grind up and outing." Fish On First's No. 2 prospect Robby Snelling will make his MLB debut on Friday in the series opener against the Washington Nationals. Joe Mack, who caught him in Triple-A, will start at catcher. "I'm very excited," Mack said regarding Snelling. "He's been very dominant throughout the whole year in AAA, and last year as well. It's been really cool. He's a great guy as well, so, I'm really happy to see him get a shot and be the one to catch him. I think that's a good comfort for him as well. It's all coming together and I think he's earned it and deserves a shot." First pitch between the Marlins and Nationals is set for 7:10 pm. View full article

MIAMI, FL — Fish On First No. 2 prospect Robby Snelling will start on Friday night against the Washington Nationals. His selection to the Miami Marlins roster is not official yet, but he's already with the big league club, "trying to soak it in." "Take it all in and not let the moment get too big," Snelling said on Thursday. "Just enjoying today and then try not to change anything and go into tomorrow and replicate to as nearly and closely as I can what I was doing in Jacksonville." Snelling, 22, made six starts in Triple-A Jacksonville, posting a 1.86 ERA, 2.91 FIP, 13.66 K/9 and 4.66 BB/9, before being called up. It took a while for Snelling to be informed that he was going to be called up. The Marlins designated Chris Paddack for assignment on Tuesday morning, but even following Wednesday's Jacksonville win, manager David Carpenter did not announce who would be filling that open rotation spot. Later that afternoon, Snelling was called into Carpenter's office. "They sat me down and said, 'We know you've been stressed the last couple of days, but it's pretty awesome that you haven't let it affect your routine. It's very professional of you,'" Snelling said. "I was like, 'It's really hard to keep my sanity knowing that potentially I was an option for me to come up here, but I did the best that I could to keep doing the same thing I've been doing day in and day out.' He goes, 'hopefully this eases you a little bit, but they have their guy for Friday. They know who they want. So knowing that we just wanted to put your mind at ease.' He didn't tell me and I was like, alright, I'm still throwing on Friday. He's like, 'You're so good to go on Friday, right?' He goes, 'Well, you're gonna be throwing in Miami.'" In four spring training appearances (two starts), Snelling had a 7.56 ERA, but 3.53 FIP. The big issue he identified was his 4.32 BB/9, something he said he needed to cut down on with the help of throwing more first-pitch strikes. Through his six regular season starts, Snelling has only walked three or more hitters twice; outside of that, it has been two walk or less. Snelling has a new sweeper in addition to a gyro slider that entered his arsenal in 2025. He's been focused on throwing the gyro at the bottom of the zone. His original breaking ball, the curveball, continues to be one of his best pitches. In that start against Durham, he generated six whiffs and four of his five strikeouts came on that pitch. Overall, the curveball is his second-most-used pitch and has a 32.4% whiff rate. The final start Snelling made for the Jumbo Shrimp came against the Durham Bulls, where he tossed five hitless innings, striking out nine and walking one. His fastball topped out at 96.1 mph and averaged 94.7 mph. Five of his nine strikeouts came on the fastball. Aside from his left-handedness, Snelling differs from the other Marlins starters in that he's very difficult to steal bases against. Since the beginning of last season, opponents have succeeded only eight times on 24 attempts. Partly due to that, he's the reigning Minor League Gold Glove Award winner. The Nationals enter the weekend series with an 18-20 record under first-year manager Blake Butera. Snelling has seen most of the players in the Nationals lineup before, whether that be in minor league or Grapefruit League competition. With left-handed pitcher Foster Griffin on the mound for Washington, all signs point to Liam Hicks catching Snelling on Friday. First pitch is set for 7:10 pm. View full article

Prior to making his major league debut on Friday, Marlins left-hander Robby Snelling speaks with the media about what he's been working on to become a more complete pitcher. View full video

MIAMI, FL — Left-handed pitcher Robby Snelling will be called up by the Miami Marlins on Friday, manager Clayton McCullough has confirmed. He'll start against the Washington Nationals on Friday in what will be his major league debut. Snelling, 22, was one of four players acquired from the San Diego Padres in the trade that sent relievers Tanner Scott and Bryan Hoeing the other way in 2024. At the time he was acquired, Snelling was struggling, posting a 6.01 ERA at the Double-A level with Padres. When he arrived with the Marlins, he finished his AA stint with a 4.00 ERA and 2.76 FIP, showing some signs of improvement. Snelling performed even better throughout the 2025 campaign, particularly following a promotion to Triple-A Jacksonville. He led all Marlins minor leaguers in both innings pitched (136) and strikeouts (166). Through six starts this season with Jacksonville, Snelling has a 1.86 ERA, 2.92 FIP, 13.66 K/9 and 4.66 BB/9. He currently leads AAA baseball in strikeouts, while being second in ERA, opponent batting average and WHIP. His final outing was on May 1, where he went five hitless innings with 9 Ks. Fish On First ranks Snelling as the second-best prospect in the Marlins organization behind only fellow southpaw Thomas White. By designating Chris Paddack for assignment on Tuesday, the Marlins created an opening for him to take. A corresponding 26-man active roster move still must be made, with the expectation being that the Marlins will send down one of their relievers. View full article

Prior to making his major league debut on Tuesday, right-hander William Kempner speaks with the media about his baseball journey and how he's continuing to sharpen his control. View full video

For the 2026 season, Fish On First will provide weekly reports on the Miami Marlins farm system, covering all levels. Here's the first May edition of our Fish On First Prospects Report. This report covers the games played from April 28-May 3. Triple-A Jacksonville Our Fish On First Prospect of the Week is Jacob Berry, who going into Sunday's series finale against the Durham Bulls was slashing .313/.427/.458/.885 with two home runs, 16 RBI and a 143 wRC+. In this series against the Bulls, Berry was 7-for-26 with one home run and five RBI. Through 24 games, Berry leads the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp in OPS, on-base percentage, slugging and is second in batting average. He is eighth in the International League in OBP. Unfortunately, a big league call-up is being held back because of his defense, where he continues to not have a definitive home. He has played third base—where he has committed six errors—and the corner outfield spots. If Graham Pauley continues to struggle at the plate, maybe the Marlins will be left with no choice but to call up the former first-round pick. Kemp Alderman through 28 games is slashing .287/.379/.455/.835 with four home runs, 13 RBI and a 126 wRC+. The big downside thus far has been the increased strikeout rate, now at 34.5% going into Sunday's game, but he is walking at a career-high 10.3% rate. This past week, Alderman started a game at first base, the only time he has ever done that throughout his Marlins minor league career. With the current first base situation and so much depth in the outfield, it gives Alderman an easier path to making it to the big leagues. The only unfortunate part is that you would be limiting his arm, that grades out as above average. On the mound, Robby Snelling continues to dominate. He is now tied with New York Mets' Jonah Tong for the most strikeouts in Triple-A this season. For the season, he now has a 1.86 ERA, 2.90 FIP, 13.66 K/9 and 4.66 BB/9 in 29 innings pitched. In this most recent start, Snelling tossed five no-hit innings, striking out nine in the process. His fastball topped out at 96.1 mph and averaged 94.7 mph. His curveball continues to be his best pitch, generating six of his 11 total whiffs and four of his five strikeouts came on that pitch. At this point, there is nothing left for Snelling to prove in the minor leagues. He is more than ready for a Marlins call-up, which could come as soon as Friday against the Washington Nationals. Bradley Blalock, who the Marlins acquired from the Colorado Rockies, tossed six innings against Durham, striking out a season-high 12. Despite the high strikeout number, he has a 3.09 ERA and 4.96 FIP on the season. The main reasoning for his high FIP is the amount of elevated contact that he has allowed. In his start against Durham, his fastball topped out at 96.0 mph and averaged 94.2 mph. With the fastball, he generated 10 whiffs and collected seven of his 12 strikeouts on that pitch. His splitter was also a good pitch, generating six whiffs and struck out three. The Marlins likely will not need to call-up Blalock any time soon with the pitching depth that they do have on their hands, but it is worth noting that they will have to make a choice on if they want him on the big league team or not in 2027 with his final minor league option being burnt. Relievers William Kempner and Jack Ralston continue to be workhorses out of the Jumbo Shrimp bullpen. Kempner was called up to Miami on Tuesday. Ralston has been the more effective one with a 1.10 ERA, 2.45 FIP and 13.78 K/9. The only downside is the 6.06 BB/9. Like Kempner just did. Ralston should make his big league debut at some point this season. Pensacola Blue Wahoos The Wahoos enjoyed success this week as well at home against Biloxi. After dropping the first game of the series, Pensacola charged back to win out the rest of the week, improving to one game under .500 on the season. Gage Miller had a great series for Pensacola, starting four games and going 5-for-13 including home runs in each of his first two appearances. He finished his week with a 2-for-4, two-double effort. Altogether, he drove in seven runs. Miller came out of college as a third-round pick in 2024 highly heralded for his offensive skills, namely his bat speed and intelligence in controlling the strike zone. He was also lauded for good raw strength as scouts saw within him the possibility for 20+ homers. Miller’s patience and ability to limit strikeouts followed him to the pro level in his first full season last year, as he walked nearly as much as he struck out (65/55 K/BB), but he had trouble finding the barrel as he hit just .211 with a .313 slug. So far at Double-A this season, Miller has solved what ailed him last year and appears to be adjusting well to pro stuff as he is currently slashing .278/.355/.500. Defensively, Miller has split time between third base and second base. Because of his limited arm strength, he's probably a better fit for the latter. Miller is not a name talked about a lot, but if he keeps hitting and sticks at a premium position, that could and should soon change. It was another great week for Marlins’ trade return piece Brendan Jones, who continues to surge on both sides of the ball. This series, Jones went 8-for-22 including a triple and two doubles. Jones lit it up in the running game, stealing six bases. Currently slashing .241/.359/.483 with 10 steals, early returns from Jones in his tenure as a Marlin could not be much better. One area in which Jones could improve is with strikeouts as he’s striking out a career high 28% of the time, but he’s also still walking at a solid 14% clip. One of the most encouraging parts of Jones’ game is his ability to spray the ball to all fields—he’s gone pull 38% of the time and to center and left 31% each. Mostly entrusted with left field, Jones has covered all necessary ground and then some, putting his 70-grade speed to even better use. If Jones continues hitting at this clip and gets the strikeouts further in check, he may not be far away from contributing to the big league team either late this year or out of camp in 2027. Beloit Sky Carp Despite struggling mightily for pitching depth, the Sky Carp’s series in Lake County was a success as they won it four games to two. The series was highlighted by an explosive offensive performance on Sunday in which Beloit plated 16 runs. Driving the Sky Carp’s 16-run barrage in the final game of their series was Colby Shade, Miami’s ninth-round pick from 2023. Coming into the game after having hit just one home run across two levels in 2025, Shade laid the hammer down on the Captains, homering three times and driving in a whopping eight runs. Shade now has four homers in his past five games. The performance was extremely eye-popping for the 6’, 205-pound outfielder, but Shade is 24 playing at the High-A level for a third straight season. He does own remarkable speed which has alotted him 104 stolen bases in 223 career games and he also owns good patience, which has earned him a career .370 OBP, including .382 this season. However, Shade hasn’t done enough with the bat in term of contact rates and hard-hit rates to warrant consideration in what has become a crowded outfield situation at the higher levels of the minors. If this game was the start of that changing, Shade, who will be Rule 5-eligible this winter, could garner a longer look at Double-A. Aiva Arquette, the Marlins’ first-round pick from this past year, made his long-awaited season debut with the Sky Carp after he underwent core muscle surgery during spring training. Arquette played the first two games of the series and showed well, going 3-for-8 with all three of his hits being doubles. He drove in five runs. Also, Arquette performed well in the field, showing smooth actions and a strong arm at shortstop, proving that, despite unusual size for the position, he can hold it down well. That in conjunction with his whippy line-drive bat with moderate uppercut and quiet mechanics behind it give Aiva a high floor and a pretty high ceiling as a plus offensive threat that can play premium positions. At 22, he could be challenged rather quickly to the upper minors. With continued success in Beloit, a second-half promotion is likely. The only bad news for Arquette: he got injured again. After the third game of the series, he did not play again the rest of the week. The update on Aiva was encouraging though: Fish On First has learned that Arquette’s ailment is simple wrist soreness and he plans to play again in Beloit’s next series this week. Low-A Jupiter Emilio Barreras was drafted by the Marlins in the eighth round of the most recent draft. After a slow start, he has picked it up and is slashing .271/.435/.458/.894 with two home runs, nine RBI and a 153 wRC+. He hit home runs in back-to-back games. 21-year-old catcher Carlos Sánchez is off to a hot start this season, slashing .225/.340/.525/.865 with four home runs, 10 RBI and a 132 wRC+. Sánchez, who was an international signing in 2022, was successful in 2025 in his first taste of the Low-A level, but repeated the level going into this season. He is also working great at-bats, striking out only 14.9% of the time and walking 12.8% of the time. A promotion to Beloit could be in the cards soon. This week's MiLB schedule Triple-A Jacksonville vs. Charlotte Double-A Pensacola vs. Rocket City High-A Beloit at Fort Wayne Low-A Jupiter vs. Palm Beach FCL Marlins vs. FCL Mets, FCL Astros and FCL Nationals View full article

MIAMI, FL - Despite the visiting Baltimore Orioles taking an early 3-0 in the top of the first, the Miami Marlins continued to fight back, but fell by a final score of 9-7, dropping to 16-20 on the season. Sandy Alcantara, who made his eighth start of the season, struggled on Tuesday night, going 4 1/3 innings, allowing a season-high seven runs on eight hits, three walks and five strikeouts. Tuesday's start raised Alcantara's overall numbers to a 4.01 ERA, 3.86 FIP, 6.27 K/9 and 3.14 BB/9 in eight starts this season. Not known for allowing a lot of hard-hit balls, Alcantara allowed nine of them, with three of them coming off both of his fastballs (sinker/four-seam). The 47.1% ground ball rate, which for Alcantara, who has a career 49.6% GB rate, was low. In the top of the first inning, the Orioles wasted no time ambushing the Marlins ace, knocking in three runs. The first came on a Pete Alonso two-run RBI double (moved to third on an error). Catcher Samuel Basallo drove Alonso in, capping off a 34-pitch inning for Alcantara. Basallo knocked in two more runs on an RBI single in the top of the third. In the fifth, Basallo hit an RBI triple, making it 6-4. Basallo scored on a fielders choice from Colton Cowser, making it 7-4. In Alcantara's defense, there was some luck involved, as he had a 2.91 FIP in his start. One positive is that his changeup was as dominant as always, generating eight whiffs and four of his five strikeouts came on that pitch. "I think that first inning, the (Dylan) Beavers at-bat just got really elongated," Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said. "Pitch count ran up, Pete (Alonso) hooks the ball down the line for a couple of runs and we have a little trouble handling down there. Get another guy to third base and just some times today where he had some counts in his favor, he just didn't execute well enough with 2k." The Marlins offense was highlighted by Liam Hicks, who finished with a four-hit performance, capped off by a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh inning, making it a 7-5. His 431-foot shot to the second deck in right field marked his longest home run of the season. Otto Lopez made it back-to-back home runs, cutting the Orioles lead, 7-6. It was his fourth of the season. Joe Mack, who made his major league debut on Monday night against the Philadelphia Phillies, caught Alcantara, but the story was his bat, notching his first major league hit, which was an RBI single in the bottom of the third inning. In the bottom of the eighth inning, he had his second hit of the game. "He's a young catcher with good talent," Alcantara said. "Everybody he been waiting for him for a long time. Now, he's finally here, so you gotta keep working the same way that he was working in Triple-A. Just gotta be out there, enjoy time with us and take advantage of all the opportunities." After Mack got on base, McCullough sent out speedster Esteury Ruiz to pinch-run for Mack. The former stole second, then stole third, but a bad throw from Basallo allowed Ruiz to score and tie the game. So far, Ruiz is slashing .267/.267/.733/1.000 with two home runs and three stolen bases. "I hope this guy leads the league in pinch-running stolen base attempts," McCullough said. "Whoever we had up that inning, first guy to get on base like, we had Ruiz going there. We're down, and certainly felt like his ability to do that and go take a chance to go steal a base there and then he caused them to rush a little bit and was able to tie it up with some aggressive base running. We'll continue to try to find as many ways we can use Ruiz to impact games even when he's not starting." Right-handed reliever Willian Kempner was called-up ahead of Tuesday's game to replace the roster spot that Chris Paddack once held before being designated for assignment. In his major league debut, Kempner tossed a 1-2-3 inning, striking out Colton Cowser. "I think it went well," Kempner said. "I think the best part is that I felt really good out there. I felt like I was just being myself, and that's all I can ask for at this point in my career. I have this promise to myself that I need to be that guy out there that just doesn't care what people think. I did that today and I'm very happy for myself." The Marlins will look to bounce back on Wednesday night with Eury Pérez taking the mound. First pitch is at 6:40 pm. View full article

MIAMI, FL — For Miami Marlins starting pitcher Chris Paddack, his struggles on Sunday weren't subject to bad luck or being BABIP'd—he just wasn't good. Paddack allowed six runs to the Philadelphia Phillies in the first inning and was removed in the top of the third. The Marlins remain winless in games that Paddack has started this season, and in this case, they were forced to use much of their bullpen during a stretch of 10 straight games with no days off. Trea Turner led off the game with a double. Paddack proceeded to walk both Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper. Alec Bohm grounded into what would've been a fielder's choice, but the Marlins were not able to get any outs out of it, allowing Turner to score and give the Phillies a 1-0 lead. Paddack then walked Brandon Marsh with the bases loaded to allow another run. J.T. Realmuto sac fly got the first out of the game, but the Phillies added their third run of the game. The big blow came from Bryson Stott when he took Paddack deep for his second home run of the season. Both of Stott's home runs have come in this series. It gave the Phillies a 6-0 lead. In the top of the third inning, Justin Crawford knocked in his club's seventh run. "I just sat on the bench and kind of reviewed the game on the iPad," Paddack said. "A lot of uncompetitive pitches with two strikes is what I saw the trend was. What I mean by that, is just some pitches that were just completely out of the zone led into those 3-2 counts, the three walks there I felt like I never could get into a groove. I noticed I was pulling some fastballs early. Never drove any fastballs to the bottom of the zone. They were able to lay off some changeups below. Being a guy that commands the baseball, throws the ball where I want to, I just felt off tonight." As Paddack was coming off the field, fans let him know their feeling, booing him. This was not only a sign of frustration amongst the fanbase boiling over, but likely what could be a sign that the decision to continue having Paddack in the rotation may not be the right one. Right now, it wouldn't make sense to move on from Paddack altogether. A move to the bullpen could potentially benefit him. He has struggled to go deep into game, so using him in shorter bursts could be the best fit, as he seems to have found some success in that type of role. Through seven appearances this season (six starts), Paddack has a 7.63 ERA, 5.01 FIP, 7.92 K/9 and 2.93 BB/9. Paddack has described his season as a "roller coaster." "I've been here before. It definitely sucks," Paddack said. "I feel like this year I haven't been able to allow things to continue over. Right when we think we're getting in a good place, I get hit in the mouth again. There's no excuse for it. I'm a competitor. I work my butt off. Trying to be the best teammate that I can and a role model for some of our younger guys in the clubhouse. I got to look at myself in the mirror, and I have to clean some things up, and that starts with myself." In Triple-A right now, Braxton Garrett has a 1.71 ERA in 26 ⅓ innings pitched. Garrett was originally sent down to build back up as he underwent Tommy John surgery, missing the entire 2025 season, but at this point, he has shaken off all of the rust. Along with Garrett, Fish On First's No. 2 prospect Robby Snelling leads Triple-A with 44 strikeouts. He also has a 1.86 ERA, 290 FIP, 13.66 K/9 and 4.66 BB/9 in six starts this season. Just like Garrett, Snelling has nothing left to prove in the minors. His call-up may take a bit longer given he is not on the 40-man roster and Garrett has a half-decade of major league experience. McCullough shut down any potential speculation regarding Paddack's future in the rotation, saying that he will be making his next scheduled start, which is on Friday in the series opener against the Washington Nationals. "Outside of today, Chris is throwing the ball well," McCullough said. "He has probably ran against some tough luck in some outings, but he has thrown the ball and kept us in the games that he's pitched. Today it was a tough one from pitch one till it was over." After Paddack, a group comprised of John King, Tyler Phillips, Josh Ekness and Calvin Faucher shutout the Phillies lineup, allowing five hits and striking out five. Phillips, who had received most of the high-leverage situations after closer Pete Fairbanks was placed on the injured list, threw three innings, 47 pitches, essentially knocking him out for the next two days. "He's been built out and he's done that on a number of occasions for us," McCullough said. "That's the best way for us to try to navigate through today, try to preserve as many options as we have for the next couple of days going forward. We have a really good bullpen, and we have guys that can throw in a lot of different places and can do things. Tyler has done that on a lot of occasions, as have a lot of other guys. His ability to also provide that type of length either way, but in a game like today, does a lot to just save everyone down there from getting taxed." The Marlins offense didn't get much going until the bottom of the seventh inning. Leo Jiménez, who got the start at third base, was hit by a pitch and Esteury Ruiz took Phillies starting pitcher Jesús Luzardo deep for his second home run of the season. It also marked Ruiz's second home run this week, with his first coming on Wednesday in the series finale against the LA Dodgers. Ruiz is now slashing .286/.286/.786/1.072 with two home runs, three RBI and a 189 wRC+. It has only been seven games for Ruiz this season, but early on he is making a strong impact when he's been on the field. "He's been a performer in Triple-A," McCullough said. "He is someone that our group targeted this offseason. Certainly, the speed and ability to play all three outfield spots, but felt like offensively, there was some potential there for something to translate to the major league level if given the opportunity." Fish On First's No. 20 prospect Josh Ekness made his MLB debut, tossing a 1-2-3 inning. His fastball topped out at 98.4 mph, averaging 97.9 mph. With the loss, the Marlins drop back down to two games under .500, 16-18. With Janson Junk on the mound, Miami will go for a series split. First pitch is at 6:40 pm. View full article

MIAMI, FL — Maybe we have not seen the best of Max Meyer as a starting pitcher quite yet. Meyer's efficiency was excellent on Saturday, and for the first time in his career, he completed seven innings in a 4-0 Marlins win. Going into the game, Meyer had not even reached six innings in any start this season—the only starter in the Marlins rotation yet to do so. For Marlins manager Clayton McCullough, it was a no-brainer to stick with him considering the Philadelphia Phillies had not scored and his pitch count was only up to 71 through six. "The way he was throwing the ball, he was so economical," McCullough said after the game. "He just had been ahead of so many people and with him having such a diverse repertoire, he's got so many options to go to throughout a game. I think the way that he was throwing the ball, he really hadn't been stressed a whole lot to send him back out for the seventh up. It wasn't a tough call." Meyer finished his outing going seven shutout innings, allowing just one hit and two walks. The lone hit allowed came from Garrett Stubbs in the top of the third. He also struck out seven in the process. "It's fun to go seven and help the team out save the 'pen a little bit in a four-game series," Meyer said. "I felt good, but obviously, the only thing I care about was trying to keep the team in the game and get the win at the end of the day." Meyer's incorporation of the sweeper has been crucial to his success in 2026. Ahead of Saturday's game, Meyer was throwing it 26% of the time and it was his most-used pitch again in this start (27% usage). He generated five of his 10 whiffs and recorded four of his seven strikeouts on that pitch. "Sweeper is similar velocity [to the slider], a little slower, but it moves at a totally different plane," Meyer said. "If they are sitting on spin, you got to pick which spin you're going to sit on. That's helped a lot, but I love that pitch. It's one of my favorite pitches. I'm just so happy with all the other pitches being around the zone too and competitive. Feels good having like a real fastball now with some ride on it." Through seven starts this season, Meyer now has a 2.68 ERA, 2.98 FIP, 9.73 K/9 and 3.16 BB/9. These are all career-bests for the former number three pick in the 2020 MLB Draft. "I think Max is a different pitcher than he has been in the past," McCullough said. "He's got more weapons now than he's had. They're better and play off each other very well. Him having the ability to run his two-seam on righties, to continue to open up the spin lane on the outer half, and he can go down below versus left with the breaking balls. His changeup is a pitch that he can use as well." Relievers Anthony Bender and Andrew Nardi followed Meyer. They both threw shutout innings, not allowing a hit. It marked the Marlins' first one-hitter since May 18, 2019. It was also their first shutout of the Phillies since August 13, 2024. The Marlins are the only National League club to have four different starters go at least seven innings in a game this season (only the New York Yankees have done it in the AL). The Marlins offense wasted no time giving Meyer some run support, as in the bottom of the third inning, with the bases loaded, both Agustín Ramírez and Connor Norby worked walks, driving in a run each. In the bottom of the fifth, Xavier Edwards hit his second home run of the season, going 392 feet to right field, extending the lead, 3-0. In nine games batting in the cleanup spot this season, Edwards has a .367/.513/.567/1.080 slash line. Otto Lopez capped off the Marlins' four-run performance with an infield RBI single in the bottom of the sixth. With the win, the Marlins are 16-17, once again, a game under .500. Sunday will not be a rubber match as this is a wrap-around series (another game awaits on Monday night). Jesús Luzardo, a Florida native and former Marlins pitcher, will face Chris Paddack on Sunday at 1:40 pm. View full article

MIAMI, FL — Following the Miami Marlins' 6-5 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, the team optioned left-handed pitcher Cade Gibson to Triple-A Jacksonville. The corresponding move was selecting the contract of Fish On First's No. 20 prospect, Josh Ekness. A hard-throwing right-hander selected by the Marlins in the 12th round of the 2023 MLB Draft, Ekness told reporters that he received a call Friday night at around 11:45 pm. "They were telling me I needed to come sign some paperwork for my passport, because I had an appointment I needed to get for that. Had just been putting it off for years, and they had me sign a bunch of papers, and all of a sudden he's got one more and he slaps a sheet down, saying, 'Congrats, you're gonna be a big leaguer.' Caught me a bit off guard, but definitely excited to be here." This season with Jacksonville, Ekness has a 5.68 ERA, 2.79 FIP, 14.92 K/9 and 4.26 BB/9 in 12 ⅔ innings pitched. The timing of this call-up is unusual as he has allowed seven runs in his last 3 ⅔ innings pitched. Before that rough stretch, though, he had allowed only one earned run and struck out 15 in nine innings of work. Across 142 career innings in the Marlins MiLB system, Ekness owns a 3.30 ERA and 3.28 FIP. The 24-year-old reliever boasts a 70-grade fastball, which in his most recent outing on Thursday topped out at 97.4 mph and averaged 96.8 mph. Along with the fastball, he throws a sinker, slider and sweeper. While there is no questioning the quality of his stuff, Ekness has room to improve in the control department. "I think mainly putting an emphasis on the execution part and being more external has helped me kind of limit some of the bigger misses and uncompetitive misses helped me just get focused on getting ahead and staying ahead in counts," Ekness said. "Usually, I'm pretty good at putting guys away when I get to the counts, but I just needed to be efficient and get to those counts to have that opportunity." Ekness' role on the team will be interesting. He has been used in all sorts of situations during his rise through the minors. He is particularly effective against right-handed batters—none of them have recorded an extra-base hit against him since 2024. "He has been stretched out some and gone multiple innings," Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said. "I think right now that's how we'll look to use him. What maybe is best for that particular day and where the overall group is, but it is important that guys can come up here and do a variety of things." Health permitting, fellow 2023 draftees left-hander Thomas White and outfielder Kemp Alderman will contribute to the Marlins this season. However, Ekness is the first member of that draft class to reach the big leagues. The Marlins 40-man roster is now full. Game two between the Marlins and Phillies is at 4:10 pm on Saturday. View full article

Newly added to the Marlins roster, right-hander Josh Ekness speaks with the media about earning his first big league opportunity and his mindset on the mound. Ekness is ranked 20th on the Fish On First Top 30. View full video

MIAMI, FL — The Miami Marlins took a different approach to free agency last offseason compared to previous years of the Peter Bendix era. They signed four different veterans to major league deals (five if you also include Austin Slater at the end of spring training). Without question, left-hander John King has been the best of them all thus far, not to mention the top reliever on the entire team. Through his team-leading 15 appearances entering Saturday, King has a 0.66 ERA, 3.72 FIP, 8.56 K/9 and 3.29 BB/9. His ERA is tied for 10th-lowest among qualified MLB relievers. He has allowed only two hits. That is $1.5M very well spent. "He's shown he's been incredibly durable, and someone who always wants the ball no matter what," Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said on Friday. "The situation is not always the greatest, but what John does and his ability to come in and collect outs helps us win games. It also helps keep guys fresh." So far this season, the Marlins have used King in all kinds of situations. He has been especially effective in what Baseball-Reference defines as high-leverage moments, retiring all seven batters faced. "I feel like as pitchers, you face those guys are kind of like are bigger than baseball itself," King said. "I just think that treating them like everyone else and just attacking, getting ahead—their numbers go down when you get ahead of one versus one. Obviously, they capitalize on mistakes. Even probably more so, they hit great pitches. I think putting yourself in the best opportunity for success is getting ahead. I just think that with experience, the game kind of has slowed down for me." In the past series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, King was utilized in all three games. He tossed 2 ⅔ total shutout innings in a Marlins series win. "I think going into it, it's something John had done in the past," McCullough said of using him three consecutive days. "Him coming into spring training, he can handle it. Generally, his workload, the amount of hitters asked him to face, is a little bit narrower than some other guys." Previously a member of the St. Louis Cardinals, King's 2025 season was one of the worst of his career, where in 48 ⅓ innings pitched, he posted a 4.66 ERA, 5.00 FIP, 5.21 K/9 and 2.61 BB/9. King's agent is friends with Bendix and was encouraged by what the Marlins organization had been doing with player development on the pitching side, leading to an agreement. "The hot run that the team went on last year and just being in Miami is sweet, too," King told Fish On First. "There's a lot of things that I was really excited talking to them about and seeing if we could work something out. I was fortunate enough they offered me a deal, and I took it right away." Unusual for a reliever, King has a six-pitch arsenal. He also did last season, but relied heavily on his sinker, using it 59.2% of the time. With the Marlins, that usage has been cut in half to 28.7%. Although his sinker's velocity has dropped, its whiff rate has gone way up from 15.7% to 40.9%. "I had become super predictable throwing it that much," King said. "In spring training, I had a meeting with some of the front office and pitching staff, and they told me how they want me to mix and they want me to throw a sweeper. I can command the ball pretty well, and I'm still learning to command the breaking stuff as well as the sinker and changeup. I think putting it all together just makes me a little bit more unpredictable and a little bit more uncomfortable with that, especially with righties." King was terrible against right-handed batters last season, allowing a .374/.437/.542/.979 slash line. On the other hand, he's dominating them with the Fish (.050/.208/.200/.408 in 24 PA). King has yet to enter in any save situations, but that may change in the coming weeks. With Pete Fairbanks sidelined due to nerve irritation, the Marlins are using a closer-by-committee approach. If favorable matchups present themselves in the ninth inning, King should be trusted to get the job done. View full article