Kevin Barral

Marlins right-hander Janson Junk speaks with the media after making his season debut on Tuesday. Junk's average fastball velocity was the highest of his MLB career. View full video

MIAMI, FL — Every time that the Miami Marlins have held a late-inning lead so far this season, they have secured the win. That was the case again Tuesday night in what turned out to be their most lopsided game yet, a 9-2 defeat of the Chicago White Sox. Janson Junk turned in a solid start, but the Marlins bullpen handled the majority of the workload. That unit has now combined for a 0.51 ERA—the lowest in the majors—while striking out hitters 38.1% of the time. "They've come out of the gate and really thrown the ball extremely well," said Marlins manager Clayton McCullough. "I think each guy that's been called upon in whatever capacity role that is thus far, they have just answered the bell, and they really filled the strike zone up. When you have good stuff and you throw a ton of strikes, limit the free pass late in games, you have a chance to go on some runs like this." Andrew Nardi, Anthony Bender, Calvin Faucher and Pete Fairbanks were the relievers used on Tuesday night, combining for a final line of 4 ⅔ innings pitched, zero hits, zero runs, one walk and eight strikeouts. Fairbanks led the way, striking out the side in the top of the ninth inning. Nardi, the first reliever deployed after Junk was taken out of the game with one out in the top of the fifth inning, struck out both Munetaka Murakami and Andrew Benintendi swinging with his slider to end the inning. Through 1 ⅔ innings of work in 2026, Nardi has struck out four and only allowed one hit. Once the lane of left-handed batters ended with one out in the sixth, Bender entered the game. Bender, who doesn't often go multiple innings, had to on Tuesday because Tyler Phillips and Lake Bachar were not available. He tossed 1 ⅔ innings of hitless baseball, only allowing a walk, but also struck out one. Faucher, who followed Bender, struck out two in his clean inning of work. Fairbanks entered to close things out despite it being nowhere close to a save situation. He had last thrown on Saturday, the second game of the season. It only took the former Tampa Bay Ray 15 pitches to finish the game, the most he's thrown as a member of the Marlins. "We had stretched some guys the last few days, and we had a few guys that were on back-to-backs that we wanted to stay away from today," explained McCullough. "Having Pete throw today and staying away from Phillips, he comes back tomorrow, we are hit with much more length and just gives us some more options tomorrow by doing that." Although veteran Chris Paddack struggled on Monday night in his organizational debut, he saw enough from the White Sox offense to where he was able to help out Janson Junk. Making his first start of the 2026 season the day after, Junk tossed 4 ⅓ innings, allowing two runs (both in the third inning) on five hits, walking one and striking out one. "He selflessly came up to me and just broke down what he thought he saw, and I really appreciate that from him, just about his mentality and what went on in that one inning," Junk said. "That moment when two guys get on, base hit and you can feel it go in the other direction, I reflected back on what (Paddack) told me: 'just keep pitching with conviction and don't let up.' (Pitching coach Daniel Moskos) coming out, that was good mound visit, and then I was able to refocus and then get out of there with limited damage." Junk's fastball, which averaged around 93.6 mph in 2025, saw an increase in velocity, topping out at 96.5 mph, averaging a career-high 95.4 mph. His secondary stuff—specifically the slider and changeup—looked good, generating four whiffs each. He also induced a 53.8% ground ball rate, which was the third-highest of his Marlins tenure. "Overall, Junk was great," McCullough said. "The velo he had on the fastball and his ability to hold that velo from pitch one to roughly when he got to in the high 70s, it was nice. With that type of velo, throwing some two-seamers running in just keeps things open away for his breaking stuff. There's some good changeups and the crispness with some of his sliders that he threw with the type of velocity he had. Big spot there in the third and he got a few ground ball hits and they get a couple runs. But for him to leave some guys out there, keep the game where it was, a big part in the game." The Marlins offense was hitless through the first three innings. It wasn't until the fourth inning that they not only notched their first hit of the game, but took control of the game by rallying for four runs. Xavier Edwards got things going with a base hit, followed by a 105.4 mph double from Agustín Ramírez, moving Edwards to third. Liam Hicks, who has gotten off to a hot start this season, drove both of them with a double, tying the game, 2-2. Owen Caissie, another Marlins who has gotten off to a great start, drove Hicks in on an RBI single (and moved to second on the throw), taking a 3-2 lead. Heriberto Hernández extended the lead with an RBI single. In the bottom of the seventh, a Graham Pauley fielder's choice drove in Hernández and then Jakob Marsee drove Griffin Conine in on a sac fly, extending the lead to 6-2. In the bottom of the eighth, Conine hit his first home run of the season off of Jedixson Paez, a two-run homer. The ball left the bat at 107.3 mph and went 405 feet to right field. Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E CWS 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 3 MIA 0 0 0 4 0 0 2 3 - 9 9 0 With the win, the Marlins are now 4-1 on the season and will look to take their second straight series on Wednesday with Sandy Alcantara taking the mound for a 1:10 pm first pitch. View full article

Marlins right-hander Chris Paddack speaks with the media to assess his rough outing on Monday against the Chicago White Sox and how he expects to rebound from it. View full video

Hours after the Miami Marlins completed a series sweep of the Colorado Rockies, president of baseball operations Peter Bendix went right to work adding to his roster. The club announced on Sunday night that they've acquired infielder Leo Jiménez from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for infield prospect Dub Gleed and $250k in international bonus pool money. Francys Romero was first to report the full transaction. Jiménez, 24, played a total of 26 games during the 2025 minor league season where across three levels, he slashed .296/.404/.370/.774 with seven RBI and a 122 wRC+. He also saw 18 games at the big league level, but struggled, posting a -19 wRC+. Jiménez had a longer run in the majors in 2024, where in 63 games he slashed .229/.329/.358/.686 with four home runs, 19 RBI and a 101 wRC+. The 24-year-old right-handed hitter is a glove-first player. He spent most of his minor league career at shortstop, but also has played second base. The Blue Jays designated Jiménez for assignment prior to Opening Day because he is out of minor league options. As for Gleed, the Marlins selected him in the ninth round of the 2024 MLB Draft. In his first full professional season, he slashed .252/.391/.347/.737 with two home runs, 26 RBI and a 124 wRC+ with nearly as many walks (43) as strikeouts (48). Recently highlighted on an episode of Fish Unfiltered, he was set to begin this season with Double-A Pensacola. To clear a 40-man roster spot for Jiménez, the Marlins DFA'd right-handed reliever Garrett Acton. He made his organizational debut on Friday, working a scoreless inning for Triple-A Jacksonville. The Marlins will still need to make a corresponding 26-man move prior to Monday's game. View full article

Marlins catcher Liam Hicks speaks with the media following Saturday's game about catching Eury Pérez's quality start and mashing his first home run of the season. View full video

Marlins outfielder Owen Caissie speaks with the media following Saturday's game. Caissie has gone 4-for-8 at the plate with a clutch RBI single through his first two games of the season. View full video

Just called up by the Marlins on Saturday, first base prospect Deyvison De Los Santos speaks with the media about receiving the big news and developing a more mature approach over the past year. View full video

MIAMI, FL — Earlier this month, Liam Hicks and Owen Caissie were teammates on Team Canada during the World Baseball Classic, helping their country advance to the quarterfinals. On Saturday afternoon, they shared the field as Miami Marlins players for the first time and made a massive impact, combining to drive in four runs to defeat the Colorado Rockies, 4-3. Miami’s starting catcher for this game, Hicks’ sac fly in the bottom of the third inning tied the game early, 1-1. Hicks also hit the team’s first home run of the 2026 season, taking Rockies starter Michael Lorenzen deep for a two-run homer that re-tied the game, 3-3. Hicks, a former Rule 5 draft pick, played in 119 games last season where he slashed .247/.346/.346/.693 with six home runs, 45 RBI and a 98 wRC+. Prior to the game, McCullough was asked about Hicks, saying he "is going to have a really nice year." "Historically, he has always controlled the strike zone, makes a ton of contact and he moves the ball all around the field. I think we've seen him make a real commitment to moving faster, stronger and building a bigger engine. Now, the type of contact he's making, you get a little bit more output, pulling the ball in the air, trying to get to some power and don't think that's going to take away from his ability to hit. Think that there's a lot more untapped in Liam from an offensive perspective, and it starts with some really good ingredients under the hood." Fish On First (@fishonfirst) • Instagram photos and videos WWW.INSTAGRAM.COM 54 likes, 0 comments - fishonfirst on March 28, 2026: "Liam Hicks delivers the moment ?⚾data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==️... You couldn't ask for a better start to a Marlins career than the one Caissie has gotten off to, going 4-for-8 with two RBI and only two strikeouts. On Friday night, Caissie hit a 104.1 mph RBI double to get the Marlins on the board for the first time in 2026, and on Saturday, along with hitting a 111.7 mph double in the bottom of the second inning, Caissie drove in the Marlins go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth inning. Scoring that run was Otto Lopez, also a member of Team Canada in the past World Baseball Classic. "I was swinging at pitches pretty outside and high," Caissie said. "I just called time, gathered my thoughts and just stuck with my plan of staying on the fastball and I got one. It was really just trying to move Otto over to third and it went up the middle instead." Caissie is already showing the power that he possesses, hitting three balls over 100 mph in just the first two games of the season. He was the centerpiece of the Edward Cabrera trade return and was coming off a season in Triple-A where he hit 22 home runs and posted a 139 wRC+. He is Fish On First’s No. 4 prospect, but will be graduating soon. Sandy Alcantara, who started on Opening Day, and Eury Pérez, who took the ball on Saturday, are the fourth pair of Marlins starters to open a season with back-to-back starts of at least seven innings. The others are: Josh Beckett and Brad Penny (April 6-7, 2004); Ryan Dempster and A.J. Burnett (April 2-3, 2002); and Kevin Brown and John Burkett (April 1-2, 1996). "Helping them shorten the game with how effectively they threw and early on now we got some relievers who are probably chomping at the bit to get in. We can save some innings and appearances from those guys right now. It's going to pay dividends as we continue to go along. I think the length they gave us, but the quality of that length as well." Pérez, who went seven innings, allowing three runs on five hits (two home runs), one walk and struck out eight. The 22-year-old's fastball hit 100 mph on four separate occasions, topping out at 100.4 mph. His fastball generated six total whiffs and five of the eight strikeouts came on that pitch. This offseason, Pérez added a sweeper, which he threw nine times, and generated four whiffs on that pitch, striking out Kyle Karros swinging in the top of the fifth inning. Overall, the young starter threw six different types of pitches, generating a whiff at least once on all of them. Last season, Pérez only completed seven innings once, which came on 7/13/25 against the Baltimore Orioles. With no restrictions now a year removed from undergoing and rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, Pérez was able to complete seven innings of work in his first start of the season. "This is going to be a very important year for me because there's no limits," Pérez said. "Higher pitch counts, working deeper into games and being able to help that bullpen. I take a lot of pride in that." For a second straight day, Pete Fairbanks came in to close things out, only needing to throw nine pitches. TJ Rumfield popped out, Ryan Ritter struck out swinging and Brenton Doyle flew out. Fairbanks fastball topped out at 98.1 mph and he struck Ritter with a cutter. Fairbanks became the second pitcher in Marlins history to record a save in each of his first two appearances with the club, joining Armando Benítez, who recorded a save in each of his first six appearances with the club from April 6-15, 2004. The undefeated Marlins have begun a season 2-0 for the first time since 2014. They will look for the series sweep against the Rockies on Sunday as Max Meyer will make his first start of the 2026 season, going opposite of left-handed starter José Quintana. Deyvison De Los Santos, who the Marlins called up after Christopher Morel landed on the 10-day IL, will make his MLB debut at first base. First pitch is at 1:40 p.m. View full article

MIAMI, FL — Just like last year, the Miami Marlins collected an Opening Day win, but Friday's game against the Colorado Rockies featured several players who are brand new to the organization. Owen Caissie was not in the original Marlins starting lineup, but after Christopher Morel was scratched due to a left oblique strain, he became the designated hitter, with Connor Norby moving to first base. "It happened like two or three hours before the game, so it wasn't that bad," Caissie said postgame. "I did my scouting report last night, so I was already ready, I guess, but it wasn't that bad. They did a good job of getting to me the information quick." In the bottom of the second inning, Caissie drove in Xavier Edwards on a 104.1 mph RBI double to put the Marlins on the board. Caissie, who the Marlins acquired as the centerpiece of the Edward Cabrera trade this offseason, participated in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, representing Team Canada. He slashed .412/.476/.765/1.241 during the tournament with one home run and five RBI. "I did the WBC in 2023 and I felt so prepared for the season, because those games I played in had a lot of meaning," Caissie said. "(Opening Day) has the same environment, same feel as these, so helped a lot." Marlins manager Clayton McCullough told the media postgame that Morel will be getting imaging on Saturday. More information on his status should be available then, but as Miami fans are well aware, oblique strains almost always result in trips to the injured list. Outfielder Esteury Ruiz, infielder Maximo Acosta and top pitching prospect Thomas White are currently sidelined with the same issue. Just two days before the start of the season, the Marlins signed Austin Slater to a one-year major league deal, and on Friday, he was leading off and playing right field. In the top of the fourth inning, with a runner on second, Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman hit what many thought was an RBI single, but Slater was able to provide the Marlins with their first outfield assist of the season, dotting a 92.5 mph throw right to Agustín Ramírez to keep the game at 2-0. With the Marlins leading 2-1, they brought in their most expensive free agent signing, Pete Fairbanks, to shut down the door. He first struck out Ezequiel Tovar swinging with his cutter, a pitch he added towards the end of the 2025 season. After surrendering a base hit to TJ Rumfield, Jordan Beck popped out and Brenton Doyle lined out to Otto Lopez. This marked Fairbanks' first save as a member of the Marlins. It's also the first time that the Fish have won consecutive Opening Day games since the 2004 and 2005 seasons. "I think especially coming to a new team, you want to make that good impression," Fairbanks said postgame. "Hopefully I've managed to do that over the past month and a half. I'd say locking down the first back-to-back Opening Day wins in 20 years is off to a good start." Sandy Alcantara's sixth Opening Day start was the best of his career. He went seven innings, striking out five, walking three and allowed one (unearned) run on four hits. Alcantara's fastball topped out at 98.5 mph and generated 11 whiffs, with six of them coming on the changeup. "It's always been a good pitch," Alcantara said postgame regarding his changeup. "It's a pitch that I can throw in any count because of the command. I think my best (secondary pitch) was my changeup. I just gotta trust it and keep it throwing it in the game." Alcantara's changeup was responsible for three of the five strikeouts he recorded. "Sandy was filling it up," said McCullough. "The ability to use his entire mix, sinker and velocity was really good, too. Changeup and his ability to spin breaking balls in there...He did a great job of mixing up his looks at first and controlling the running game, some things that he's worked hard on. This was a great first start to the year for Sandy to go that deep in the game, be that efficient and as well as to be able to execute at the rate he did today." Alcantara was as efficient as you could've asked for, throwing 73 pitches, an average of barely 10 per inning. But McCullough noted that he maxed out at five "ups" during spring training, so stretching him beyond seven would've been pushing it. True to his nature, the 30-year-old workhorse was hoping to go back out there for the eighth. "He took me out of the game and I gotta respect that decision—that is something I cannot control," Alcantara said. Even so, this was tied for the second-longest Opening Day start in franchise history, trailing only Ryan Dempster in 2022 (7.1 IP). The Marlins bullpen tossed two shutout innings, striking out four Rockies and not walking anyone. Andrew Nardi made his first appearance in a regular season game since 8/21/24. Anthony Bender had runners on the corners in the top of the eighth inning and struck out Willi Castro swinging. Fairbanks closed it out for the Fish to notch win number one of the season. Eury Pérez will get the ball for the Marlins on Saturday, as he will go up against Michael Lorenzen. First pitch is at 4:10 pm. View full article

MIAMI, FL — The Miami Marlins defeated the Colorado Rockies on Friday without the services of Christopher Morel, who suffered a left oblique strain during pregame work. Fish On First can report that the Marlins are calling up Deyvison De Los Santos, their 28th-ranked prospect, to replace Morel on the active roster. The latest update from Marlins manager Clayton McCullough postgame was that Morel will undergo imaging on Saturday, but in all likelihood, he will land on the 10-day injured list. De Los Santos, 22, was acquired by the Marlins along with Andrew Pintar in 2024 when they sent A.J. Puk to the Arizona Diamondbacks. In his first full season with the organization, he slashed .240/.313/.359/.672 with 12 home runs, 54 RBI and an 85 wRC+. The positive is that De Los Santos struck out 22.4% of the time and walked 8.5% of the time, both improvements from his 2024 season. De Los Santos impressed during the 2025-26 Dominican Winter League season. Then this spring, playing in seven games, he slashed .286/.333/.286/.616 with one RBI and struck out only three times in 14 plate appearances. The Marlins optioned De Los Santos to Triple-A Jacksonville to begin the season. On Opening Day, he went 2-for-4 with a walk, a home run and three RBI. By recalling him so quickly, his option year has not been used up yet. On Saturday, the Rockies are going with right-handed starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen. It is unlikely that De Los Santos, a right-handed hitter, finds himself in the lineup. But on Sunday, lefty José Quintana is scheduled to start for Colorado, so that matchup makes more sense for his major league debut. First pitch on Saturday is at 4:10 pm. View full article

MIAMI, FL — On Thursday, the Miami Marlins announced their Opening Day roster for the 2026 season. Here are the 13 pitchers and 13 position players who will be active for Friday night's regular season opener against the Colorado Rockies: .marlins-roster { font-family: Arial, sans-serif; max-width: 900px; margin: auto; border: 2px solid #00A3E0; border-radius: 10px; overflow: hidden; } .marlins-header { background-color: #000000; color: #00A3E0; text-align: center; padding: 15px; font-size: 22px; font-weight: bold; } .roster-container { display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; } .roster-column { flex: 1; min-width: 300px; padding: 15px; } .column-title { background-color: #00A3E0; color: #000; padding: 10px; font-weight: bold; text-align: center; border-radius: 5px; margin-bottom: 10px; } .player { background-color: #111; color: #fff; padding: 8px; margin: 5px 0; border-left: 4px solid #00A3E0; border-radius: 4px; font-size: 14px; } .player span { color: #00A3E0; font-weight: bold; } Miami Marlins 2026 Opening Day Roster Position Players Agustín Ramírez (C) Liam Hicks (C) Jakob Marsee (OF) Griffin Conine (OF/1B) Owen Caissie (OF) Heriberto Hernández (OF) Otto Lopez (INF) Xavier Edwards (INF) Graham Pauley (INF) Javier Sanoja (INF/OF) Connor Norby (INF/OF) Christopher Morel (INF) Austin Slater (OF) Pitchers Sandy Alcantara (RHP) Eury Pérez (RHP) Max Meyer (RHP) Chris Paddack (RHP) Janson Junk (RHP) Pete Fairbanks (RHP) Calvin Faucher (RHP) Tyler Phillips (RHP) Anthony Bender (RHP) Andrew Nardi (LHP) John King (LHP) Lake Bachar (RHP) Michael Petersen (RHP) Starting rotation Sandy Alcantara (starting Friday) Eury Pérez (Saturday) Max Meyer (Sunday) Chris Paddack (Monday) Janson Junk (Tuesday) For Alcantara, this will mark his franchise-leading sixth Opening Day start. His last one start was coming off of Tommy John surgery, where in 4 ⅔ innings of work, he surrendered two runs on two hits, walked four and struck out seven in what was a walk-off winner for the Fish. This will be the first time that Pérez is included on the Marlins Opening Day roster. He broke through to the big leagues in the middle of the 2023 season. He missed all of 2024 after undergoing Tommy John, and in 2025, rehabbing from surgery kept him on the injured list until June. In 20 starts last season, Pérez pitched to a 4.25 ERA and 3.67 FIP in 95 ⅓ innings pitched. Meyer will be the team's third starter. He got off to an amazing start in 2025, posting a 2.10 ERA through his first five starts of the season. However, in his final seven starts before landing on the injured list with a left hip impingement which later required season-ending surgery, he posted a 7.10 ERA. This spring, the former first-round pick tossed seven shutout innings, striking out 12 in the process. Last season between the Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers, Paddack had a 5.35 ERA and 5.03 FIP in a career-high 158 innings pitched. This spring, the 30-year-old made five spring training starts and allowed one earned run in 13 innings of work, while striking out 12. He will get the series opener against the Chicago White Sox. Junk, who won the fifth spot in the rotation over Braxton Garrett (optioned to Triple-A), threw a pitch design session on Thursday at loanDepot park for his final tune-up. This spring, Junk dealt with a ankle injury that kept him out for a bit, but still made four starts, allowing 10 runs (nine earned), with most of those coming in his final start against the St. Louis Cardinals. Bullpen Pete Fairbanks (closer) Calvin Faucher Tyler Phillips Anthony Bender Andrew Nardi John King Lake Bachar Michael Petersen Petersen is the lone reliever who's making his first Opening Day roster. Acquired from the Atlanta Braves last season, he posted a 3.97 ERA in 11 ⅓ innings pitched for the Marlins. This spring, Petersen struck out seven in 8 ⅔ innings of work. He is likely will be used in lower-leverage situations, but the fastball, which has topped out at 100 mph, will be a big weapon this season. This will mark Fairbanks' sixth Opening Day, but his first as a member of the Marlins. This spring, Fairbanks made six appearances, allowing just one hit and striking out eight in the process. John King, the second reliever Miami signed this offseason, quietly had a great spring, throwing eight innings of one-run ball, while striking out nine. Position players Catchers: Agustín Ramírez, Liam Hicks Infielders: Christopher Morel, Connor Norby, Xavier Edwards, Javier Sanoja, Graham Pauley, Otto Lopez Outfielders: Jakob Marsee, Austin Slater, Griffin Conine, Owen Caissie, Heriberto Hernández Ramírez was called up in April of last season and in 136 games, he slashed .231/.287/.413/.701 with 21 home runs, 67 RBI and a 91 wRC+. He participated in the World Baseball Classic, representing the Dominican Republic, so he only played in eight Grapefruit League games, collecting two hits. Similar to Ramírez, Hernández did not make the Opening Day roster in 2025, but was called up soon after. He slashed .266/.347/.438/.784 with 10 home runs, 45 RBI and a 118 wRC+. The Marlins will likely make room in Friday's starting lineup for Hernández since lefty Kyle Freeland will get the start for the Rockies. Norby missed Opening Day last season after suffering a left oblique strain. This season, he will play a combination of third base, first base and left field. Clayton McCullough told Fish On First that Javier Sanoja will be the starting third baseman on Friday. Norby had an encouraging spring, slashing .310/.326/.476/.802 with two home runs and three RBI. Still prospect-eligible, Owen Caissie was acquired in the trade that sent Edward Cabrera to the Chicago Cubs. He spent some time in the World Baseball Classic for Canada, where he went 7-for-17 with a home run and five RBI. Injuries Kyle Stowers and Esteury Ruiz were both expected to break camp with the team before suffering a right hamstring strain and left oblique strain, respectively. They will begin the season on the 10-day IL (retroactive to March 22). Stowers told the media on Thursday that he is progressing well. Ruiz will be out for 6-8 weeks and no recent update has been provided on him. View full article

Marlins right-hander Sandy Alcantara speaks with the media about his Opening Day routine and what would make Friday's start a success for him. View full video