Kevin Barral

Miami, Florida native and Los Angeles Angels shortstop Zach Neto talks to Fish On First about playing against his hometown team for the first time. MIAMI, FL— The Miami Marlins enter Tuesday night with an 0-5 record, but in the opposing dugout, the Los Angeles Angels are 2-2 and looking to get over .500. An integral piece to their team thus far is 23-year-old Miami native Zach Neto. The Coral Park High School product was called up last year to coincidentally face his hometown team in Anaheim, but this series marks his first time playing in loanDepot park as a big leaguer. "I'm back where it all started," said Neto to the media on Monday prior to game one of the three-game set. "It's good to wake up this morning, see my family and be able to be here." Selected with the 13th pick in the first round of the 2022 MLB Draft, Neto was called up just a year after being drafted. He slashed .225/.308/.377/.685 with nine home runs and 34 RBIs as a rookie. In that same draft, the Marlins held the sixth overall pick. They passed on Neto, taking LSU third baseman Jacob Berry, who is currently at the Double-A level. "It feels good," said Neto when asked about his quick career progression. "Being able to play here, it just shows a lot of hard work that I've been putting in my whole life growing up. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to play here for the Marlins, but I found a home somewhere else. Being able to bring that with me here, it's awesome." Since Neto was drafted and Miguel Rojas was traded, the Marlins have had what feels like a revolving door at shortstop: Joey Wendle, Jacob Amaya, Jon Berti, Garrett Hampson and now Tim Anderson. On Tuesday, Amaya was designated for assignment by the club. This was a series that Neto has been looking forward to. "Last year when I first got called up, finding out that we were playing the Marlins at our home was cool, but finding out this year that we were playing them here, especially early in the season, it was awesome." In just the first game back, he had almost a full section of family and friends who came to see him. It was over 100 tickets he had to give out. "I don't know the final number," said Neto, "but I heard it's a lot. They told me a certain section, so that section is dedicated to my family...but once the game starts, gotta lock in and focus on the game." Does facing the Marlins motivate Neto to take his game to a new level? "Definitely does," said Neto. "Kinda gives me a little edge knowing that passed on me in the draft, so they had their opportunity, they passed, so now I found a home somewhere else, so there's a little chip on my shoulder coming out here and proving what they missed out on." Neto went 1-for-4 on Monday in the Angels' series-opening win. He is slashing .154/.214/.154/.368 with two RBIs so far this season. In game two of the series, Neto is in the nine spot of the order as he looks to get to Marlins ace Jesús Luzardo, who has done well against the Angels in the past. View full article

On Monday, Max Meyer made his return to a Major League mound against the Los Angeles Angels. Unfortunately for him, his first career win will have to wait, as the Angels came from behind to steal one from the Marlins. MIAMI, FL—For the first time since July 23, 2022, Fish on First number three prospect Max Meyer took the mound after undergoing Tommy John surgery. On a night where the Marlins needed length from their only right-handed starter in the rotation, Meyer delivered, as he went five innings, allowed two runs, two hits, one walk and struck out five. Meyer received a no-decision in Monday's contest, as the final score was 7-4, Angels. Meyer's first inning of work was brisk, as he struck out 2023 first-round pick Nolan Schanuel, but most notably, three time American League MVP Mike Trout as well. Both strikeouts came on the slider, which was his most used pitch of the night. He would go on to strikeout Anthony Rendon in the top of the third inning and then Brandon Drury in the fourth. All of his strikeouts came on the slider. "Everything felt good," said Meyer following the game. "First time out there, I wasn't that nervous, I don't think. Was able to make some pitches and felt good throughout and obviously not the result we want, but something to build off." Throughout the spring, Meyer's fastball velocity was averaging around 93.9-94.9 mph. On Monday, Meyer's fastball averaged 95.0 mph, topping out at 96.5 mph. He went with his slider/fastball combo along with a couple changeups. The fastball command was great for Meyer, throwing mainly strikes, but also working the corners with it. Opposing hitters swung at the fastball multiple times, but made contact each time, as Meyer didn't generate any whiffs. Unlike the fastball, the slider ended up being Meyer's bread and butter, which makes sense given his success with it at the minor league level. Angels hitters swung at his slider 11 times, generating four whiffs. "It's always going to be one of my main pitches. A little bit later on, probably relied on [the slider] a little too much. Should've stuck to some heaters. Mel came out to me and said get back on that fastball, you're kind of peeling off so just stuff like that. I'll learn from every outing." Where Meyer had trouble was with the changeup. He threw it just as much as his fastball, but not as effective, as he gave up a solo-homer to Mike Trout, leaving the pitch hanging for the 14-year veteran. Only twice did it fool the opposing side, as the Angels whiffed twice at it, But for the most part, it didn't make much of a positive impact as it didn't land in the zone as much as he would have liked. "I'm throwing a 3-2 changeup to Mike Trout, trying to get him out. I'm so happy that I even have the confidence in it. I would have never said that a couple years ago," said Meyer. "Obviously there's a place and time for it, but yeah, I feel great about it." Thankfully for Meyer, the Marlins offense backed him early, scoring four runs. In the bottom of the first inning, Luis Arraez worked a five-pitch walk, Josh Bell got on base through a catcher's interference and Jake Burger knocked in his seventh RBI of the season, giving the Marlins an early 1-0 lead. Jazz Chisholm Jr. would follow up Burger with an RBI single, driving in Josh Bell from second base. Although the call was questionable to send Bell home, it ended up working as he barely slid home safely to extend the lead to 2-0. Miami would go on to score two more runs thanks to a Nick Gordon two-run double. The longest home run of the 2024 MLB season was hit at loanDepot Park on Monday night as Mike Trout took reliever George Soriano 475 feet deep to left center field into the ballpark's concourse. This was the second home run of back-to-back homers that Soriano allowed, the first one being to former Florida Atlantic University product Nolan Schanuel. After the Marlins scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning, the Angels went on to score six unanswered runs, which included two Mike Trout home runs, a Nolan Schanuel home run, two groundout RBIs and a Joe Adell RBI single to drive in Logan O'Hoppe to put the icing on the cake. With the loss, for the first time in franchise history, the Miami Marlins are 0-5. The last team reach this mark was the 2021 Oakland Athletics who went on to finish the season 86-76 (they missed the playoffs). "We've had chances to add on and really blowing the game open," said Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker following the game. "They did a good job of getting the double play when they had to add to a couple times. We had guys on base, we had traffic all night. Just couldn't break through and add." Miami will try to rebound on Tuesday as Jesús Luzardo will take the mound against Tyler Anderson at 6:40 p.m. The Angels are now 2-2 on the season and look to go over .500 and keep the Marlins winless. View full article

Along with the Marlins, the Triple-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp have just begun their 2024 regular season. These were the most notable player performances from their three-game set against the Gwinnett Stripers. Although opening weekend didn't go well for the Miami Marlins, there were some positive developments with their Triple-A affiliate, the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. The Jumbo Shrimp won on Opening Day before dropping the final two games of the series at 121 Financial Ballpark. Throughout Minor League Baseball, individual performances and development of players take priority over wins and losses, so let's take a closer look at who stood out for Jacksonville in these games. Pitching A name that more Marlins fans should get accustomed to hearing is Darren McCaughan. The right-handed pitcher was acquired from the Seattle Mariners in February in exchange for cash considerations. McCaughan started the final game of spring training and went three shutout innings, not allowing a hit, walking zero and striking out three. Similar to what Bryan Hoeing was known for during his time in the minors, McCaughan would induce a lot of ground balls, but also incorporate an arsenal which occasionally gets him swing-and-miss action. When he's on top of his game, he provides quick innings. From 2018-2023, the new member of the Jumbo Shrimp led Minor League Baseball in innings pitched (717.0 IP). Starting on Opening Day, he went six innings, allowing three runs off of six hits, one walk and struck out four. He gave up two home runs, one to former Marlins utility man Luke Williams and a second to J.P. Martinez. Just like he did in the final spring game, McCaughan went secondary heavy. He primarily used his sweeper/sinker combo, but specifically his sweeper induced the most whiffs. He is expected to start once again on Wednesday, but there is a chance he is called up to join the Marlins in the near future. The Major League team is in need of innings and McCaughan can provide just that, plus he's already on their 40-man roster. He may not have struck out anyone, which is uncharacteristic of him, Anthony Maldonado went two innings and didn't allow any runs or hits, he only gave up one walk as he earned the save for the Jumbo Shrimp on Friday. Calvin Faucher was slowed down by a minor shoulder injury during spring training, but he recovered just in time to begin the regular season on schedule. On Saturday, Faucher made his Jumbo Shrimp debut, going two shutout innings where he gave up two hits and struck out two. He averaged 94.9 mph on his sinker and topped out at 96.7 mph. Faucher is a candidate to receive a call-up when another fresh arm is needed in the Marlins bullpen, just like McCaughan and Maldonado. Faucher was one player who stood out to manager Skip Schumaker during the spring given his high velocity and swing-and-miss potential, and that was on display on Saturday. Yonny Chirinos, who signed a minor league deal with the Marlins, had a no-hitter through five innings in his Jumbo Shrimp debut, but the Gwinnett Stripers tacked on three runs at the end of his outing, so the box score doesn't show how good Chirinos was. He will be a name to keep an eye out for as well. Position Players Griffin Conine, son of Jeff Conine, joined the Marlins organization via trade in 2020. He had a great spring training and stayed hot this weekend in Jacksonville, going 4-for-10 with one RBI and two doubles. In the bottom of the fourth inning on Friday, Conine hit a 103.6 mph RBI double off of pitcher Darius Vines to start the scoring for the Jumbo Shrimp. Tnd5eGtfV0ZRVkV3dEdEUT09X0JRZFhYUUZYVXdBQUFGb0ZVUUFBVlZVRUFGZ0RVbE1BQlZ3R0FWRUFDQXNEQXdOZQ==.mp4 On his second double, which came in his final at-bat of the game, the ball left the bat at 94.3 mph. Conine ended up scoring on a Marty Costes RBI single. He also had the highest exit velocity in the second game of the series, at 109.4 mph. Strikeouts have historically been an issue for the son of Mr. Marlin, but through three games, he's only struck out twice. It's good to see, but too early to tell if that is sustainable. If Conine keeps up the approach he had in spring training, then the chances of him earning his first career call-up certainly improve. Through the first series, there weren't many other standouts offensively. Jacksonville scored only one total run on Saturday and Sunday combined. The Jumbo Shrimp enter their first full week of action with a .187/.286/.242/.528 team slash line. View full article

Marlins left-hander Ryan Weathers breaks down the pros and the cons of his 2024 regular season debut. View full video

Marlins manager Skip Schumaker discusses Ryan Weathers' first start of 2024, the MLB debut of Jared Jones, the improvement Jesús Sánchez has shown against left-handed pitching and more. View full video

On Saturday, Jared Jones beat the Marlins in his MLB debut with the Pirates offense providing nine runs of support. MIAMI, FL—Ryan Weathers made his first start of the season for the Miami Marlins, giving up three runs off of seven hits, two walks and five strikeouts, but the major league debut of Pirates right-hander Jared Jones stole the show on a Saturday afternoon in Miami. Pittsburgh's number three prospect according to MLB Pipeline, Jones went 5 ⅔ innings, giving up three runs off of three hits, walking two and striking out ten Marlins batters. Jones wasted no time showing off the velo, hitting 99.9 mph on his fastball and making hitters work, generating 22 whiffs off of 48 swings. He recorded five of his strikeouts on sliders. With his ten-strikeout performance, Jones became the first Pirates pitcher with double-digit strikeouts in his MLB debut since the late Tim Wakefield in 1992. "Fastball was really playing at the top of the zone and we weren't picking up his slider," said Marlins manager Skip Schumaker following the game. "A lot of swing-and-miss with the slider and hitters counts. He did really good. It's been a really nice debut for him." The Marlins were able to get to Jones in the bottom of the fourth inning. Jazz Chisholm Jr. worked a six-pitch walk, Jake Burger, who has gotten off to a great start this season, drove him in on an RBI double, his fifth RBI of the season. That made it a 3-1 game and broke the no-hitter Jones had going for himself. Following Burger, Jesús Sánchez recorded his second RBI of the season, driving in Burger to make it a one-run game. The final run the Marlins would score was another Sánchez RBI single, but this time off a lefty. Entering that at-bat, Sánchez had slashed .201/.235/.324/.559 with five home runs and 13 RBIs in his career against lefties. Earlier in the series, he had been replaced by pinch-hitter Avisaíl García in a similar situation. He took advantage of the opportunity. "Working on that during the offseason against a lot of lefties," said Sánchez through a translator. "I think it's more about repetition opportunities. Once I continue getting that opportunity, we're going to continue to see those results." Schumaker added, "He's been working hard on all facets of the game and you're gonna have to give guys opportunities to see what they can do against some lefties. Given Jazz a shot at them, gave Sánchez a shot today, so you're gonna have to see what they can do. You don't know until you give them a shot and I know there's been history of some at-bats that weren't great maybe earlier in their career, but they're allowed to get better and they're allowed to mature and have better at-bats." In his first start of the 2024 season, Ryan Weathers had his highs and lows. Going four innings, striking out five, but giving up four runs off of seven hits and two walks, the Pirates made the lefty work deep into counts, running up the pitch count to 94 pitches. "First-pitch strike percentage was actually good," said Schumaker. "I thought his stuff was actually good. Velo was up. I actually thought overall, it was good. He just had long at-bats." Weathers relied on his fastball/changeup combo with a taste of the sweeper, primarily as a putaway pitch. Two of his five strikeouts came on the sweeper with one on the fastball and two on the changeup. Pirates hitters were patient, making Weathers work deep counts, but were persistent as they had 13 whiffs off of 44 swings. "It felt really good," said Weathers when asked about starting off 14 of 22 batters with first-pitch strikes. "Got ahead, gave up a couple 0-2 hits that kind of hurt. Threw some pitches in the spots that I wanted to throw them in. Credit to them... Just got to execute a little more." Sixto Sánchez, who came in for Weathers, went two innings, giving up two runs (one earned) off of two hits, making it a 5-2 game. Andrew Nardi followed. The Pirates got to the Marlins reliever and tacked on four more runs—all of them scoring with two outs—leading to the final score of 9-3. FOF Game Thread: 3/30/24 With the loss, the Miami Marlins drop to 0-3 for the first time since 2015, when they lost three straight to the Atlanta Braves. It is the fifth time in Marlins history that they have started 0-3, also including 1995, 2001 and 2013. They haven't started 0-4 since 2001. On Sunday, Trevor Rogers will take the mound against Bailey Falter at 1:40 p.m. to try to avoid that. View full article

Opening Day lived up to the hype as the hometown kid Jesús Luzardo struck out eight, free baseball was played, but unfortunately, the Miami Marlins fell to the Pittsburgh Pirates. MIAMI, FL—Trailing 5-2 in the top of the seventh inning, the Pirates mounted an Opening Day comeback against the Miami Marlins bullpen, ultimately winning 6-5 in extra innings. Andrew Nardi, Sixto Sánchez and Declan Cronin each allowed runs as the game slipped away. "They put together some good at-bats," said Marlins manager Skip Schumaker about the Pirates following the game. "Some late home runs and they end up winning the game, but we had our chances all game too. We had a lot of guys on base and didn't capitalize, runners on second and third, no outs. A lot of guys on third with one out. Just couldn't push that run across." Pirates Opening Day starter Mitch Keller gave up five runs (four earned), but the Pirates bullpen ended up only giving up one hit and shut down the Marlins lineup. Following a Jake Burger base hit up the middle in the seventh, the Marlins were held hitless the rest of the way. "I thought there were actually a lot of good at-bats," said Schumaker of his own lineup. "Some double play balls, but Burger in the tenth hit the ball as good as you can hit it, but maybe rushing a little bit too much here early in the count the first couple pitches." Schumaker also unloaded his whole bench, but even then, they went 0-for-4. Nothing worked for the Marlins on a night where they needed big hits in big moments. Early jitters went out the window after a rocky top of the first inning for Jesús Luzardo in his first career Opening Day start. In front of his hometown crowd, the Marlins lefty went five innings, giving up one run off of two hits, walking two and striking out eight. "Thought he looked good," said Schumaker. "I thought he got into some deep counts, probably ran out of pitches. Towards the end, through five, he probably had 10 more [pitches] left. Didn't really feel like sending him back out and digging in that part of the order again. Didn't make too much sense with Opening Day with 162 left." In the top of the first, after a quick pop fly to right field and strikeout, Luzardo got into some trouble giving up a double to Ke'Bryan Hayes and then walking longtime Pirate Andrew McCutchen. Thankfully for Luzardo, Henry Davis lined out to Burger for the final out. Command was spotty for the Marlins ace, throwing 51 strikes and 34 balls, but he was able to limit the damage to only two hits and two walks. Luzardo found success in the swing-and-miss department, making opposing hitters work, especially early in the count. The Venezuelan lefty ended the night with 18 whiffs on 39 swings. Seven of Luzardo's strikeouts were swinging strikeouts. Although it did feel like Pirates hitters were a bit aggressive, as early on in the game the Pirates had six whiffs on 16 swings, Luzardo saw it differently. "I felt like they were actually pretty patient," said Luzardo, "making me get in the zone and once I did get in the zone, that put them in swing mode. That's when they started swinging and getting more aggressive. Like I said, they did a really good job of forcing us in the zone and not chasing all the way around." Luzardo's fastball/slider combo with a taste of the changeup worked well for him, primarily the slider which saw 10 whiffs on 13 swings along with six swinging strikeouts. The changeup also had enough movement where it saw five whiffs on seven swings. The only run that Luzardo gave up was a two-run shot by Bryan Reynolds in the top of the third inning. Luzardo struck out Reynolds in his first at-bat of the game, but the former future Marlin got revenge by taking him 407 feet deep to left field for the first home run of the ballgame. The ball left the bat at 107.5 mph. Along with Luzardo's strong start, the Marlins offense came out hitting early on. In the bottom of the second inning, Jazz Chisholm Jr. worked a 10-pitch walk and Burger knocked in his first hit of the season, which moved Chisholm to third. With runners on the corners and nobody out, Jesús Sánchez seemed to have grounded into a double play, but after the exchange from Oneil Cruz to second baseman Jared Triolo, he dropped the ball, with everyone being safe and Chisholm scoring. The only major league signing of the offseason for the Marlins was Tim Anderson, inking a one-year deal worth five million dollars. In his first at-bat of the regular season as a member of the Marlins, he smacked an opposite field RBI single, driving in Burger to make it a 2-0 game. Anderson has spent most of his career hitting near the top of the lineup, but started in the seventh spot in his Marlins debut. After Jake Burger joined the Marlins at the 2023 trade deadline, his highest RBI total in a single game the rest of the season was three. In the first game of the 2024 season, he's already matched that, going 3-for-4 with three RBIs, driving in Bryan De La Cruz and Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the bottom of the third inning followed by a sac fly driving in Josh Bell in the bottom of the fifth inning. After Sixto Sánchez gave up the solo home run to Oneil Cruz, the Marlins and Pirates didn't score a run until the top of the 12th inning, which came on a Jarred Triolo RBI single, driving in Ke'Bryan Hayes. Cruz, who tried to extend that lead, was caught at home. MzVEelFfWGw0TUFRPT1fVkFNSFZWME1WUUlBQVZaVVZRQUFWRklDQUZnRkJ3TUFBMVlNQmdRSFZ3cFFCd1Jm.mp4 Declan Cronin, who was picked up off of waivers from the Houston Astros, made the Opening Day roster and gave the Marlins three excellent innings of work despite being charged with the loss. "I'll do whatever it takes to try to help his team win ballgames," said Cronin after the game. "That's what I talked to Skip about the first day I showed up in spring training. You have to expect the unexpected, you can't check out for a second. Going into this one, it's my first Opening Day, so that in itself was a momentous occasion and I was excited to get in the game. Obviously, came out on the wrong side of it tonight, but it was fun." The Marlins used all but two of their active relievers in the first game of the season. A.J. Puk, who has never started a MLB game, is starting on Friday for them. Puk takes the mound against experienced veteran Martin Pérez. The Marlins will play at 7:10 p.m., which will be the case every Friday home game, and they will be debuting their redesigned black uniforms. View full article

The Miami Marlins traded longtime utility man Jon Berti in exchange for two prospects with interesting offensive potential. On Opening Day eve, the Miami Marlins struck a trade with the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays which brought them back outfield prospects John Cruz (Yankees) and Shane Sasaki (Rays). Jon Berti is now headed to New York while the Rays acquired catcher Ben Rortvedt from the Yankees. John Cruz, 18, has spent two years in the Yankees system. Ranked as their number 28 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, the 6'3", 171-pound outfielder slashed .294/.376/.531/.907 with 10 home runs, 47 RBIs and a 131 wRC+ in the Florida Complex League. Although Cruz is said to have an aggressive approach, he only struck out at a 21.8% rate, lower than the league's 22.9% average. He also had a fine 10.9% walk rate. Between both of his years in the New York farm system, Cruz hit 15 home runs in 102 games. "He's got power, somebody that we think is an interesting combination of power and ability to put the ball in play," said President of Baseball Operations Peter Bendix on Wednesday. "It's hard to know what an 18-year-old is, but it's a good tool set to add to the organization." Cruz has quickly learned to hit the ball to all fields. In 2023, the MLB league-wide opposite field percentage was at 24.8%, but he was at 29.9%. Same goes with pull percentage, where the league average is 38.9% and he was at 50.0%. With prospects as young as Cruz who are challenged against much older competition, usually you see a high strikeout percentage followed by a high pull percentage with little to no opposite field hitting. Cruz is on the right path early on. Defensively, there is a lot to like with the speed he possesses, but maybe a permanent move to right field would benefit him early on so he can become an overall better defender at the position. Speed is certainly what stands out when talking about Cruz. Through his two years in the Yankees system, he's stolen 19 bases. It's too early to tell what Cruz can ultimately be as he is only 18 years old, but he has a lot of "helium" as talent evaluators like to say, a player with the chance to become one of the best prospects in all of baseball. Ideally, the Marlins would place Cruz at the Low-A level after a strong season in the FCL, but it wouldn't come as a surprise if Cruz were to start the season in the FCL for a couple at-bats before getting promoted to Jupiter midway through the season. Shane Sasaki, who the Marlins acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays, is an interesting prospect as well. After struggling in 2019, Sasaki has never gone under the league average 100 wRC+, but at 23 years old, he hasn't seen action at the AA level. This offseason, Sasaki was left unprotected in the Rule 5 Draft, but as you may have guessed, he wasn't selected. "Somebody I know a little bit better from my time with the Rays," said Bendix. "Pretty well-rounded outfielder. Speed-power combination, does a lot of things well. A little further along in his career, but somebody that we like the upside of." In 2023, Sasaki slashed .301/.375/.465/.840 with seven home runs, 39 RBIs and a 130 wRC+. Power isn't the name of the game for this right-handed hitter, but he offers speed and good hitting fundamentals. An aggressive approach is one of the first cons for Sasaki, never posting a K% under 20%. Just like Cruz, Sasaki has a good balance between opposite field percentage and pull percentage, with both above the league averages. Sasaki saw action in this past Arizona Fall League season where he slashed .259/.348/.333/.681 with nine RBIs and 13 stolen bases. On the downside, he struck out 31 times in 81 at-bats, which goes back to his aggressive approach at the plate. Sasaki has the ability to play center field and stick there, but at the moment, it seems that his ceiling is most likely as a fourth outfielder, a versatile one at that. Although his success in the lower minors has been impressive, it's all about what he can do at the AA level where the quality of pitching is much better than what he's used to. View full article

On Tuesday, the Marlins had a final tune-up scrimmage in which Trevor Rogers, Max Meyer and Edward Cabrera all pitched. MIAMI, FL—On Tuesday, the Miami Marlins held an intrasquad game which featured Trevor Rogers and Max Meyer as the starting pitchers along with Edward Cabrera coming out of the bullpen. Trevor Rogers threw around 85 pitches and went three to four innings. Although you can't take away anything from the results of these type of games, Rogers did give up a home run and multiple RBIs. "The results weren't there, which is not really kind of the point of it," said Rogers when asked about going up against his own teammates. "Just get out there and make sure my body sound good, my pitches are good and moving well." Rogers is one of four lefties in the Marlins starting rotation entering this season and he thinks it's a great opportunity to bounce ideas off of each other. "It's gonna be awesome," said Rogers. "I never thought I'd see the day where there's more lefties than righties. We're all gonna compete against one another, feed off each other and root for each other." Rogers will take on the Pittsburgh Pirates in the final game of the four-game set on Sunday. Max Meyer, the only right-handed pitcher in the rotation, took the mound and went five innings of work, something he hadn't done since his debut game against the Philadelphia Phillies in 2022. "I'm just so excited that I can contribute to this team," said Meyer. The Marlins' 2020 first-round pick was in the weight room when he was told he would be breaking camp. Marlins manager Skip Schumaker gave him the news. "I was just rolling out in the weight room and (Schumaker) came up to me and told me that I better be ready to go on the fifth day," said Meyer. "I was pretty pumped even though I didn't show it too much, but I was excited." Meyer is set to take the mound for the Marlins on April 1 in the first game of the second series of the year against the Los Angeles Angels. Edward Cabrera, who suffered a shoulder impingement that kept him out towards the back half of spring training, threw about 39 pitches in two innings of work and looked good for the most part. He told the media that the pain went away not too long after he suffered the injury which took him out of his start on March 10. "I felt very good," said Cabrera. "Constantly working with the athletic trainers to stay on the field." Cabrera noted that he threw his full arsenal except the slider. In about 4-5 days he expects to take the mound again, but this time as if he were to start a game. It will most likely be in a backfields game in Jupiter, a couple days after Braxton Garrett pitches his own simulated game on Thursday. News and Notes Fish On First can confirm that Huascar Brazoban has been placed on the restricted list. Still unable to solve his visa issues, Brazoban has not been with the team for the entirety of the spring. This opens up a 40-man roster spot. The 40-man roster currently stands at 39. Wednesday will mark the final workout for the Marlins before taking on the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday. View full article

On Wednesday, the Miami Marlins finalized their roster with multiple moves, including one final position player making his way over to Miami. MIAMI, FL—On Thursday, the Miami Marlins finalized their Opening Day roster. On the position player side, following the Jon Berti trade on the eve of Opening Day, the Marlins called up Jonah Bride, who they acquired in the offseason from the Oakland Athletics The biggest moves came when the final bullpen spots went to Declan Cronin, Bryan Hoeing and recently acquired Burch Smith, leaving Vladimir Gutierrez and Anthony Maldonado off the roster, both heading to Triple-A Jacksonville. Xavier Edwards saw action primarily at shortstop this spring and ended up going 3-for-13 with only one strikeout. Edwards never got a true chance to play though due to a left foot infection Down in Jacksonville, Edwards will play every day. It'll be interesting to see how he's used defensively. With the Jumbo Shrimp in 2023, Edwards slashed .351/.429/.457/.886 with seven home runs, 47 RBIs, 32 stolen bases and a 130 wRC+. When Edwards reached the Major League level, he slashed .295/.329/.333/.663 with three RBIs and an 82 wRC+. The switch-hitter was expected to see some time in center field, but then reports came out that he would receive every opportunity possible to play shortstop, which has been the case throughout spring workouts and games. The most recent medical update for Edwards is that he has gone through full workouts and took at-bats in the backfields. Jonah Bride stood out this spring on both the major and minor league side. Going 6-for-22 with two home runs and four RBIs in the Grapefruit League, Bride also had a couple jacks in the backfields. Certainly impressed and his versatility made it easier to trade someone like Jon Berti. Declan Cronin, who was claimed off of waivers by Marlins this offseason, truly made a name for himself from the day pitchers and catchers reported to Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium till the final game he pitched this past Saturday against the Washington Nationals. Cronin's sinker/sider combo can be tricky for opposing hitters to hit as he struck out 11 hitters this spring. Even with his velocity not standing out too much, his fastball averaging 93.5 mph. Entering the spring, Fish on First's number 18 prospect Anthony Maldonado felt like a strong candidate to make the Marlins Opening Day roster after his success in the minor leagues. Through seven spring appearances, the right-hander struck out eight hitters and only gave up one run off of three hits and four walks. However, it was not enough to get him a promotion to Miami. On Wednesday morning, the Marlins swung a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays, acquiring Burch Smith in exchange for cash considerations. In six appearance (5.1 innings pitched), Smith gave up five runs off of 12 hits and walked two while striking out five. In 2023, Smith spent the season with the Hanwha Eagles of the KBO, but only pitched in one game, going 2.2 innings, gave up two runs off of three hits and struck out two. A recent but larger sample size for Smith was with the Oakland Athletics in 2021, throwing 43.1 innings, posting a 5.40 ERA, 4.21 FIP, 5.82 K/9 and a 2.28 BB/9. Smith used his upward mobility clause to opt out with the Rays and reach an agreement with the Marlins. This past winter, Smith was with the Gigantes del Cibao, who are led by Marlins bullpen coach Wellington Cepeda and bench coach Luis "Pipe" Urueta. Smith posted a 2.51 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 20 SO and three walks through 12 games and 14.1 innings pitched, arguably the best Smith has looked since his shortened 2019 and 2020 seasons. Vladimir Gutierrez signed late into the spring, but still made six appearances, where he gave up four earned runs off of 12 hits and two home runs, which came in his final start. Gutierrez walked four and struck out nine in 10 innings of work. Gutierrez's last start felt like an outlier, giving up three runs in the top of the first, but smooth sailing from there despite giving up hard contact. Gutierrez was heavily attacking the strike zone early on, but ended up working the corners in that start, where he began to see results. Gutierrez made it known postgame that he can pitch in any situation: start, relieve or close out games. His versatility on the mound gave him a good shot to make the Opening Day roster and the Marlins took that into account with their decision. With the Marlins acquiring Smith, that left both Gutierrez and Maldonado as the odd men out, as both were sent down. Gutierrez agreed to the assignment instead of opting out of his contract. Both of these players should be amongst the first to receive call-ups if a pitcher goes down. View full article

The Marlins' second-to-last spring training game featured many of the hitters who'll be starting their 2024 season opener and served as one final tryout for three pitchers who are battling for roster spots in the bullpen. WEST PALM BEACH, FL—The Miami Marlins and Pittsburgh Pirates are just five days away from beginning the regular season, but Skip Schumaker's ballclub still has two more spring training games to go, with the first one in CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches against the Washington Nationals. It was a true dress rehearsal for the Marlins as they traveled about 20 minutes south with their potential Opening Day lineup, but leading the charge on the mound was Cuban non-roster invitee Vladimir Gutierrez. Prior to the game, Skip Schumaker said Gutierrez is still vying for a spot on the Marlins roster. Schumaker also just shared the harsh reality on how much they will need the depth that is left with the injuries in the starting rotation. "People can spin it however they want to spin it, but that's what it is," said Schumaker of Gutierrez. "We need guys because of what our rotation looks like. You might not even see guys go maybe over five or six innings initially. You need a couple guys to bridge to get to the eighth and ninth inning. You can't go back-to-back with multiple inning guys every single night." With how good Gutierrez had been this spring, his final appearance seemed like an outlier, giving up hard contact, with two home runs in the bottom of the first inning. After his rough first inning, a lot of his quick outs came from lineouts or long fly balls. He ended up going three innings, giving up three runs off of seven hits, no walks and struck out one. Gutierrez attributed his first-inning struggles to throwing too many strikes. "I was throwing a lot of strikes," said Gutierrez through an intrepeter. "Most of the adjustments we did was starting looking into pitches more in the corners, going around. I was able to pick it up again." Following Gutierrez, both Declan Cronin and Anthony Maldonado had shutout outings. They are Gutierrez's competition for the final couple bullpen spots remaining on the roster, but he believes that his versatility helps as well as what he has already done. "I can do all the three things," said Gutierrez. "I can start a game, be a reliever and close the game. Most important is that my arm is 100% healthy. If I make the team, I'm there to help in any way I can." Cronin, who was claimed off waivers by the Marlins this past offseason, went 1 ⅔ innings, struck out one, walked one and gave up two hits. "I feel pretty good about how I've attacked hitters for the most part this spring," said Cronin. "I think that was a point of emphasis when we got here to camp for everybody—not just me—to start with strike one and go from there. Thought I did a really good job of that early and as of late as well." Maldonado came in for Cronin in a tight spot in the bottom of the fifth inning and ended up going 1 ⅓ innings, striking out one, walking one and giving up zero hits. "I thought I did well," said Maldonado after his outing. "I thought I showed what I can do this spring. There was good spots and bad spots. I can learn on the fly. I can adjust to get big league hitters out. My minor league success wasn't a fluke. I think I've shown that so far." Jesús Luzardo was supposed to take the mound on Friday. It would've been the ideal game to have the Opening Day lineup on the field in Jupiter, but with the cancelation, most of that lineup was used on Saturday instead. The key difference was at catcher. Schumaker already confirmed that he will go with Nick Fortes behind the dish instead of Christian Bethancourt on March 28. In the top of the first, Luis Arraez, who is 16-for-45, took Nationals Opening Day starter Josiah Gray deep to right field . So did Jake Burger, as his was a two-run homer, driving in Jazz Chisholm Jr. after Jazz worked a walk. Tim Anderson would have his best game of spring training, as he goes into the regular season with a strong 4-for-4 game, just a homer shy of the cycle. News and Notes It was announced prior to the game that NRIs Trey Mancini, Curt Casali and Mychal Givens did not make the Opening Day roster. Mancini opted out of his contract, Casali is still weighing his options and Givens has been reassigned to minor league camp. The Marlins also announced the following injury updates: Reliever Calvin Faucher (shoulder) threw a live bullpen. He will not be making the Opening Day roster because he needs more time to build up. JT Chargois (neck) played catch and will be rehabbing in Jupiter. Eury Pérez (elbow) played catch. Josh Simpson (elbow) threw with hitters in the box, but they did not swing. Xavier Edwards (foot) went through a workout. Darren McCaughan will get the start on Sunday against the New York Mets for the final spring training game of 2024. The expectation is that he begins the season in Triple-A Jacksonville. View full article

Big Fish Small Pod for Saturday, March 23, 2024 On Saturday, Craig Mish broke the news that Max Meyer has made the Marlins Opening Day roster. Kevin Barral reacts to how the right-hander fits with Jesús Luzardo, A.J. Puk, Ryan Weathers and Trevor Rogers in the Miami Marlins rotation, plus more news and notes from the final weekend of spring training. Find Big Fish Small Pod 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, Fish Unfiltered, 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 Kevin (@kevin_barral) and Fish On First (@FishOnFirst) on Twitter. Join the Marlins Discord server! Complete Miami Marlins coverage here at FishOnFirst.com. View full article