Kevin Barral

When it comes to prospects, we focus so much on the tools that these players have and what they project to become at the major league level. However, there is something to be said for the guys who actually produce on the field while moving through the minors. These are the Miami Marlins minor leaguers who most deserve recognition based on their 2023 numbers. All stats updated entering September 15 (the MiLB regular season isn't over yet for Triple-A Jacksonville and Double-A Pensacola) International Player of the Year: Andres Valor Signing out of Venezuela for $520k, Valor has gotten off to a great start to his young pro career. Slashing .294/.360/.466/.825 with five home runs, 25 RBIs and a 116 wRC+, Valor is only 17 years old. Something to note is that outfielder was helped by a .377 BABIP, which will be difficult to maintain at higher levels against improved fielders. It's important for him to reduce his strikeout rate a bit against right-handed pitching and put more balls in play. Valor was also an easy choice given the fact that the rest of the 2023 signing class has been underwhelming for the most part. Most Surprising Player: Will Banfield Ever since being drafted by the Marlins, Banfield has struggled offensively, never coming anywhere close to a wRC+ over 100 at a full-season level. There were positive signs late in the 2022 season after he earned the promotion to AA Pensacola. Banfield stuck at the AA level this season and proved that his strong finish was more than just a hot streak. Currently slashing .262/.305/.477/.782 with 23 home runs and 75 RBIs along with great defense, he leads the Blue Wahoos in hits and total bases. The 23-year-old has figured out how to consistently lift the ball and let his strength do the rest. The concern that I have with Banfield is his aggressiveness at the plate. There is still plenty of swing-and-miss to his game and very few walks. It's unclear how that approach will translate as he moves up. It's no secret that the Marlins have gotten terrible production from their catchers in the majors. Banfield is someone who will be competing for a spot on their 26-man roster come 2024 spring training. Underrated Prospect of the Year: Javier Sanoja Javier Sanoja has put up one of the best offensive seasons in the Marlins farm system, yet he doesn't get talked about accordingly. The speedy Sanoja began the season with the Jupiter Hammerheads and was promoted to High-A Beloit in August. He finished the season slashing .298/.348/.388/.736 with four home runs, 67 RBIs and 37 stolen bases. Just as impressive, he did that while playing premium defensive positions, mostly center field and shortstop. In the spirit of fellow Venezuelan Luis Arráez, Sanoja struck out at a 7.0% rate at both levels, which was amongst the lowest in the minor leagues. Undrafted free agent Jake Thompson also deserves a shoutout here. He has a 151 wRC+ at High-A and Double-A combined. Top 2023 Draftee: Noble Meyer The start-to-start improvement we have seen from Marlins first-round pick Noble Meyer is impressive. After a rather shaky pro debut, Meyer's pitch count has gone up after each start. In his latest start, which was a Jupiter Hammerheads playoff game, the right-hander tossed 3.2 IP where he didn't give up a hit and struck out two. For the most part, his fastball velocity has been in the mid-90s and he already has a lot of confidence in his breaking balls. Meyer feels that getting ahead in the count is something that he wants to improve, which comes down to fastball location. Sixth-round pick Jake DeLeo also made a strong case to win this award. Pitcher of the Year: Patrick Monteverde With Eury Pérez heading to the big leagues and other Marlins pitchers with the highest ceilings getting limited workloads, the clear candidate to win the award is Pat Monteverde. Posting a 4.18 ERA through AA and AAA (122.2 IP), Monteverde was especially dominant during the first half of the season. Even with limited fastball velocity, Monteverde has been able to find his success by generating a lot of soft contact and swing and miss. Expect Monteverde to begin the 2024 minor league season with the Jumbo Shrimp. There were two relievers in the minors who really stood out as well: Anthony Maldonado (1.72 ERA and 73 K in 47.0 IP) and Luarbert Arias (1.87 ERA and 77 K in 57.2 IP). Hitter of the Year: Troy Johnston This was an easy choice. Troy Johnston's first stint with AAA Jacksonville didn't go well, so he was asked to repeat Pensacola in 2023. After he slashed .296/.396/.567/.963 with 18 home runs, 83 RBIs and a 151 wRC+ down there, the lefty bat earned another promotion to the Jumbo Shrimp. So far through 43 games played at the highest minor league level, Johnston is slashing .339/.407/.560/.967 with eight home runs and 32 RBIs. On top of what he has done with the bat, he has been even better on the basepaths, accomplishing the first 20/20 season for a Marlins prospect since 2008. https://fishonfirst.com/farm/troy-johnston-20-20-season/The 26-year-old really has nothing left to prove in the minors now that both his power and speed have taken steps forward. Having a player like Johnston on the current Marlins roster could help out their offense. Instead, it seems that he'll have to wait for 2024 to compete for a spot.

After three years without appearing in a professional game, Miami Marlins prospect Sixto Sanchez threw one inning at the AA level on Tuesday night. The Marlins acquired Sanchez in February of 2019 from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for catcher J.T. Realmuto. After a superb rookie season in 2020, he has been marred by injuries ever since. In his one inning of work on Tuesday, Sanchez allowed one hit, one walk, and struck out two. When it came to velocity, Sanchez topped out at 88 mph on his fastball. But for the majority of his outing, he went with off-speed pitches, which generated a few whiffs. After inducing a weak grounder to short, Sanchez then struck out Cal Conley after beginning that sequence with a slow curveball at 73 mph. After a failed bunt attempt, he got another swing and miss with the off-speed pitch, giving him his first professional strikeout in three years. Sanchez then gave up his first walk after the strikeout and then gave up a sharp single to Drake Badlwin, which put runners on first and second with two outs for Jesse Franklin. He began that sequence with a curveball for a strike that was a lot faster than the 73 mph pitch that he threw to the previous batter. After Franklin fouled off the second pitch, Sanchez threw another breaking ball down which got the hitter to whiff and end the inning. Although his reduced velocity is a concern—his fastball used to sit in the high 90s before the injuries—this is a huge milestone for the Dominican right-hander. Getting into his first professional game since spring training of 2021 and being able to have success with the two strikeouts and the scoreless inning was big. It is not certain when Sixto Sanchez will pitch again, but he will most likely have a bigger workload as he goes.

The Miami Marlins had the opportunity to complete a three-game sweep of the LA Dodgers on Thursday night. Unfortunately, Ryan Pepiot was magnificent through seven shutout innings to help the Dodgers salvage a game against Miami, beating them 10-0. Thursday's starter for Miami was Braxton Garrett, who didn't have his best stuff. In 3.2 IP, Garrett walked three, struck out four and gave up one earned run on three hits. He also hit a batter. The Dodgers made him work, which is why he was taken out with two outs in the top of the fourth with 91 pitches. Aside from using the slider just a bit more than the sinker on Thursday, Garrett went with his usual arsenal which also included the cutter. What hurt Garrett was his lack of command and a pesky Dodger lineup. They worked a lot of deep counts, especially in the fourth when Austin Barnes and Miguel Rojas both worked seven pitch at bats. Before Barnes and Rojas, Kiké Hernandez worked a 10 pitch plate appearance which resulted in a walk. "Brax just couldn't put anybody away," said Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker. "They kept fouling pitches off and long at bats and just couldn't only put anyone away, but put it in play. He only gave up three hits one run, but his pitch count just got way too high and couldn't let it go any further." Garrett reiterated Schumaker's point. "They had really good at-bats. Feel like I found myself a lot of times in great counts and then I just struggled getting out of at-bats. They're fouling off a ton of balls off cutter and tried to sink them. Just couldn't put them away." The one run that Garrett surrendered came in the top of the third inning when designated hitter, Will Smith, drove in Miguel Rojas with the bases loaded and one out. Garrett was replaced by J.T. Chargois, who punched out Mookie Betts to end the threat in the fourth. After reliever J.T. Chargois did his job, the Marlins went with long man George Soriano to start the fifth, where things got ugly. The Dodgers pounded him for six hits and five earned runs, knocking him out of the game after only recording four outs. One of the five runs came from Freddie Freeman's 52nd double of the season, which tied a Dodger franchise record for most doubles in a season. On that double, with Mookie Betts on first, the ball boy mistakingly picked up the live ball. At the umpires discretion, he allowed Betts to score anyway. The last time the Marlins faced starting pitcher Ryan Pepiot, he tossed five innings, struck out five and only gave up one run on three hits. This time around, he was even better. Pepiot retired the first 19 batters he faced, flirting with perfection in South Florida. It was broken up by first baseman Josh Bell, who drilled a clean single up the middle. Pepiot would complete the inning, going seven strong while striking out three. Pepiot, who for the most part has a high strikeout rate, didn't strikeout too many guys, but generated a lot of weak contact, which allowed him to work quickly and efficiently. "The changeup gave us trouble all night," said Schumaker. "We couldn't lay off of it. We swung out of the zone, couldn't hit it when it was in the zone and just kind of back and forth with the fastball at the top and then with a changeup. Kind of tunneling it and we just couldn't lay off it. We knew coming in that he had a good changeup, we faced him at their place, but it was just in the strike zone so long and just fell out in the bottom out towards the end and we just had a tough time laying off the pitch." The Dodgers would go on to score four more runs to make it a 10-0 Dodgers win. First, Chris Taylor drove in Max Muncy on an RBI double. In his next at bat, Taylor crushed a three-run homer to give them the 10 runs. Garrett suffered his eighth loss on the season while Pepiot earned his second win. The Marlins now travel to the city of brotherly love to face off against the division rival Philadelphia Phillies. Eury Pérez will take the mound for game one for Miami as Cristopher Sanchez goes for the Phillies. Game begins at 7:05 pm EST.

Marlins rookie infielder Xavier Edwards talks to Fish On First's Kevin Barral about returning to the majors, how he changed his hitting approach this season, what he can learn from teammate Luis Arraez, where he's most comfortable defensively and more. Subscribe to the FOF YouTube channel and turn on notifications so you don't miss any of our player interviews!

After taking a crucial game one against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the vibes around the Miami Marlins were high as they beat one of the best teams in baseball and had won five in a row overall. But prior to Wednesday's game, they learned that both Sandy Alcantara and Jorge Soler had placed on the IL. Despite the deflating news, the Marlins still had a game to play. The Marlins went with JT Chargois as the opener and decided to go with a fairly traditional bullpen until the top of the fifth inning, which is when they went with Edward Cabrera who took most of the workload. The only run that the Dodgers scored against the Marlins first three pitchers was a Jason Heyward solo homer which A.J. Puk surrendered. That was the ninth home run that Puk surrendered. Heyward's only two hits against left-handed pitchers this season have both been home runs. Dodgers led, 1-0. The bottom of the fifth inning saw two unlikely candidates spark the offense against Lance Lynn. First, Jacob Stallings led the inning off with a 102.5 mph double which was followed by a Joey Wendle 105.5 mph homer to right field to put the Marlins ahead, 2-1. Prior to Wendle's homer, he was slashing .095/.136/.143/.279 in his last 10 games, so if someone needed a big at bat, it was the slumping Wendle. "He's been fighting," said Skip Schumaker. "Every day, he was trying to get back on track and obviously not where he's wanting to be. This part of the season, you can throw all that stuff away and know that we're trying to get to where we want to get to with 20-something games left and so he's out there trying." The home runs didn't end there. After Wendle's home run, Luis Arráez and Jake Burger worked walks to get on base. Cleanup hitter Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a three-run homer to left field and the Marlins led, 5-1. That was Chisholm Jr.'s 16th home run of the season. "Sometimes when you hit a couple of home runs, you start to overswing," said Skip Schumaker. "I still feel like he's taking good at-bats and not overswinging. He's got enough twitch and enough talent. He doesn't need to create more and I think he's starting to understand that." After Bryan De La Cruz popped out, Jesús Sánchez followed him up and his a solo homer 441 feet into the second deck and that extended the Marlins lead, 6-1. That was Sánchez's 14th home run of the season. Back-to-back singles brought to you by Xavier Edwards and Jacob Stallings (bunt single) set up a Joey Wendle RBI single which was then followed by a Luis Arráez RBI double. Marlins took a 9-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. That huge bottom of the fifth by the Marlins set a season high for runs scored in an inning. The Marlins final two runs of the game came thanks to Joey Wendle and pinch-hitter Yuli Gurriel, who both had RBI doubles. That gave the Marlins a 11-1 lead. Edward Cabrera, who was making his first appearance back after being sent down to AAA Jacksonville, looked great. Cabrera struck out eight hitters through four scoreless innings of work and only walked two batters, which occurred in his first inning. https://mlb-cuts-diamond.mlb.com/FORGE/2023/2023-09/06/225c5817-15f90093-5bf97eb4-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_16000K.mp4After the initial control issues, Cabrera attacked the strike zone a lot more in his start, throwing more than two-thirds of his pitches for strikes. He got ahead in the count a lot, which was a key factor that led to him generating swing-and-miss outside the zone for K's. Postgame, when speaking to Cabrera, he really emphasized that what he was working on in AAA translated to his appearance. The Marlins ended up winning the game by a final score of 11-4. Bryan Hoeing entered the game in the ninth and gave up a couple of runs, including a home run to James Outman. The Marlins go for the sweep on Thursday with Braxton Garrett on the mound for Miami. Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images

Near the conclusion of Sandy Alcantara's start against the Washington Nationals on Sunday, the 2022 NL Cy Young award winner felt discomfort in his throwing arm. It could prove to be the conclusion of his 2023 season. As first reported by Craig Mish of SportsGrid, Alcantara suffered a right forearm flexor strain. The Marlins placed him on the 15-day injured list prior to Wednesday's game. https://fishonfirst.com/news/tracking-miami-marlins-injury-rehab-updates/"Personally, I feel good, but at the same time, I feel sad," said Alcantara just a couple minutes after the news was announced. "I [have to] be shut down for a couple of days. I don't like to stop working, especially working out there with my teammates, but I feel bad about it." Alcantara has posted a 4.14 ERA and 4.03 FIP through 184.2 innings pitched. Although he didn't look like his 2022 self, he was still providing a lot of length (including three complete games), which is something the Marlins really valued with a bullpen that has been burnt out this season. There isn't a clear timeline for Alcantara's return yet. He will be undergoing further tests to determine the severity of the injury. In his absence, the Marlins will need to get "creative" with their rotation plans, said manager Skip Schumaker. He name-dropped Bryan Hoeing and newly recalled Edward Cabrera as part of that group effort. Reliever JT Chargois is serving as an opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday, and Schumaker did mention that there will be another opener used soon. Alcantara's IL stint is retroactive to September 4. That means even in a best-case scenario, he will miss at least 13 of Miami's 24 remaining regular season games, including series against the Philadelphia Phillies, Milwaukee Brewers and Atlanta Braves. The first day he is eligible to be reinstated is September 19 against the New York Mets. Photo courtesy of Jeremy Taché/Bally Sports Florida

Troy Johnston slimmed down entering this season, determined to be a better baserunner without sacrificing any power. All that work has paid off. On Sunday, he became the first Marlins minor league player since 2008 to have 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in the same season. After beginning in AA Pensacola (repeating the level he played at for most of last year), Johnston was promoted to AAA Jacksonville and has continued to produce. Across both levels, he is currently slashing .314/.404/.572/.976 with 24 home runs and 20 stolen bases. Compare that to the 2019, 2021 and 2022 seasons where he combined for 32 homers and 11 steals. "I am proud of that accomplishment of course, but it was a testament to how much I was willing to change to find success," Johnston told Fish On First just a day after reaching the milestone. "Of course disappointed with my original placement after Spring Training, I decided I needed to get better in every avenue I was lacking including defense and baserunning and I’m happy with how my coaches have worked with me on becoming a more well-rounded player." The more surprising part of the first baseman's 20/20 milestone is the stolen bases, especially his efficiency (only caught once in 21 attempts). "Basestealing-wise, I have always been nervous about it," said Johnston. "But trial and error has been my best friend and being sneaky about it. Running at the right time with the right jumps because I am not a burner by any means. Talking to other good base-stealers like Nasim Nuñez and JD Orr, I learned a lot from what they did and tried to do it myself. Seems to work okay so far." Johnston had already established himself as a talented hitter, but the amount of over-the-fence power that Johnston has shown this season is another big change. He credits his new mechanics for that. "I think the boost in power came from my swing change on trying to cut down my leg kick more and more because I was not on time with the fastball a significant amount of the time. It made for much more consistent contact on all pitches." At the AAA level this season, aside from the addition of the pitch clock and the ban of the shift, there is the automated ball-strike system (ABS). Offensive numbers have gone up significantly in the International League as a result, but Johnston's .356/.423/.583/1.006 slash line is still 51% better than league average in terms of wRC+. The 26-year-old is facing competition that's the same age as him and dominating to the same degree he did at AA. With this new power and speed combining with Johnston's great plate discipline and contact skills, he is doing everything possible to earn an opportunity in the majors. The Marlins currently find themselves in the thick of a playoff chase and a bat like Johnston's could help an offense that has had its ups and downs. Even including their successful series against the Nationals, Miami ranks 29th among MLB teams in runs scored since the All-Star break. Although Johnston knows that he is extremely close to the major league level, he doesn't allow that to distract him. "As of right now, I’m focusing on being the best Jumbo Shrimp I can be, but being a late-inning lefty bat for a pinch-hit opportunity or as a backup first baseman behind Bell is where I see myself. Being a lefty bat, I feel as though I bring some versatility because we have a mainly right handed lineup. But I don’t worry about that too much because you definitely want to be where your feet are in this game." AAA Jacksonville has three series remaining in the regular season (18 total games). If Johnston isn't called up, at least he has an outside shot of reaching 30 homers (six away) and challenging the franchise's single-season MiLB RBI record (21 away from tying it).

MIAMI -- It's fair to say that Jesus Luzardo is back. On Wednesday night, he went six innings, struck out eight and surrendered only one hit to All-Star Yandy Diaz. Instead of going to his usual fastball, the Venezuelan went to his changeup more on Wednesday, which has been his third most used pitch this season. "Zeus was incredible tonight," said Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker. "I thought [Nick] Fortes did an incredible job as well, behind the plate blocking the balls [with runners] on second and third, and he was throwing slider after slider and Nick was working his tail off." For the Rays was Zach Eflin, who was every bit as dominant as Luzardo tonight. He went 6.1 innings, struck out four, gave up four hits and no runs, improving to 13-8 on the season. Eflin, who received the largest free agent contract in team history, went with his three usual pitches: sinker, curveball and cutter. Although he was unable to get many whiffs, he was able to generate a lot of weak contact that resulted in quick outs. "Just being able to throw strikes, get ahead of guys," said Eflin when he was asked what was working for him. "Keeping my balance, mixing up pitches. CB (Christian Bethancourt) was once again awesome behind the plate." Something to note is that in the bottom of the fifth inning, with Yuli Gurriel at the plate and Jesus Sanchez on second base, Gurriel hit a foul ball that went deep into the right field corner and Sanchez didn't attempt to tag and go to third. It ended up being moot, but Skip was asked about it postgame. "Yeah, he should tag, didn't do anything but yeah, it should have happened. We talked about it and he understood," said Schumaker. Gurriel later grounded out which moved Sanchez to third base, but Rays catcher Christian Bethancourt picked Sanchez off. "We know Bethancourt has an absolute cannon behind there and when there's a left-hander up, that could be a call play all the time, and I think it looks worse when you don't score," said Skip. After a back and forth between both teams pitching staffs, the Rays struck first in extra innings. With a man on second base, Jonathan Aranda moved up the base-runner with a single and then Josh Lowe hit the game-winning RBI single to drive in Jose Siri. Although that was the Ray's winning run, they extended their 1-0 lead thanks to a Randy Arozarena two-run single that drove in both Aranda and Lowe to give Tampa a 3-0 lead in the top of the tenth. "We had some good at bats all the way through," said Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash. "They pitched really really well. Luzardo was spot on. Fortunately for us, Efllin kinda went toe-to-toe with him and did the same thing." David Robertson pitched the ninth inning in what was his first appearance since Saturday's meltdown against Washington. He came into a tie game rather than a save opportunity in the top of the 10th inning where things unraveled for him. "It's frustrating," said David Robertson following the game. "I've said many times I really don't like the new rules in baseball, I think they should wait till the 12th inning to do that, but that's the game we're playing right now. Siri is a fast runner. Those guys put three ground balls and we ended up with a loss." With the Marlins loss, they now drop to a game under .500 at 66-67. The last time the Marlins were under .500 was on May 25th when they were 25-26. They now head to Washington D.C. to face on the red hot Washington Nationals. Eury will take the mound on Friday. Game Notes: After his fourth strikeout of the game, Jesus Luzardo passed Dontrelle Willis for the second-most by a Marlins left-hander in a season in franchise history with 171.Andrew Nardi left Wednesday's game after he was struck by a 99.6 MPH comebacker by Harold Ramirez. X-rays were negative and he hopes to avoid the IL.Miami lost the season series to Tampa 3-1 as their Citrus Series struggles continue.

On Monday in Miami, the Jazz Chisholm Jr. held a launch party for The Jazz Chisholm Foundation, his new non-profit. Attendees included teammates Josh Bell, Jake Burger and Jonathan Davis, Miami Dolphins stars Bradley Chubb and Brandon Jones along with former major leaguers Felix Hernandez, Yonder Alonso and Yoenis Cespedes. "They are like the greatest human beings I've met," Chisholm Jr. told Fish On First about Bell and Burger, both of whom were acquired via trade earlier this month. "Every day they come to the clubhouse, they come in, they share their support. I've just had two aunts pass and they've had my back through both deaths. I'm in tears because they're telling me that it's gonna be okay. These guys are closest to me right now, I'd say. Especially going through a playoff chase, we basically live together, we see each other on off-days." For Jazz, this is a moment that has been in the making for four years now. "I would say like we were just waiting till the time that we could actually make it happen and establish, to be able to do this at home. To share with the community in South Florida, because I grew up in both places. So for me, it means a lot." When preparing to launch this foundation, Jazz really looked to rap artist Snoop Dogg for inspiration. He wanted to model his non-profit off of that to benefit youth athletes and their families. "It was more of watching other celebrities or athletes do it," said Chisholm Jr. "Like what Snoop Dogg is doing in California right now with his Peewee league football teams and you see all the kids that feed off of that. I didn't have that growing up. It was a real struggle to get where I'm at. I don't want the kids to go through that." In addition to fellow pro athletes, Chisholm Jr. estimated that more than 50 of his friends and family members were expected to show up at the launch. He joked about some of them arriving later than the event's scheduled start time ("we're from the Bahamas"). Along with providing kids with baseball equipment, the foundation will also establish organized youth leagues in the Bahamas. Chisholm Jr. will be directly involved a good amount when he is able to do so. Photo by Isaac Azout/Fish On First

Coming off a rough road trip, the Miami Marlins offense was once again silenced by an opposing starting pitcher. Washington Nationals starter Joan Adon, who entered Friday's game with a 7.00 ERA, went six scoreless innings and held Miami without a hit for most of his outing on the way to a 7-4 Nats win. Braxton Garrett quietly had another quality start despite giving up three runs. He struck out three, didn't walk anybody and allowed seven hits. For the most part, Garrett's velocity was up just a tick and he leaned on his sinker/cutter combo, which we have seen at times this season. One thing that Garrett wasn't able to do was get enough whiffs on any of his pitches. The first run that Garrett gave up came in the top of the first inning. CJ Abrams got a base hit and moved his way up thanks to a Lane Thomas groundout and then stealing third. That led to a Joey Meneses RBI groundout and a 1-0 Nats lead. The last two runs Garrett gave up came thanks to a recently called up Carter Kieboom. He hit a two-run homer in the sixth to give the Nationals a 3-0 lead. That was Kieboom's second home run of the season and it left the bat at 104.9 mph and went 409 feet. Visibly frustrated at the end of his outing, Garrett slammed his glove onto the Gatorade cooler in the Marlins dugout. This is the second game in a row that a Marlins pitcher has taken out their frustrations in that manner. "It felt to me like I needed to have a shutdown ending there," said Garrett following the game. "I got two pretty quick outs and then the unfortunate dribbler down the line, and looking back on it, I feel like it was a ball that I could have possibly gotten, and then the home run. So yeah, just the results. That frustrated me, but I got to do better with that." Like Sandy Alcantara in the Marlins' previous game, Garrett received no run support while he was on the mound. The Nationals later extended their lead by adding on three more runs to make it 6-0, but in the bottom of the seventh, the Marlins began their Miami Magic comeback attempt. After back-to-back singles from Jake Burger and Bryan De La Cruz. Jesús Sánchez hit a two-RBI triple to drive them both in and give Miami their first runs of the game. Nick Fortes drove in Sánchez with an RBI double to make it 6-3 and a Jazz Chisholm Jr. RBI fielder's choice drove in Fortes to give the Marlins their fourth run. Although Joan Adon wasn't very overpowering by any means, he was able to generate a lot of soft contact and quick outs. This was Adon's fourth game of the season in the majors and his ERA went down from 7.00 to 5.25. The Miami offense combined for a total of eight hits and four runs. Manager Skip Schumaker acknowledged that the offense just cannot get to starting pitchers lately and also mentioned that a big reason for this loss was struggling against Adon. "We got to figure out a way to attack that starting pitcher," said Schumaker following the game. "Kind of dug ourselves a little bit into a hole with not getting any hits. Honestly, that's exactly what happened until the sixth inning or so, but you know, we got to figure out how to attack that starter. We did a good job coming back fighting back against Mason Thompson, but we kind of dug ourselves into a hole." Unfortunately, the Marlins were unable to get anything going after the four-run inning and the Nationals were able to add on one more run to make it 7-4. The Marlins dropped game one of the three-game set to the Nationals. On Saturday, Eury Perez will take the mound against fellow rookie right-hander Jake Irvin. Top photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images

Isaac Azout and Kevin Barral are joined by new Miami Marlins slugger Josh Bell! Bell dishes on the start of his professional baseball career, the emotions of being traded three separate times, the experiences of playing with Juan Soto and playing against Sandy Alcantara, and why he signed with Cleveland instead of Miami in free agency. Please excuse the beeping in the background of the recording and enjoy episode #47! Subscribe to the Fish On First YouTube channel to watch video versions of every Fish Unfiltered episode. The Marlins acquired Bell from the Cleveland Guardians on trade deadline day in exchange for Jean Segura and Kahlil Watson. Since being added to the active roster on August 2, he has started all 14 of the team's games slashing .309/.377/.636 (172 wrc+) with five home runs. Although an unconventional trade, the Marlins' interest in the first baseman didn't come out of nowhere. Bell confirms that they were among the teams who pursued him in free agency last year. But with one young child to care for and a second one on the way (eventually born in June), his wife, Arlia, encouraged him to sign with the Guardians so that they could live near extended family. At the time of his arrival in Miami, it was assumed that Bell would be exercising his $16.5 million player option for the 2024 season. While that is still the most likely outcome, his recent excellence has opened up the possibility of him electing free agency again this winter in pursuit of a lucrative multi-year deal. On the pod, Bell was reluctant to criticize any of the MLB ballparks for that reason. Follow Kevin (@kevin_barral), Isaac (@IsaacAzout) and Fish On First (@FishOnFirst) on Twitter. Complete Miami Marlins coverage here at FishOnFirst.com. Our Fish On First podcast programming includes The Offishial Show, Fish Unfiltered, State of the Fish, Swimming Upstream, Fishology and What a Relief. All new episodes are posted to FishOnFirst.com/podcasts. You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Podbean, Megaphone or wherever you normally get your pods from.

Jesús Luzardo struggled right from the get-go on Wednesday night. The Marlins offense did their best to keep things interesting after his early exit, but the Astros struck again with another rally in the seventh inning to put the game out of reach. Luzardo surrendered three home runs in the top of the first to Alex Bregman (solo homer), Kyle Tucker (solo homer) and Chas McCormick (two-run shot). Each home run that Luzardo gave up came on a different pitch type. He then gave up an RBI double to Mauricio Dubón, which made it 5-0. "Just a loss of feel for some stuff," said Luzardo following the game. "Maybe slightly mechanical, maybe slightly tipping pitches. Couldn't be a mixture of things. I think after the first inning, we figured it out and then the next two-and-a-third were better." Luzardo has had only one quality start in six tries since the All-Star break. On the bright side, the Marlins were able to get to future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander. After back-to-back singles from Luis Arráez and Josh Bell, Jake Burger came to the plate and drove both of them in with a double that left the bat at 108.5 mph. https://sporty-clips.mlb.com/63e07d41-87e7-4555-9166-2372ec724aee.mp4"I thought we stayed on the slider really well," said Schumaker. "Burger, just hard hit after hard hit, really stayed on the slider as good as anybody tonight. Bell with some really good at-bats as well, stay down on the changeup. His changeup is really good. He throws a curveball at the top of the zone, which is very rare for a lot of pitchers and tunnels that fastball at the top and then the curveball at the top as well. It's hard to hit, but I felt like we did a really good job of staying on top of the baseball." In the bottom of the fourth inning, Miami Magic made another appearance. Jon Berti grounded into a force out which scored Burger, but shortstop Jeremy Peña made a bad throw to first when attempting to complete the double play. That allowed Jesús Sánchez to score and made it a 6-4 game. Just an inning later, the Marlins scored their fifth run of the ballgame off of Verlander. After Burger got his third hit of the night, Bryan De La Cruz drove him in to make it a one-run game. That would be Verlander's final inning of work. This was the most success that the Marlins have ever had against him as they got to him early and were able to stay aggressive. Verlander recorded only three swinging strikes. What was at the time a close game took a huge turn in the top of the seventh inning. Reliever Jorge López gave up six runs (two of those inherited from Andrew Nardi) to make it a 12-5 ballgame. A Mauricio Dubón sac fly, José Altuve bases-loaded walk, a Bregman double and a Tucker single produced those runs. López's final line was 0.1 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 0 SO (23 NP) "The command wasn't there, that's what we saw," said Skip Schumaker following the game. "He just didn't have a feel for the slider and sinker was kind of missing on the the glove side. Put him in there to try to get a ground ball and get out of that inning." The Marlins were unable to get anything else going after that disaster and they would go on to drop the series finale by a final score of 12-5. Luzardo takes the loss and Miami finishes the homestand with a 3-3 record. The Marlins now go on a west coast trip to take on the red-hot Los Angeles Dodgers and the struggling but talented San Diego Padres. Isaac Azout will have coverage of games one and two of the Dodgers series and all three games of the Padres series. Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images

After taking two out of three games against the New York Yankees, Miami welcomed the 2022 World Series champion Houston Astros, one of the hottest teams in baseball since the start of the second half. After Braxton threw five shutout innings, Miami was able to put the game away late thanks back-to-back-to-back homers and secure Monday's series-opening win. For Marlins starting pitcher Braxton Garrett, it was a weird but fairly successful start for him in several ways. He utilized all six of his pitch types, mainly his sinker and slider, limiting Houston to no extra-base hits. But what stood out is he only struck out one batter compared to two walks. This was the first time all season that Garrett had more walks than strikeouts, and he became the first Marlins starter since Henderson Alvarez (2013) to go five scoreless innings or more while only striking out one batter. Garrett's lone strikeout victim was Jake Meyers on the slider. "Didn't have my best stuff tonight, but me and Nick (Fortes) battled hard," said Garrett following the game. "We didn't shy away, we knew we didn't have our best stuff, but we just made pitches and had a lot of defenders in the right position tonight for sure." Garrett generated five groundouts (one of those being a double play) and three flyouts. You can argue that he was a bit lucky tonight—Garrett's FIP was 4.07 and seven of the batted balls against him were hard-hit (95+ mph exit velocity). "He grinded through that one," said Marlins manager Skip Schumaker. "Probably didn't feel like he had his best stuff. Didn't have all his pitches working. Was kind of fighting himself, but for him to get through five innings with no runs and get double plays at the right time was big for him and for us." The Marlins' first run of the game was thanks to a Jon Berti RBI double that drove in Nick Fortes, who led the inning off with a double of his own in the bottom of the third. Berti then stole third and scored himself on a Martin Maldonado passed ball . Miami took a 2-0 lead and never looked back. Relievers Andrew Nardi, Jorge López and Tanner Scott limited the Astros to only one run. The Astros had their opportunities, but went 2-for-12 hitting with runners in scoring position. For the first time since 1998, the Marlins went on a back-to-back-to-back homer streak. It began with Jorge Soler taking Framber Valdez deep to left field. The ball left the bat at 109.6 mph and went 387 feet into the air. That was Soler's 29th home run of the season and it gave Miami a 3-1 lead. Following Soler, was Luis Arráez, who actually called his home run before his at-bat. Arráez took Valdez 367 feet deep off the right field foul pole. The ball left the bat at 103.2 mph for Arráez's fifth homer of the season and his second of this homestand. The third and final home run of the sequence was from Josh Bell, who was celebrating his 31st birthday. The Astros made a pitching change and brought in former Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Hector Neris. "Have faced Neris a few times in my career," said Bell after the game about his former NL East rival. "Just back when he was with the Phillies. Got to see the splitter up. You can't try to do too much with a fastball, but he's got cut to the fastball so you got to stay short to it. I just went through that first splitter." That was Bell's 16th home run of the season and it extended Miami's lead to 5-1, which would be the final score of the game. Despite this not being a save situation, Miami still went with David Robertson to finish the game out. Miami now improves to a 63-57 record while the Astros drop to 68-52. For the Marlins on Tuesday, Johnny Cueto takes the bump while a struggling Cristian Javier goes for the Astros. Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images