Kevin Barral

MIAMI, FL — On Friday, before the Miami Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies kicked off a four-game set, outfielder/first baseman Griffin Conine was spotted putting his injured left hamstring through various baseball activities. Conine, who is only three weeks removed from suffering a hamstring tear and undergoing surgery, finds himself ahead of schedule in his rehab and has a target date for his reinstatement from the IL. "The one thing I haven't done yet is defensive work outfield-wise, but I'm throwing and hitting again today," Conine told Fish On First. "I'm in a good spot. Just building up, stacking days like this—basically where every day running, we get a little bit faster, the strength just comes back a little bit more." Before landing on the IL, Conine played in 11 games, slashing .273/.360/.591/.951 with two home runs, four RBI and a 160 wRC+. He suffered the injury on April 9 while playing attempt a diving catch in left field. "It sucked, for sure," Conine told Fish On First. "I think the prognosis could have been worse, so I'm trying to look at the positive side. Compared to last year's rehab, this is super easy. It's very basic. I just don't want to get back quicker than the timeline says, which we're on pace to do that." As Conine referenced there, he suffered a dislocated shoulder last season that kept him out for most of 2025. It was originally announced as a season-ending procedure, but he sped through the rehab process and returned in late September. Fortunately, the hamstring tear won't cost him nearly as much time. Barring setbacks, Conine told Fish On First that his goal is to return during the month of May. "I haven't talked to (the Marlins) about that, but just in my head with the timeline that the doctor gave me, I think that's very doable. That means I'm back in a big league game before June, which would mean [begin the rehab assignment] 10-12 days before that. That's what I'm shooting for and I don't know if they're on board with that, but I think that's doable. We're gonna take it week to week and see how it goes." When asked about Conine, Marlins manager Clayton McCullough jokingly said that he "defies modern medicine," then acknowledged that the 28-year-old is "tracking to be back probably to the lower end of the timeline." View full article

After a ninth-inning implosion on Monday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Miami Marlins came back the next day and won by a final score of 2-1, primarily thanks to their pitching staff. They were without the services of Pete Fairbanks, and they will continue to be for at least 15 days. Fairbanks was placed on the injured list prior to Tuesday's game with nerve irritation. Tyler Phillips entered in relief of the struggling closer in the series opener, allowing the game-winning hit to outfielder Kyle Tucker with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. Phillips again entered in the ninth again on Tuesday and this time got the job done to pick up the save. "I was fired up," Phillips told the Marlins Radio Network following the game. "I was thinking about the outing from last night. If you saw me down in the bullpen, you probably would've thought that there was something wrong...just very excited to get back out there." After inducing a fly ball to Teoscar Hernández, Phillips surrendered a base hit to outfielder Andy Pages. After that, Hyeseong Kim flew out and Alex Freeland grounded out to end the game. "Tyler can go to a different place when he is on the mound," Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said. "You couldn't find a nicer person, great dad. But when the gates open, Tyler has a switch that he has found and he is going to go out there and be incredibly aggressive and is a great competitor. For me, there was no hesitation to put him in that spot and we've seen him get so many big outs over the last couple of years, so he got right back out there tonight and did a great job." While Fairbanks is out, the plan is for the Marlins to go closer by committee, which we saw plenty of in 2025. However, Phillips has gotten off to an amazing start this season and now has a 1.47 ERA with two saves in 18 ⅓ innings pitched, suggesting he should be the leading candidate to pitch the ninth in these situations. It all started with Janson Junk, who had never faced the Dodgers in his career. On Tuesday, he turned in another strong start, going six shutout innings, striking out four in the process. Through six starts this season, the Marlins' fifth starter has a 3.00 ERA (best mark in Miami's rotation), 3.46 FIP, 5.73 K/9 and 2.18 BB/9. It was Junk's fastball that made a difference on Tuesday night. Three of his four strikeouts came on that pitch and he landed it for six first pitch strikes. His fastball topped out at 96.3 mph and averaged 94.7 mph. He also generated two whiffs with that pitch. Just like his last start, Junk was extremely efficient, averaging about 12 pitches per inning. "He set the tone on the mound," McCullough said. "They came out aggressive, and he really mixed things up. Moved the ball around, executed and was able to get through six innings very efficiently. After the first, he was able to settle in and threw well." The Marlins bullpen followed Junk and for the most part, kept things at bay. As a group, they allowed one run on four hits. They did not walk anyone, but also did not strike anybody out either. The Dodgers grounded out and flew out three times each after the Marlins turned to their bullpen. Thankfully, Junk and the pitching staff had just enough run support to win it. In the top of the second inning, facing Shohei Ohtani the pitcher, Owen Caissie drove in the games first run on a sacrifice fly. Agustin Ramirez, who was hit by a pitch in his at-bat, scored the run. In the top of the fifth inning, outfielder Kyle Stowers drove in what ended up being the winning run, an RBI single that scored Christopher Morel from second base. It gave the Marlins a 2-1 lead. Morel was making his Marlins debut, hitting eighth and playing first base. He went 0-for-3 with a walk and run scored. He was activated off the injured list on Monday before the first game of the series and Heriberto Hernández was optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville. Ohtani, who only participated in this game as a pitcher, went six innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits, three walks and a season-high nine strikeouts. Before the start of the game, the Marlins made a lineup change, scratching Liam Hicks, who was set to catch Junk due to an illness, moving Agustin Ramirez behind the plate and Connor Norby into the designated hitter spot in the lineup. "He's feeling better," McCullough said. "It was right as he was getting ready for the game. His stomach was bothering him wasn't going to be able to go." Tuesday's win snapped the Marlins' nine-game losing streak at Dodger Stadium, which dated back to 2023. They improve to 14-16 on the season and are in search of the series win on Wednesday with Sandy Alcantara taking the mound. For LA, it'll be Tyler Glasnow. First pitch is at 3:10 pm ET. View full article

For the 2026 season, Fish On First will provide weekly reports on the Miami Marlins farm system, covering all levels. Here's the final April edition of our Fish On First Prospects Report, which as always includes several important injury updates near the bottom of the page. This report covers the games played from April 21-26. Triple-A Jacksonville Recently ranked as Fish On First's No. 8 prospect, Kemp Alderman finished the week with nine hits, capping off the week with a grand slam on Sunday, marking his fourth home run of the season. After a slow start to the season, Alderman is now slashing .253/.354/.458/.812 with four home runs and 10 RBI. The only downside for Alderman has been his 35.2% strikeout rate, which is the highest of his minor league career thus far. Jared Serna finished the week with five hits and drove in five runs. He is now slashing .243/.312/.314/.626 with one home run and seven RBI. He has also stolen five bases, which is second-most on the team. Serna was one of three players acquired in the Jazz Chisholm Jr. trade back in 2024, and after a strong start to his organizational tenure, he has struggled, particularly in the slugging department. An under-the-radar name on the pitching side has been Zach Brzykcy. The 26-year-old reliever was claimed off waivers from the Washington Nationals. No longer occupying a 40-man roster spot, he has a 0.84 ERA with 11 strikeouts in eight appearances. On Sunday, his fastball averaged 94.5 mph and he closed out a Jumbo Shrimp win with a strikeout on his curveball. Brzykcy has MLB experience in each of the past two seasons and he's setting himself up for a return soon. Another righty, Jack Ralston, impressed during spring training, and he continues to succeed with the Jumbo Shrimp. In nine games, he has a 1.46 ERA, 1.68 FIP, 15.32 K/9 and 5.11 BB/9. He possesses similar mid-90 fastball velocity, but his splitter is his biggest weapon—18 of his 21 total strikeouts have come on that pitch. Ralston has yet to make his big league debut. This past week, Josh Ekness, who is now Fish On First's No. 20 prospect, surrendered three runs in one outing, then he allowed two more on the day of this article's publication. His season ERA has ballooned to 4.38. Double-A Pensacola It was a busy week for the Wahoos, who played seven games in six days against the Biscuits, including one game that was made up from a previous rain out. Pensacola got the better of Montgomery during the week, taking foir of the contests despite losing the run differential battle by one. Despite being thin in the pitching department, After a bit of a slow start with the stick, Ryan Ignoffo found it during this series. In four games against Montgomery, he went 7-for-16 with a home run, two doubles, and two RBI. In the first game of the seven-inning doubleheader on Thursday, he came within a triple of the cycle. A 20th-rounder from 2023 who only converted to catcher after turning pro, Ignoffo spent most of the offseason and spring training honing in on his defense, particularly with blocking and framing. Those exports have shown up well for Ignoffo so far as he’s allowed just one passed ball in 110 innings. He also owns a strong arm, contributing to his 32% caught-stealing rate last year. He is off to a 25 CS% start this season. Drafted as a two-way player, Ignoffo came out of the draft with catcher being one of few positions he had never played. The Marlins challenged him with it and he continues to improve with age. Offensively, Ignoffo has a good feel for the barrel, keeping CSW%s in check year over year, including 24.6% so far on the young campaign. His ability to at least fight strikes off limits his strikeout rates and he’s got some good gap-to-gap pop which allotted him 20-plus doubles in both 2024 and 2025. Ignoffo has seen his walk rates shrink a bit as he’s matriculated to the upper minors, but overall, he’s been an above average hitter at the Double-A level; he has a 106 wRC+ on the young season. A good athlete with a sneaky-good bat, Ignoffo should take over as the primary catcher once Joe Mack is called up. On current track, he should be able to stick as an at least serviceable backstop with potential positional flexibility to fill in at the corner infield or corner outfield spots. Karson Milbrandt keeps rolling. His latest exports this week were six innings worth of one run ball on six two hits and six strikeouts. His only run came on a home run. In his first four starts, Milbrandt owns a minimal 1.96 ERA, which ranks third-best in the Southern League. His 23 strikeouts are fourth-most on the circuit. Maintaining control and command particularly deeper in starts will continue to be Milbrandt’s MO as he rounds out his development and attempts to realize a mid-rotation ceiling. Because of the command dipping later in his outings and due to his just-average size, there is some reliever risk, but with great raw stuff and improving fastball velocity, he should have no problem finding the middle ground of that equation. High-A Beloit It was a very rough week for the Sky Carp who dropped four of six games in their series against Great Lakes, only taking the first and last games. Run scoring wasn’t an issue for Beloit who plated over six runs a game and 40 total including at least nine in three of the contests, but their pitching continued to struggle. The team now owns a 6.57 ERA, third-highest in the Midwest League. They now lead the circuit in walks with 136. It was a solid series at the plate for Cam Clayton who went 3-for-12 with a home run, seven RBI, and six walks while striking out three times. A 14th-round pick from 2024, Clayton spent 2025 mostly at Low-A where he slashed .242/.356/.390 with a 48/36 K/BB. The solid on-base numbers have followed him to Beloit this year where he is currently slashing .188/.480/.344. Clayton was drafted as a shortstop, but he quickly made the move off of the position as a pro. He’s spent time as a third baseman, but just-average arm strength befits him best for first base where he has played 88 ⅓ innings. Clayton, 6’1”, 205, isn’t built for much power, but as long as he is seeing pitching as well as he historically has as he continues to rise through the minor league ranks, he provides intrigue. He’s also a crafty baserunner, having stolen nine bases already this season. If Clayton can improve contact rates, he will be a pesky bat off the bench at the next level. Another offensive catalyst this series was the 2025 second-round pick, who was hitting everything in sight. On the series, Brandon Compton went 8-for-14 with two homers and five RBI. Arguably most impressive of all is the rate at which Compton walked. In these six games, he took a whopping 11 free passes while striking out just six times. Like Clayton, the ability to see pitching extremely well will give him a decent floor, but his defensive inflexibility could limit his ceiling. What will drive Compton’s future will depend on how much he can tap into solid raw strength while not straying too far from his patient roots. If he can become a consistent power threat while continuing to walk, he has a starter’s ceiling. Keep a close eye on his power numbers as he continues to develop and climb through the levels. Upper minors pitching will be a good measuring stick for the lefty Compton. That promotion could happen later this season, especially if he continues to build on his 170 wRC+. Low-A Jupiter A 21-year-old left-handed pitcher, Julio Mendez was named our FOF Minor League Player of the Week after striking out 11 through five innings of work in his most recent start. His fastball topped out at 95.2 mph and averaged 93.1 mph. Mendez's performance has been phenomenal dating back to the 2025 All-Star break, allowing a total of nine earned runs over those 11 starts. Andrés Valor had been ice cold at the plate until this past series. The athletic outfielder slashed .250/.464/.400 with three steals, including three batted balls with an exit velocity of at least 105 mph. Maintaining that throughout the month of May could earn Valor a ticket to Beloit considering he already has a full year of Low-A experience under his belt. Injuries/Rehab Following Christopher Morel's return to the Marlins active roster, there are no longer any injured big leaguers currently on rehab assignments. It looked as though Jacksonville's Jacob Berry had suffered a significant injury when he exited Friday's game early. Fortunately, he returned to the lineup on the day of this report. Aiva Arquette (core muscle surgery) is scheduled to make his 2026 season debut during this upcoming week. For complete Marlins MiLB injury updates, bookmark this page. This week's MiLB schedule Triple-A Jacksonville at Durham Double-A Pensacola vs. Biloxi High-A Beloit at Lake County Low-A Jupiter at Dunedin View full article

Just like in game one at Chavez Ravine last season, the Miami Marlins were walked off by the Los Angeles Dodgers, this time by a final score of 5-4. In the ninth inning, the Marlins led 4-2 and went to their $13M man, Pete Fairbanks. The veteran closer walked both Andy Pages and Dalton Rushing to begin the inning. Shohei Ohtani knocked in a ground-rule double that drove Pages in. With runners on second and third with one out, Fairbanks fell behind 3-0 to Freddie Freeman before intentionally walking him. Manager Clayton McCullough and pitching coach Daniel Moskos made a mound visit together along with head athletic trainer L.J. Petra. After a couple seconds of examination and no throws from Fairbanks, he came out of the game. Miami went to Tyler Phillips, who was given as much time as he needed to warm up. With the bases loaded, he struck out Will Smith swinging. The Dodgers' final hope was their big ticket free agent signing, Kyle Tucker. Tucker shook off his tough start to this season by smacking a base hit to center field on the second pitch of the at-bat, walking it off for the Dodgers. Fairbanks landed only nine of his 23 pitches for strikes. Following the game, Marlins manager Clayton McCullough told reporters in LA that he exited the game with an "unusual sensation" in his right thumb. "He was shaking his hand a little bit and somebody mentioned it's worth to go out there and just take a look and see if there was anything to it," McCullough said. "He did mention something about his thumb, and so at that point definitely you lean on the side of caution and just come in and get him evaluated and see what comes." Going into Monday night's series opener, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto had five consecutive quality starts, but the Marlins offense broke that streak, and the aforementioned Yamamoto turned in his worst start of the season. "We took some really, really close pitches and tough pitches," McCullough said. "(Yamamoto) is going to get some strikeouts, and it's high caliber stuff. For us to get four walks, really make him work, and get his pitch count up and on top of that, to come through with a big hit by Liam, you want to be able to create traffic and stress pitchers, but to be able to come through when guys are on there is what it's all about. As a whole, against one of the best starting pitchers in this league, our guys just grinded out at-bats and gave ourselves some chances. We knew that we got a big hit from Liam, and so they did a nice job against him." Yamamoto, in five innings of work, surrendered four runs (three earned) on five hits and four walks (season-high). In the top of the fourth inning with the bases loaded, Javier Sanoja reached first base on an E6 from Dodgers shortstop Hyeseong Kim, allowing the runner on third, Otto Lopez, to score. In the ensuing inning, Marlins catcher Liam Hicks, who was going into his third at-bat against Yamamoto, took him deep for his team-leading sixth home run of the season. Hicks was able to time up Yamamoto's splitter just right, taking him 348 feet deep to right field at 101.1 mph. Hicks, the former Rule 5 draft pick, is now slashing .311/.350/.544/.894 with six home runs, 27 RBI and a 143 wRC+. Hicks is now second amongst MLB players in RBI and ranked 10th in the National League in slugging percentage. A Dodgers bullpen that entered the series opener with a 4.26 ERA, which is towards the middle of the pack in MLB this season, allowed one hit, which came off former Fish Jake Eder in the top of the ninth inning. Overall, the Marlins went 2-8 with runners in scoring position and left seven on base. Chris Paddack, who made his sixth start of the season, allowed two runs on four hits, one walk and struck out one. Both runs came in the bottom of the first inning. Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman knocked in back-to-back hits, and Teoscar Hernández drove both in on an RBI single. From that point on, he allowed just one more hit in three innings of shutout baseball. In the first, Paddack threw 19 pitches, but overall, averaged about 17 pitches per inning. His fastball was his best pitch on the night, topping out at 95.5 mph and averaged 93.4 mph. He also generated three whiffs with the pitch. The lone strikeout for Paddack came in the bottom of the third inning, when he got Shohei Ohtani to swing on his curveball. "Some tough luck runs in the first, but to hang in there and looking at the way it went, for him to go four innings tonight and to leave with us leading the game, I thought he threw the ball very well again," McCullough said. " He filled it up, mixed speeds very well. That's what I asked of him tonight and he did his part." Paddack, who was set to face the Dodgers lineup for a third time through, was taken out before he had the chance to do so. The Marlins had to use six relievers, with two of them throwing on back-to-back days in Andrew Nardi and Calvin Faucher. With Paddack having only thrown 67 pitches, this is the third recent example of McCullough taking out his starter with a low pitch count despite solid results. He did it with Janson Junk on Wednesday against the St. Louis Cardinals and again on Sunday against the San Francisco Giants with Max Meyer throwing a season-low 77 pitches through five innings of work. "The third time through certainly factored in," McCullough said regarding the quick hook with Paddack. "Chris is a real pro and competitor. He wanted to go back out there and just explained my rationale for why I felt our best path tonight was to turn it over and pass it along...I think each day, I look at what's the best way to win that game." The Marlins are now 13-16 on the season and are tasked with facing Shohei Ohtani the pitcher on Tuesday night at 10:10 pm ET. Janson Junk will take the mound for the Marlins for his sixth start of the season. View full article

As reported on Monday by Fish On First's own Alex Carver and Isaac Azout, first baseman Christopher Morel has completed his rehab assignment with Triple-A Jacksonville and is meeting the team in Los Angeles ahead of their three-game series against the Dodgers. In a corresponding roster move, the Marlins are optioning outfielder Heriberto Hernández to AAA. The club has not yet made the move official. Morel, 26, signed a one-year, $2M deal this offseason. With the 2025 Tampa Bay Rays, he slashed .219/.289/.396/.684 with 11 home runs, 33 RBI and a 90 wRC+. He was designated for assignment at the end of the season and elected free agency. In 16 spring training games, Morel slashed .150/.239/.200/.439 with five RBI. The club's plan was to have him break camp as their primary first baseman, but during batting practice on Opening Day, he suffered a left oblique strain and was scratched from the lineup. He was placed on the 10-day IL a day later. On April 21, the Marlins sent Morel on a rehab assignment with Jacksonville. In four games (including three starts at first base), he went 3-for-14 at the plate. During Morel's absence, Connor Norby has gotten most of the reps at first base. He has a solid 105 wRC+ with mixed results defensively (like Morel, he's brand new to the position). Norby's playing time will likely be reduced moving forward. Heriberto Hernández was the best right-handed hitter on the 2025 Marlins. Splitting time between left field and designated hitter, he was pretty much an everyday player during the second half of his rookie season. However, it has been a completely different story this year. In 22 games before the demotion, he slashed .159/.284/.190/.474 with no home runs, nine RBI and a 44 wRC+. Hernández has improved both his strikeout rate (18.9%) and walk rate (13.5%), but he's been putting more balls on the ground and making weaker contact overall. His production has been equally poor against right-handers (.480 OPS) and left-handers (.467 OPS). The Marlins will be facing three right-handed starting pitchers during the Dodgers series: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani and Tyler Glasnow. Game one is on Monday at 10:15 pm. View full article

It's difficult to hide when you're 6'7" and have a fastball that touches 100 mph, but even the most obsessed Miami Marlins fans may have missed seeing Michael Petersen on the team in 2024. The rookie right-hander made only five appearances for the Marlins that season, all of them in September after they had been eliminated from playoff contention. Claimed off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers, he posted a 4.76 ERA, 3.70 FIP, 4.76 K/9 and 4.76 BB/9. He was waived again at the beginning of the ensuing offseason. In Petersen's second stint in Miami, he is quietly establishing himself as an important piece of the bullpen. Before we get to that, this is a good opportunity to dive into his unusual background. Petersen was born in Middlesex, United Kingdom, located in a historic county in southeast England. He is the only British-born player on an active MLB roster, and the league's first since P.J. Conlon in 2018. Baseball is far down the list of popular sports in the UK, but Petersen's dad loved it and introduced it to the family. As a child, Petersen remembers playing with his twin brother, Thomas, and their friends in the house, creating balls out of wrapping paper and using a cardboard bat. The Petersens moved to California and Michael played at St. Francis High School located in Mountain View, California. That's only about 40 miles south of Oracle Park, where the Marlins are currently playing against the San Francisco Giants. He was drafted four separate times, ultimately signing with the Milwaukee Brewers as a 17th-round pick in 2015. Petersen remains proud of his British roots. He represented his homeland at the 2023 World Baseball Classic and was committed to do so again this year. However, the 31-year-old made the hard decision to sit out the tournament to prioritize making the Marlins Opening Day roster. "I love Great Britain, and I love that team," Petersen told Fish On First. "I wanted to be a part of it, but I have this new pitch that needs to be worked on in front of my team, so I had to make that decision." Team Great Britain went 1-3 and did not advance beyond pool play. "I could've helped," Petersen said. "I was looking at it, and there were games that I wouldn't say they were a pitcher away, but I could have definitely helped. The guys there are still fantastic and I think they were dogs and it would have been nice about to go to battle with them, but making the team was my top priority, and I think being here really did help do that." So far in 2026, Petersen has a 3.38 ERA, 3.43 FIP, 9.28 K/9, 3.38 BB/9 in nine appearances. His average fastball velocity of 96.9 mph leads all Marlins relievers. Opponents are hitting only .136 against his four-seamer with a 28.0% whiff rate. He ranks in the 85th percentile among MLB pitchers with a plus-three fastball run value, per Baseball Savant. Petersen's "new pitch" is his changeup. After throwing only 11 changeups in the majors from 2024-25, he has already tripled that total this season. There's been only one hit off of it so far. "Just something that goes the other way, so I can face both lefties and righties," Petersen said. Petersen collected his first career save on April 8 against the Cincinnati Reds while Marlins closer Peter Fairbanks was on the paternity list. Petersen struck out two in a 7-4 win. "It was awesome just to get that situation," Petersen said after that game. "A lot of trust from my team and my coaches to say 'hey, get out there and see what happens.'" The all-time MLB saves record for a UK-born player is Tom Waddell with 15, so that is potentially within reach for Petersen a few down the road. Petersen has thrown only one inning this week, so there's a high likelihood of him appearing during the remaining two games of the Giants series. View full article

Fish On First can report that outfielder Esteury Ruiz has completed his minor league rehab assignment and will meeting the Miami Marlins in San Francisco for their upcoming series against the San Francisco Giants. According to Marlins.TV's Craig Mish, outfielder Austin Slater is being designated for assignment in a corresponding roster move. The club has not made any move official as of Wednesday evening. Less than a month ago, Slater signed a one-year free agent contract worth $1M. The Marlins valued the 33-year-old's track record against left-handed pitching. Nearly all of Slater's work came versus lefties (26 of 28 plate appearances), but he still struggled, slashing .174/.286/.174/.460 with a 40 wRC+ in 12 games played. Slater is expected to clear waivers. Due to his MLB service time, he has the right to reject an outright assignment to the minors and elect free agency. Mish adds that there was an advance consent clause in his contract. Because the Marlins moved on from Slater within the first 45 days of the season, he will not receive the remainder of his $1M. Ruiz was from the Los Angeles Dodgers acquired via trade in December. He is coming off a 2025 season where he spent most of the time in Triple-A, slashing .304/.412/.511/.923 with 16 home runs, 61 RBI, 63 stolen bases and a 137 wRC+. Those numbers should be taken with a grain of salt given he was repeating the level and played in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. Ruiz owns a lifetime .241/.296/.343/.639 slash line across parts of four MLB seasons. Ironically, the Marlins might not have signed Slater at all if not for Ruiz going down with a left oblique strain near the end of spring training. The injury was supposed to keep him sidelined for 6-8 weeks, but as manager Clayton McCullough said on the most recent Fish Unfiltered episode, "it's been a pretty miraculous recovery." The Marlins' next game on Friday marks five weeks to the day of the injury. Similar to Slater, Ruiz will face predominantly left-handed pitching. He is also a multi-dimensional player because of his elite speed and center field experience. He should make his first start as a Marlin on Saturday when veteran lefty Robbie Ray is scheduled to start for the Giants. A Marlins 40-man spot is now open. The club could potentially go in many different directions with it, the most likely of them being promoting a non-40-man pitcher from Triple-A in the near future. Robby Snelling, who is Fish On First's No. 3 prospect, is off to a dominant start, posting a 1.89 ERA, 2.21 FIP, 14.68 K/9 and 4.26 BB/9 in 19 innings pitched. On the reliever side, Josh Ekness entered the day with a 1.00 ERA, 1.37 FIP, 15.00 K/9 and 4.00 BB/9 in five appearances before allowing three runs this afternoon. Other notable bullpen options include Jack Ralston, Zach Brzykcy and Zach McCambley. View full article

MIAMI, FL — Jakob Marsee entered Tuesday's game struggling at the plate. He came into the game slashing .149/.279/.207/.486 for the season, but has remained in the Miami Marlins everyday lineup. The team's patience with him paid off with a three-hit game despite their 5-3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. There had been positive signs in Marsee's underlying stats. Despite the bad production, the center fielder was walking 14.4% of the time. He ranked in the 90th percentile among MLB hitters in chase rate and 96th percentile in whiff rate. He still has had a good approach, so eventually, the hits were going to fall for him. "It's not like we were waiting on it, but we expect that," said Marlins manager Clayton McCullough. "Marsee is going to string together a good run. He's just too talented offensively. He does too many things well with how he controls the strike zone and I think it was just a matter of time. Hope he can take a night like tonight, where you get three knocks, and be able to build a little steam and move forward. Really good sign again to see him get to some heaters tonight for base hits." Marsee hit his first home run of the season in leadoff fashion. It was also an unorthodox home run trot because he had to start running the bases when the ball was originally ruled to have bounced off the right field wall and stayed in play. He was thrown out at third base by Jordan Walker...until the umpires discussed it and correctly signaled a home run. "Thought it was a home run off the bat," Marsee said. "I saw it hit the wall, but they didn't say anything, so I just kept running. Might as well get a triple, I guess." It's the first leadoff homer for a Marlin since Xavier Edwards on Aug. 13, 2025 at Cleveland. Marsee was previously 1-for-20 when leading off a game. The 110.9 mph exit velocity was a new season-high for Marsee and very close to the best mark from his rookie season (111.1 mph). Marsee had singles in both the bottom of the fifth and ninth, but he was never driven in as the Marlins were 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position (Heriberto Hernández was responsible for that only hit). "We had our chances, we did," McCullough said. "We ran a couple trail runners, ran ourselves into some outs there that you never know what may transpire after that. You're looking to try to give yourselves as many chances you can and we didn't, and we had some guys out there, but we didn't quite cash in." Paddack, who through his last three appearances posted a 2.35 ERA, struggled against the Cardinals, allowing five runs on eight hits, one walk and struck out a season-high seven. The positive from Paddack's start is that six of the seven strikeouts came on his changeup. He mentioned that it was "probably the best it's been all year." His changeup generated seven total whiffs and landed four times for a first-pitch strike. However, things went wrong right away in the top of the first inning. Alec Burleson drove in JJ Wetherholt to take an early 1-0 lead. In the top of the third, Burleson reached on a fielder's choice because Connor Norby aggressively went for the play at home and was unsuccessful, giving St. Louis a 2-1 lead. In the top of the fourth inning, Nathan Church hit his second home run of the season. It was a two-run homer that went 370 feet to right field. A Nolan Gorman base hit drove in the fifth run. "I tip my cap to that offense," Paddack said. "I feel like they put together some really good swings on some tough pitches. I was looking in between pitches with Rob (Marcello) and (Daniel Moskos) there just like, 'Man, that pitch is out of the zone,' or 'That pitch is exactly where we wanted it and they put a good swing on it,' especially Burleson and (Masyn) Winn. That was my game plan, and they were able to beat us to it." Paddack surrendered nine hard-hit balls and the Cardinals combined for a 89.4 mph average exit velocity. Through five appearances (four starts), he has a 6.37 ERA, though his 4.63 FIP, 3.52 xFIP, 9.37 K/9 and 2.25 BB/9 suggest that he has been a little bit unlucky. The Marlins fall to 11-13 on the season and now go into a rubber match with Janson Junk on the mound at 12:10 pm. View full article

For the 2026 season, Fish On First will provide weekly reports on the Miami Marlins farm system, covering all levels. Here's the third edition of our Fish On First Prospects Report, which includes several important injury updates near the bottom of the page. This report covers the games played from April 14-19. Triple-A Jacksonville Although as a team the Jumbo Shrimp are struggling offensively, catcher Joe Mack has begun to heat up, slashing .235/.391/.451/.842 with three home runs and six RBI. He finishes the week as the Fish On First Prospect of the Week. In the series against Charlotte Knights, he hit two of his three jacks. Defensively, Mack continues to impress, throwing out seven base-stealers (30% caught stealing rate) and the Jacksonville pitching staff has a team ERA of 3.17 following Sunday's series finale. Mack has not only established himself as the best catcher in the Marlins organization, but in Minor League Baseball. He is making the case to receive the call-up soon. Fish On First Prospects (@fofprospects) • Instagram photos and videos WWW.INSTAGRAM.COM 58 likes, 1 comments - fofprospects on April 20, 2026: "Mack attack! 🔥 With a standout week at the plate, including two home runs in three games, catcher Joe Mack is our Prospect of the... On the mound, Robby Snelling continues to show why he shouldn't throw another pitch in Jacksonville. In his most recent start, he worked six shutout innings, allowing just two hits and one walk. He struck out nine and lowered his season ERA to 1.89. He is up to 31 strikeouts against just nine walk in 19 innings this season. Snelling's fastball topped out at 96.8 mph and generated six whiffs. Although it has been an inconsistent season for former top pitching prospect Dax Fulton, in his most recent start, he looked like his vintage self, striking out 10 in six shutout innings. He generated five whiffs each on both his curveball and four-seam fastball (12 total between all his pitches). He topped out at 96.6 mph and averaged 94.4 mph with his fastball. Thomas White made his Triple-A season debut. In four innings of work, he allowed two runs on two hits (one home run), no walks and eight strikeouts. His fastball topped out at 96.3 mph, averaged 95.9 mph and he generated two whiffs on the pitch. After some early concerns about his command/control, he put those to rest, at least in this start against a solid Chicago White Sox AAA lineup. Bradley Blalock has impressed with a 2.25 ERA, but also a 4.99 FIP (3.73 xFIP). He has posted a 7.65 K/9 and 2.25 BB/9 in 20 innings pitched. Opposing hitters are elevating the ball quite a bit against the former Colorado Rockies pitcher and there is some clear luck involved. Maybe within time things balance out a bit, but Blalock has shown that he is some solid depth. The one Jumbo Shrimp reliever to highlight from this past week of games is No. 27 prospect Josh Ekness, who through five appearances, has a 1.00 ERA, 1.38 FIP, 15.00 K/9 and 4.00 BB/9. In his most recent appearance, his fastball topped out at 99.1 mph and averaged 97.9 mph. His sweeper also continues to be a good pitch, which generated one whiff in his lone inning of work. Double-A Pensacola Pensacola started to fully find their offensive stride in their series against Knoxville. They won the first game of the series before dropping three straight, including a very close game on Thursday night, then exploded for 20 total runs in the final two games to split the series. They bested Knoxville in run differential, 34-32. After a sluggish 3-for-35 start, Fenwick Trimble’s bat came alive in a big way against the Smokies. In five games, he went 7-for-20 with two doubles, three walks and three strikeouts. Trimble had been struggling with whiffs, his second at the Double-A level after spending 54 games there last season, but that has begun to improve. He’s more of a gap-to-gap type bat, but he owns plus speed that has already allotted him six stolen bases. Historically, he has also been a very patient hitter, having walked at a 16% rate in 2025. If Trimble is starting to get back to those good habits, he profiles as a speedy outfielder capable of playing all three spots and being a catalytic table-setter, or at the very least, a fourth outfielder with value off the bench. A more extended look in the upper minors will tell us more. It’s hard for Dillon Lewis not to make his presence felt when he enters a game, both figuratively and literally. The 6’3”, 205 pound specimen had another impressive series against the Smokies, going 4-for-17 with three extra base hits, including two home runs. He’s currently riding a nine-game on-base streak. As with many power hitters, Lewis has been a bit susceptible to the strikeout, but the whiff rate isn’t egregious, currently sitting at 27%. What’s more is that Lewis has also shown a pretty good eye at the plate, having walked at a 12% clip. His approach entails working counts, forcing pitchers into the zone, and letting natural tools do the rest. When Lewis makes contact, the ball travels very far. Monitoring the consistency of those contact rates as he continues in the upper minors will be our M.O. as we determine how close to his very high ceiling he can get. My opinion? Bet the over. High-A Beloit After a tough start to their series against South Bend, the Sky Carp ended their series in exciting fashion, throwing a combined no-hitter, the team’s first since being affiliated with Miami and their first overall since 2017. They still lost the series four games to two, though, and head to Lake County still looking for their first series victory of the season. Pitching has struggled mightily as a whole for Beloit. Even after their no-no, the club owns a 5.81 ERA, third-highest in the Midwest League. Their 82 walks are second most on the circuit. Aiden May started the Sky Carp’s no-no on Sunday and worked six complete frames on two walks, a hit batter and five strikeouts. This outing came after he worked into the sixth in his last start and came within one out of posting a quality start. This outing, the best of his career, had to feel good for May, who missed the entire first half last season due to an elbow procedure. He also did not throw after being drafted in 2024. Behind schedule due to that missed time, May is starting to show what he is capable of when he has everything working. He isn’t going to light up scoresheets with strikeouts, but he pitches to contact well with a 93-95 mph sinker. His best pitch is a sweeper, which has divebombing action. His changeup, which is his work-in-progress pitch, also looked good in this start, flashing good fade in to same-side hitters. There’s reliever risk with May because he throws with effort and hasn't demonstrated that he can handle a substantial workload, but if he can build off his last two outings and continue to throw well, he still has the ceiling of a back-end rotational piece. Another pitcher that stood out for Beloit in this series due to a plus raw stuff profile and due to starting to show better control was lefty reliever Justin Storm. He pitched a total of five scoreless innings in the series, including the final three of Sunday’s no-hitter. He put control woes in his first two outings of the season behind him and recorded five strikeouts to just one walk while allowing just one hit. At 6’7”, 232, Storm has a lot of moving parts and a large frame to control, but when he is doing so, these are the exports. His best pitch is a wipeout slider which he combines with a fastball that sits 94 and can touch 96. He experienced a velo bump last year, helping his cause en route to saving nine games in 12 chances for the Sky Carp. If Storm can stay repeatable, he has the ceiling of a high-leverage reliever. He’s also proving that he’s capable of tossing multiple innings effectively. Low-A Jupiter Carter Johnson hit his second home run of the season this weekend, improving his season slash line to .224/.361/.429/.790 with two home runs and eight RBI. The biggest concern remains his 35.1% strikeout rate that he had going into Sunday. Johnson may not amount to much, but his start to the season is encouraging given his struggles last season. Jake McCutcheon, a 10th-round pick from Missouri State in the 2025 MLB Draft, wrapped up the week with a two-homer performance and is now slashing .231/.404/.436/.840. With High-A Beloit lacking outfield depth right now due to injuries, McCutcheon could be promoted soon if this hot streak continues. On the mound, Keyner Benitez made his second start of the season against the Palm Beach Cardinals, going five innings, allowing two runs on one hit (home run) and struck out eight. His fastball topped out at 97.1 mph and averaged 94.8 mph. He generated six whiffs on his changeup and three of his eight K's came on that pitch. Walin Castillo tossed five innings of shutout baseball, allowing three hits, no walks and struck out four. Castillo's fastball topped out at 96.4 mph, averaged 94.5 mph and generated four whiffs. Castillo's performance is worth taking with a grain of salt because he had 135 ⅔ innings of Low-A experience prior to this season. Nate Payne, who the Marlins selected in the 18th round of the 2024 draft, is off to a great start. Through three appearances (two starts), Payne has a 1.50 ERA, 1.76 FIP, 18.75 K/9 and 5.25 BB/9 in 12 innings pitched. Most recently, Payne went four innings, allowing one run (unearned) on two hits, walked four and struck out a career-high 11 hitters. Payne's fastball continues to be a dominant pitch, generating 14 whiffs and accounting for 10 of his 11 strikeouts (all swinging). Injuries/Rehab Maximo Acosta (oblique strain) was reinstated from the injured list and optioned to Jacksonville on Monday after a three-game rehab assignment. Esteury Ruiz (oblique strain) will continue his own assignment for at least two more games, while Christopher Morel (yet another oblique strain) plays his first game with the Jumbo Shrimp on Tuesday. Will Schomberg (Pensacola) was removed from his last start after just two innings. He will undergo Tommy John surgery, sources tell FOF, sidelining him for the rest of 2026 and part of 2027. Dillon Head remains active for Beloit, but has not played since April 11 due to an unspecified issue. For complete Marlins MiLB injury updates, bookmark this page. This week's MiLB schedule Triple-A Jacksonville at Gwinnett Double-A Pensacola at Montgomery High-A Beloit vs. Great Lakes Low-A Jupiter vs. Daytona View full article

On April 21, 2025, Agustín Ramírez began his major league career with high expectations. He was arguably the top position player prospect in the Miami Marlins organization, with an impactful bat that could be plugged into the middle of the order, plus the ability to play catcher on a part-time basis. Tuesday marks one full year of the "Gus Bus" experience. It has been a mixed bag. For starters, Ramírez has been durable. With few exceptions, the Marlins have started him as their designated hitter on days when he isn't catching, using him in 158 total games. That easily leads the team over the past calendar year (Otto Lopez ranks second with 145 games). Ramírez also has the most plate appearances (676) and runs scored (83) since debuting, trailing only All-Star Kyle Stowers in home runs (23). However, the overall quality of his hitting has been below average. Ramírez's career slash line of .230/.288/.408/.696 with a 90 wRC+ (100 represents league average). The results are pretty much the same regardless of whether he's facing left-handed or right-handed pitching. Ramírez offers an exciting combination of raw power and contact ability. He has one of MLB's fastest bat speeds and a career strikeout rate of 19.8%. His career hard-hit rate is 45.3%, similar to the likes of Marcell Ozuna and Teoscar Hernández. Even with a full year body of work, it's fair to say that Ramírez has been the victim of bad luck. Hitters with his batted ball quality usually perform well on balls in play, but his career BABIP is only .255, which is 36 points below the league average during that span. He should see some improvement moving forward, especially if he reduces his ground balls. Ramírez has been worse than replacement level according to both Baseball-Reference (-0.6 bWAR) and FanGraphs (-0.1 fWAR), and that is mainly because of his defense. Used exclusively as a catcher, Ramírez has totaled minus-16 defensive runs saved and minus-14 fielding run value. He leads MLB catchers with 13 errors and 22 passed balls since the start of 2025. There have been 100 stolen bases with him behind the plate compared to only 10 runners caught stealing, as his pop time is inconsistent and he frequently mishandles the ball when transferring it from his glove. While some of these weaknesses are physical, Ramírez told Fish On First earlier this month that "the mental side has been the biggest thing for me" regarding the transition from the minors to the majors. Marlins manager Clayton McCullough insists that there have been "real strides" made by the 24-year-old since his rookie season. "I think all the work he put in this offseason has continued to put, it's showing." Ramírez has also added a bit of value with his usage of the new ABS challenge system, overturning 14 balls into called strikes on 21 challenges (a 66.7% success rate). Unfortunately, big mistakes overshadow his small improvements. On this homestand alone, Ramírez effectively lost the Marlins a game on Friday when he was unable to make a catch in the 10th inning, and his poor blocking allowed the St. Louis Cardinals to manufacture runs on two separate occasions during's Monday game (which Miami won). With terrific catching prospect Joe Mack on track to reach the majors this summer, Ramírez is certain to see a more limited workload defensively. The question will be whether his bat heats up enough to still keep him in the lineup on a daily basis. View full article

Following his strong start on Monday, Marlins right-hander Max Meyer speaks with the media about his comfort level with his sweeper and how he'd evaluate his 2026 season thus far. View full video

MIAMI, FL — Max Meyer has been perhaps the most consistent Miami Marlins starting pitcher this season. On Monday night against a St. Louis Cardinals team that is off to a hot start, he turned in his best start so far in a 5-3 win for the Marlins. Meyer struck out a season-high eight in 5 ⅓ innings of work. He allowed two runs on three hits and walked two. "It was really his whole mix," said Marlins manager Clayton McCullough. "Certainly the slider goes into games, and even though the sweeper, the velocity at which he's able to throw those pitches kind of gets different movement on it. Some get a harder, more straight down; the sweeper has a little more horizontal. I thought his changeup was really good, especially in the middle innings, to be able to go to that pitch as well, even right-on-right to give him a different look. He used his fastball well today." In addition to the strikeouts, Meyer also fielded three grounders, singlehandedly recording 11 outs on a night when he faced 23 total batters. His 63.6% ground ball rate was another season-high and the fifth-highest of his career. Meyer is most known for his slider, but his sweeper had the higher usage against St. Louis (32%) and was responsible for eight of his 17 whiffs. It's a weapon he has been developing since 2025. "One of my biggest pitches now. Grades out the best, I'm pretty sure," Meyer said regarding the sweeper. "I'm glad I can locate it with two strikes and get strikes with it, go back door with it, throw it in 3-2 counts and 0-0 counts. I'm just comfortable with the grip and the movement on it, and it's going to be a big pitch for me the whole season." Now through five starts, Meyer has a 3.96 ERA, 3.49 FIP, 10.08 K/9 and 3.96 BB/9. Prior to this season, his career averages were a 5.29 ERA, 5.20 FIP, 8.46 K/9 and 2.89 BB/9. "I've made some good starts every time, giving the team a chance to win," Meyer said regarding his season as a whole. "Every time I go out there, obviously, I think it's just a couple things every game that make me mad personally, but I can never be mad when I leave the game with the team in a good spot, so that always keeps me going in the next day.." Agustín Ramírez's defensive woes continued with Meyer on the mound. In the top of the fourth inning, after Jordan Walker extended his hit streak to 15 games, he stole second base uncontested because Ramírez dropped the ball on the transfer. Walker then advanced to third on a blockable wild pitch. That allowed Masyn Winn to hit a sac fly and give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. The second run charged to Meyer was also aided by Ramírez. In the top of the sixth inning, Calvin Faucher inherited a runner on first base, who moved to third following a Masyn Winn single. Once again, a ball deflected off of Ramírez's glove for what was ruled a wild pitch, allowing the runner to score and tie the game. Miami's offense didn't get things going until the bottom of the fourth when unconventional cleanup hitter Xavier Edwards hit his fifth double of the season. Although Ramírez may have struggled behind the plate, he did make it up by hitting his second home run of the season off of Cardinals starter Michael McGreevy. The ball left the bat at 111.8 mph and went 411 feet to left-center field. The launch angle on Ramirez's home run was 17 degrees, the lowest for any MLB home run this season. In the bottom of the sixth, the Marlins retook the lead for good. Otto Lopez had an RBI double and Liam Hicks collected an RBI single. Hicks provided some insurance for Miami with another RBI single in the eighth. Not only is he tied for the MLB lead with 21 RBI this season, but his 6.3% strikeout rate is the second-lowest mark behind former Marlin Luis Arraez. The Marlins are well-represented in the National League batting title race. Edwards (.341 BA), Hicks (.338 BA) and Lopez (.337 BA) trail only Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Andy Pages (.370 BA). Pete Fairbanks, who notched his fourth save of the season, allowed one run, a sac fly from Ramón Urías. He struck out Thomas Saggese and José Fermín to end the game. Unable to win any of their previous five series, the Marlins have an opportunity to end that streak on Tuesday night with Chris Paddack on the mound at 6:40 pm. View full article