Kevin Barral

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

After taking a crucial series in Cincinnati, the Marlins flew home to face the world-famous New York Yankees in a three-game weekend set. Unfortunately for Miami, the Yankees offense got to Jesús Luzardo early and took Game 1. Final: 9-4, Yankees. Although Luzardo was able to work his way out of a scoreless first inning, it was evident that he was going to be in trouble given how the Yankees were working so many deep at-bats. Both Judge and Torres worked full counts. In the top of the 2nd, the middle of New York's order put a crooked number on the board. Following back-to-back singles from Giancarlo Stanton and Harrison Bader, Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe crushed a 3-run home run on a 2-2 count. Luzardo left a middle-middle fastball over the plate for Volpe to ambush, which made it 3-0 early. Luzardo would go on to allow four more runs which included an Aaron Judge solo home run, Osvaldo Cabrera RBI single, Isiah Kiner-Falefa RBI single, and a Gleyber Torres RBI single to give the Yankees a 7-2 lead. Luzardo would leave after 3.1 IP with George Soriano assuming mop-up duty. From the get-go, Luzardo wasn't attacking the strike zone as much which led to those 3-2 counts and eventually walking batters. He also didn't get a single whiff on the fastball, which is unusual for Luzardo. Luzardo finished his night in the top of the third with only one out. He struck out two (matching a season low), walked one, gave up nine hits, two home runs, and seven earned runs (a season high). His next start is slated to be against the Houston Astros. "Second inning was missing location of the fastball was up and out over and the slider he just spun in the dirt a lot more than he is used to," said Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker following the game. "Thought his changeup was actually good but the yeah, the fastball location was just a little bit off, up and out over and it didn't really generate swing and miss and it's kind of the story of the game." Luzardo added: "I felt like I was searching with it. For the most part with all my pitches, just felt like probably not the best mechanics, really out of whack and then the slider definitely wasn't there. So I had to rely heavily on the other two pitches." Miami did get some runs on the board thankfully. After Jazz Chisholm Jr. got a hit, Jesús Sánchez drove Chisholm Jr. in with an RBI triple. That was Sánchez's first triple of the season and it made it a 3-1 game. Miami was able to make it a one-run deficit thanks to an RBI double by Jake Burger who easily drove in Sánchez. The ball left the bat at 112.8 MPH and that was his 18th double of the season. 3-2, Yankees. After Luzardo ended up giving up four more runs, the game was at 7-2. After Bryan De La Cruz worked a walk, Jake Burger drove him in on an RBI double. Although he was unable to top his previous exit velo, he was able to get his 19th double of the season and the Marlins third run of the game. Miami's fourth and final run of the ballgame came thanks to Josh Bell who hit a solo home run to the second deck in right field. The ball left the bat at 107.9 mph and went 407 feet into the air. That was Bell's 15th home run of the season. Since joining the Marlins, Bell has hit four homers. Although the Marlins at times were able to keep up with the Yankees, they just seemed to take off in the 9-4 defeat. Game Notes: Aaron Judge's 22nd home run of the season actually marks his first home run at loanDepot park. Well, his first regular season home run there—he put on a show in Miami during the 2017 Home Run Derby.Josh Bell joins Hee-Seop Choi, Derrek Lee, and Jesús Aguilar as the only first baseman to have the most home runs in their first nine games to kick off their Marlins tenure.The Marlins projected to have crowds of over 30,000 per night for this series and they cleared that threshold on Friday, though most were rooting for the visiting team. Photo by John Brophy/Con Las Bases Llenas

For the first time since 1997, the Miami Marlins enter a regular season matchup against the New York Yankees with a better record than them. Miami currently has a 60-56 record, which puts them in the third NL Wild Card spot, while the Yankees find themselves out of the AL Wild Card with a 59-56 record, five games back of the closest spot. The three-game set between them begins at LoanDepot Park on Friday. Game 1 Fish on First Media: Kevin Barral (@kevin_barral) & Isaac Azout (@IsaacAzout) Gametime: 6:40 p.m. Pitching matchup: Randy Vásquez vs. Jesús Luzardo The series opener may be the most favorable for the Marlins given that the Yankees are expected to recall an inexperienced rookie from the minors to start. In Luzardo's last start, he went 5 1/3 innings, struck out eight, walked two, but gave up four runs on six hits and three home runs. His only career appearance against the Yankees came in 2021 as a reliever while he was still with the Oakland A's—this time around, it is a different Luzardo who has grown and improved. In three MLB starts this season, Vásquez has allowed only two total runs (1.17 ERA). He most recently pitched in Triple-A on August 2, striking out a season-high 11 batters in six innings. Game 2 Fish On First Media: Alex Krutchik (@AlexKrutchikFOF) & Nick Turok (@Nick_0305_) Gametime: 4:10 p.m. Pitching matchup: Nestor Cortes vs. Sandy Alcantara The last time Alcantara faced the Yankees, he went seven innings, struck out 10, walked one and didn't allow a single run on two hits. To say that Alcantara has dominated this lineup before is an understatement. The 2022 NL Cy Young award winner is coming off a strange start against the red-hot Texas Rangers—he had good control and struck out seven batters, but he got burned by three home runs. Hialeah native Nestor Cortes has yet to face the Marlins in his career, but when fully healthy, he is one of the best pitchers in the AL. This season, Cortes got off to a rocky start and missed all of June and July due to a left rotator cuff strain. Cortes made his return from the IL last week where he four innings, struck out eight, walked one, and only allowed one run, which was a home run. He didn't allow a hit aside from that. Game 3 Fish On First Media: Louis Addeo-Weiss (@addeo_louis00) & Noah Berger (@Trainboy100) Gametime: 1:10 p.m. Pitching matchup: Gerrit Cole vs. Eury Pérez Eury Pérez rejoined the Marlins rotation this past Monday against the Reds. Eury struck out seven, walked two and gave up four runs on five hits. For Pérez, it'll be interesting how he handles the Yankees lineup and see what adjustments he makes to his pitch mix usage, which has changed from start to start. Gerrit Cole has had himself a Cy Young-caliber season. In his last start, Cole went seven innings, struck out three, walked two, but gave up four runs on five hits. For Cole, this is a great opportunity to have a rebound start against a Miami lineup that has struggled at times, especially throughout the second half of the season. Giancarlo Stanton returns to Miami (again) One of the greatest players to ever wear a Miami Marlins jersey is back. This season, Stanton is slashing .204/.278/.463/.741 with 18 home runs, 44 RBIs and a 98 wRC+. These are Stanton's worst stats as a New York Yankee, although he does have his best strikeout rate since the trade (24.4 K%). A big issue for "Big G" has been his health. He can't move like he used to and in fact, he has cautious about running with too much effort that could risk causing him to hurt himself once again. Throughout his Marlins tenure, Stanton slashed .268/.360/.554/.914 with 267 home runs and 672 RBIs. Although there will be mixed emotions when it comes to Stanton's return, it is worth mentioning how good he was as a Florida and Miami Marlin. 2003 reunion This weekend, the Marlins will be celebrating their 2003 World Series victory against the Yankees. The Marlins typically bring in two alumni for each Flashback Friday home game, but this time around, the organization decided to go bigger with a handful of '03 alumni: Josh Beckett, Carl Pavano, Jeff Conine, Derrek Lee, Mike Lowell, and Juan Pierre. There will be a pregame ceremony hosted by Bally Sports Florida's own Tommy Hutton. There will be a pregame picture and autograph section at the Marlins Museum beginning at 5:00 p.m. and then there will be a Q&A session which goes from 5:45-6:15 p.m. Close to soldout crowds expected Given the popularity of the Yankees, there will be crowds of up to 30,000 fans and maybe even more. To ensure that parking and the flow of traffic is as efficient as possible, there will be a Marlins transportation hub in Downtown Miami at the Government Center. Parking will be $15 and then the shuttle is free to and from the ballpark. Gates for all three games will open two hours before first pitch, which means fans will be able to watch Marlins and Yankees batting practice, which is sure to be a home run derby with Stanton and Judge. For the fans that are of age to drink, there will be a "Teal beer" that runs from when the gates open until the second inning at a special price of $3. Coverage Make sure you follow @FishOnFirst on Twitter for all of your Marlins coverage throughout the entirety of the three game set and make sure to tune in to Fish On First LIVE one hour before the start of each series.

As part of a news series, I'll be writing an article whenever the Miami Marlins make a flurry of minor league transactions. That way, the audience becomes more familiar with the players involved and what consequences their new assignments may have on other prospects in the system. Griffin Conine to AAA-Jacksonville After spending close to two full years with the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, Griffin Conine earns the promotion to AAA-Jacksonville. In that time, he hit more career home runs than any player in Blue Wahoos history. This season, Conine is slashing .253/.370/.493/.864 with 18 home runs, 62 RBIs and a 126 wRC+. The Jumbo Shrimp have a crowded outfield, but Conine should get a good amount of starts in the corner spots as well as DH. The concern with Conine is the strikeout rate, but thankfully, it is currently the lowest it's been since joining the Miami Marlins organization. Davis Bradshaw to AA-Pensacola With Conine heading over to AAA-Jacksonville, that opened a spot on the Pensacola roster, which was given to Davis Bradshaw. This season, the Marlins' 2018 11th-round draft pick is slashing .317/.387/.410/.797 with three home runs, 30 RBIs and a 129 wRC+, which is more than deserving of a promotion. He makes his Blue Wahoos 2023 debut on Tuesday where he is hitting ninth and is the designated hitter. Expect him to get some reps in the corner outfield spots, too. Patrick Monteverde to AA-Pensacola After allowing 13 earned runs in his last start with the Jumbo Shrimp, Patrick Monteverde has been sent back down a level to Pensacola. In just two games with Jacksonville, Monteverde had a 15.58 ERA and 10.06 FIP and gave up a total of 15 earned runs. It's not so much that the Marlins are overreacting to a small sample, but they have to make room in Jacksonville's starting rotation for Edward Cabrera and Ryan Weathers. With the return of Eury Pérez to Miami, there is a spot waiting for Monteverde to show that his outstanding first half of the season was no fluke. Javier Sanoja to High-A Beloit Low-A Jupiter stats: .308/.356/.400/.756 with 57 RBIs and a 107 wRC+ A player who has received more attention as the season has progressed is Javier Sanoja. Playing primarily shortstop and center field this season, Sanoja played every single for the Hammerheads until now. He has put up a .308 batting average along with a 7.4% strikeout percentage this season. Just as Ely Sussman had mentioned a while back, Sanoja stands out because of his great bat-to-ball skills, and that is a big reason why he is making his way up to Beloit. /farm/javier-sanoja-low-strikeout-rate/After the trade of Kahlil Watson to Cleveland, there's an opening at shortstop for the Sky Carp, which is where Sanoja played in his debut on Tuesday. Jacob Miller and Holt Jones reinstated from the IL Jacob Miller 2023 stats: 4.65 ERA, 4.26 FIP, 7.08 K/9, 3.98 BB/9, 40.2 IP (FCL/Low-A) Miller, who was the Marlins' second-round pick in 2022, has had his ups and downs thus far throughout his minor league career. With the Hammerheads last season, he was great in the small sample size that we saw. Although Miller is sporting a high ERA this season, the FIP is a little bit lower, which gives hope that he will be alright. Holt Jones 2023 stats: 8.05 ERA, 38.0 IP (FCL/Low-A/High-A) Jones is one of the players who has struggled throughout his minor league career thus far, mainly due to control problems. Let's see if the 24-year-old can get something going and eventually earn his way back up to Beloit. Chris Mokma to High-A Beloit Mokma has been at this next level before, but struggles haven't allowed him to find a clear home. The promotion back to High-A is more about a team being in need of pitching than about Mokma having performed well this season, because that is not the case. This season, the Marlins' 12th-round pick in the 2019 MLB Draft is sporting a 6.31 ERA through 35.2 innings pitched. When he was with Beloit earlier in the season, his ERA was over 10. Other moves: LHP Caleb Wurster transferred to High-A BeloitRHP Collin Lowe transferred to Low-A JupiterRHP Jake Walters transferred from AAA-Jacksonville to AA-PensacolaTommy Nance beginning a rehab assignment with AA-Pensacola (previously was at Low-A)RHP Jake Schrand placed on the 7-day IL (Low-A Jupiter)

Just mere hours after the Miami Marlins suffered their third loss in a row, Craig Mish of SportsGrid broke the news that the Miami Marlins have made the decision to recall Eury Pérez from AA-Pensacola. He's expected to start Monday's series opener in Cincinnati. This season at the big league level, Pérez is sporting a 2.36 ERA, 3.70 FIP, 10.29 K/9 and 2.87 BB/9 in 53.1 IP. He was called up previously on May 10 and made a total of 11 starts before the Marlins sent him down to manage his workload. The 20-year-old had already surpassed his previous career high for innings pitched in a single season. However, he was the best pitcher in their rotation at the time. The decision to send down Pérez has really hurt the team's 2023 playoff chances. The Marlins have a 7-16 record since optioning him. Edward Cabrera briefly took over the open starting rotation spot, but struggled so much with his control that he's been demoted to AAA-Jacksonville. Most recently on Saturday, the Marlins had to go with a George Soriano-led bullpen game (another loss). In Pérez's absence, the Marlins bullpen has repeatedly given up late leads, ranking last in the majors in win probability added during that period. Even though that's not directly related to him, having the young phenom back in the rotation would allow guys like Soriano and Bryan Hoeing to focus fully on relief work instead of being stuck in between two different jobs. Bringing up Pérez is a panic move and goes against what the Marlins originally planned. Craig Mish reported earlier in the week that the team had him on track to possibly return for the Aug. 11-13 series against the Yankees, which would have allowed him one more minor league start to build back up to his regular range of 80-90 pitches. His most recent appearance was on Tuesday against the Biloxi Shuckers where he threw only 63 pitches (3.1 IP). As much as the Marlins are trying to protect Eury, their handling of him just feels irresponsible to a certain degree. Giving him a midseason break from competitive pitching disrupted his routine, and now he's being rushed back into the rotation with the pressure of turning around a team that's in a free fall. For the near future, it appears that the Marlins rotation will consist of Pérez, Sandy Alcantara, Jesús Luzardo, Braxton Garrett and Johnny Cueto. Photo by Sam Navarro/Getty Images

Jupiter, FL—On a hot Saturday morning, Miami Marlins first-round draft pick Noble Meyer made his pro debut. The goal for Meyer was to go two innings, but he finished one out shy of that. There were still a lot of positives to take away from his start in the Florida Complex League. Meyer definitely had full control against the FCL Mets in the first inning where he struck out fellow first-round pick Colin Houck and then Dariel Gomez. In the second inning, there were signs of fatigue as he began losing his control, causing a walk and a base hit that led to his removal from the game. Meyer threw 35 total pitches. "I've had better days," said Meyer following the game. "Fastball command wasn't there, especially early in the count and then gotta get ahead. So I can say that was really happening today. The first time I've been in a game since June 2, so it's been two months. You could say it's to be expected, but I'm a little glad it didn't go perfectly so I got something to build off of. I got things to work on and I dealt with some form of failure one way or another. So kind of a step in the right direction." "I've only thrown bullpens for 20 pitches," Meyer added. "So once I hit that 20-pitch mark, and I'd also thrown a pregame bullpen a little longer than what I've been used to in the past few weeks. As soon as I get stronger—I'm 195, almost 200 pounds now—so build that up to 215 to 220, I should be able to maintain control and velocity throughout the nine innings." Although we saw Meyer's pitch arsenal on display, he mainly stuck to his fastball and curveball. According to my colleague Alex Carver, Meyer's fastball sat between 92-95 mph and the curveball was around 78-79 mph. His other two pitches, the changeup and sweeper, were both sitting at 85 mph. Meyer also mentioned how he wants to improve on getting first-pitch strikes. "Want to work on strike one," said Meyer. "Especially with the fastball. Man, I don't think I threw a single fastball for a first-pitch strike, but I had two curveballs out of the zone, two or three first pitches for strikes. So I think that's big because I can't rely on throwing a curveball first pitch every time and then the big thing they preach here is get two (strikes) out of three, the first three pitches (of the count)." Meyer's next start is expected to be next Saturday at Jupiter. His pitch count might go up from where it was in his debut, but he is being built up gradually, so don't expect anything close a full-length start.