Alex Krutchik

After posting the lowest average fastball velocity of any Marlins starting pitcher in 2024, Bellozo threw noticeably harder during Saturday's impressive outing. JUPITER, Fla.—Valente Bellozo was one of the more reliable pitchers the Miami Marlins had down the stretch last year. He pitched to a 3.67 ERA in 13 starts after he was called up midseason to help a rotation that was riddled with injuries. The right-hander did it while having one of the slowest fastballs in the majors at 89.2 miles per hour. It confounded the experts here at Fish On First. Even Bellozo himself recognized that it would be in his best interest to look for ways to boost his velo. “I know that I did a really good job last year, but I know if I got more velo average, it's going to be easier for me,” Bellozo said. The 25-year-old started the Grapefruit League opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday, and the velocity increase was immediately apparent. His six fastballs recorded at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium averaged 92.3 miles per hour. The Cardinals whiffed at all three fastballs they swung at. In his only inning of work, Bellozo struck out Brendan Donovan and Willson Contreras, and forced Masyn Winn to ground out weakly in front of home plate. zvdajb.mp4 Bellozo threw his four-seamer 37.4% of the time last year and accumulated a plus-four run value, according to Statcast. He allowed a .247 batting average on that pitch with a .270 expected average. The team approached Bellozo at the end of last season asking him to get stronger. That included more time in the gym and a better diet. His nutrition plan is simple: “More protein, less carbs.” Not only will this help with power needed for more velocity, but Bellozo and the Marlins also hope the added muscle helps protect his ligaments. The 5’11 right-hander said he is still roughly the same weight as last year—he was listed at 208 pounds— but has successfully lost fat and gained muscle. Bellozo said his control hasn’t suffered as a result of throwing harder. In Saturday’s small sample size, he threw four of his six fastballs for strikes. The newfound velocity has also helped with his secondary pitches. Bellozo threw his entire arsenal on Saturday: cutter, curveball, sweeper and changeup. “I see the difference about throwing a little bit harder,” Bellozo said. “I think they are more sharp. They can bite a little bit more.” Bellozo’s battery mate Nick Fortes saw the difference behind the plate. “It was definitely a little tighter, a little bit sharper, which I think showed that he was missing some barrels today,” Fortes said. “Guys were swinging underneath it, which is a good indication that he’s spinning the ball pretty good.” Bellozo is competing for the fifth spot in the rotation, with Sandy Alcantara, Ryan Weathers, Edward Cabrera and Cal Quantrill likely taking the first four. His direct competition will be Max Meyer and Adam Mazur. Meyer had two stints in the majors last year, pitching to a 2.12 ERA in three starts before being sent to Triple-A Jacksonville when Edward Cabrera returned from the injured list. Meyer’s second go-around was less successful, recording a 7.20 ERA in eight starts. Mazur, part of the trade that sent Tanner Scott and Bryan Hoeing to the San Diego Padres last season, was in Triple-A by the end of the year. The 23-year-old right-hander is someone that president of baseball operations Peter Bendix has mentioned multiple times as someone he’s very impressed with. But Bellozo, who showed flashes of passion last year whenever he’d leave the mound after a successful outing, is confident he’ll show what he needs to in order to crack the 26-man roster in late March. “That’s the decision of the front office, of the manager. I'm gonna do my stuff. I'm gonna always help the team to win and do my job…So no stress, no pressure. It's only about going out there, having fun, doing my job, and they're gonna make the decision they’re gonna make.” View full article

It's not a secret within the Marlins clubhouse that the odds are stacked against them this year, but it's a challenge they're ready to face. JUPITER, FL—They’ve heard the jokes. They’ve seen the tweets. They know what the projections are. The Miami Marlins are not shying away from how young they are. Instead, they embrace it as part of the challenge. “Everybody puts their shoes on the exact same way,” outfielder Derek Hill said on the first day of spring training. “So it doesn't matter what the payroll is. It's who goes out there and competes the most every single day.” Hill himself was claimed off waivers by the Marlins last August and slashed .234/.259/.402 in 114 plate appearances with Miami. The 29-year-old, along with the majority of his teammates, will be making approximately the league's minimum salary in 2025 due to limited MLB service time. Only seven players on the Marlins roster will make over $1 million this year. Even including Cal Quantrill's new $3.5 million deal, Roster Resource estimates that the Fish will have the lowest Opening Day payroll in the majors. “You've got to be able to play with the $300-400 million guys,” Hill said. “You have to go out there and make them feel the exact same pressure that we feel when we're on the field.” The Marlins are also among the youngest and most inexperienced teams in baseball going into 2025. The only position player with at least three years of MLB service time is Jesús Sánchez with 3.118. Hill and Jonah Bride, at 29.1 years old, are the oldest hitters on the roster. When the Marlins traded Jake Burger to the Texas Rangers over the offseason, they lost a guy that many had considered a clubhouse leader. “The Burger trade was the one that hurt a lot just because he was kind of that (veteran presence)," Griffin Conine said. “So I think now it'll start to sort itself out once we all get together.” The first full-squad workout of spring training is scheduled for Monday. Conine, son of Marlins Hall of Famer Jeff Conine, was called up to the majors in late August of last year. The 27-year-old had a .777 OPS and three home runs in 89 plate appearances. After the Marlins were essentially gutted at the 2024 trade deadline, the patchwork of waiver claims like Hill and call-ups like Conine actually outperformed some of their veteran counterparts that were dealt away. Their .259 team batting average after the All-Star break was fifth-best compared to their .234 average before the break. They also went from scoring 3.5 runs per game to 4.5, and their slugging percentage went from .354 to .412. The team finished with a 62-100 record—third-worst in the majors—but it was clear that Miami still felt eager to compete together. That drive is even more apparent this spring. This year’s Marlins roster will rival the 1998 and 2006 teams in terms of lacking age and experience. The former set a franchise record for losses, but the latter outperformed expectations by recording 78 wins, with Joe Girardi winning the National League Manager of the Year award. With the lack of one specific veteran leader this year, Conine said the team will have to step up as a collective. “We've all been here long enough to know ways to act, things to do, how to do it the right way, create culture in the clubhouse,” Conine said. “So I think it's going to be more of, instead of looking for the one guy that's older to create it, we're going to have to kind of band together and (create it).” FULL 2025 SPRING TRAINING JOURNAL View full article

The Marlins president of baseball operations spoke to the media on the final day of the Winter Meetings about parting ways with the club's 2024 home run leader. DALLAS—The Miami Marlins surprised the baseball world when they traded away Jake Burger to the Texas Rangers around midnight on the final night of the Winter Meetings. In return, Miami received INF Echedry Vargas, INF Max Acosta and LHP Brayan Mendoza. Each of the three prospects had varying degrees of success in 2024, though none of them are major league-ready yet. After the trade, MLB Pipeline updated their Marlins Top 30 prospects list with Vargas ranked 16th, Acosta ranked 17th and Mendoza ranked 29th. Burger provided pop to a team that severely lacked it. The Marlins hit only 150 home runs in 2024, the fourth-lowest total in the majors, with Burger accounting for 29 of those in 137 games. In 53 games with Miami in 2023, he hit nine home runs with an .860 OPS. He finished with 34 home runs between his time with the White Sox and Marlins that year. Entering his age-29 season, Burger had four years left of team control before he would be eligible to become a free agent. He could've accrued plate appearances at first base, designated hitter or third base, depending on how the roster filled in around him. His salary would have been only a smidge above the league minimum (he made $760k last season). Why did the Burger trade have to happen now? Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix did not offer many specifics. He issued a similarly vague response to the one he gave after trading Luis Arraez to the San Diego Padres in May. “It was a really difficult decision,” Bendix said on Wednesday. "They always are. This was especially difficult with Jake, and ultimately we felt confident enough and strong enough in the return that we were getting for him that we thought it was the right thing to do right now." Bendix praised how Acosta has "improved tremendously every single year" and projects him to continue playing shortstop moving forward. Vargas is "really tooled up" with "tremendous upside long term." Mendoza appealed to the club with his deep pitch mix and track record of performance. Perhaps Burger was becoming more expendable due to the young infield bats who arrived earlier this year in separate trades. The Marlins installed Connor Norby as their everyday third baseman in August. While he's still a work in progress, Burger previously had a long leash to prove himself there and continued to rate poorly, recording negative-11 outs above average there during his Marlins tenure. Burger spent time more time at first base in 2024, but another summer trade acquisition, Deyvison De Los Santos, is a natural at the position and accelerating toward the majors quickly. “We think really highly of (De Los Santos),” Bendix said. “He hit 40 home runs across the minor leagues last year at age 20. That's really hard to do. I think he's got a very bright future. I don't know the specifics of when that is going to happen, but I think he's got a really bright future.” Bendix was also non-committal about where the other players atop Miami's infield depth chart—Jonah Bride, Connor Norby, Otto Lopez, Xavier Edwards and Jonah Bride—will line up come Opening Day. Jesús Sánchez, at 27 years old with 3.118 years of MLB service time, is now the oldest and most experienced position player on the team. “(Signing a veteran) is one of the things we're certainly looking at,” Bendix said. “I think having veteran presence, having leadership in the clubhouse, is really important, and we're always looking for ways to address that.” Burger is now reunited with former manager Skip Schumaker, who is a senior advisor with the Rangers, and Luis Urueta, who was hired as Bruce Bochy's bench coach. As the Rangers roster is currently constructed, he figures to get the majority of his playing time at DH. View full article

Everyone knows Edward Cabrera has the tools. Will Clayton McCullough and his staff be able to harness his control issues? DALLAS—The book on Edward Cabrera has been out for a couple of years. He has some of the best stuff in the game, but has severe control issues that chase him from games sooner than a manager would like. Maybe new manager Clayton McCullough and his staff will be the ones to rewrite Cabrera’s story. When asked at the MLB Winter Meetings on Monday about which player he’s most excited to see growth from, McCullough singled out the Dominican right-hander. During his time as first-base coach of the Los Angeles Dodgers, he had a front-row seat to see what Cabrera could do (Cabrera has made four career starts against them). “Those hitters weren’t fans of having to go up there and take that at-bat,” McCullough said. “He’s young, great stuff. There's so much more in the tank there. He's a really exciting one for me, just because the upside is so big.” It’s not hard to see why McCullough is so bullish on the 26-year-old. When he’s feeling himself, he’s nearly unhittable with a changeup in the mid-90s and a wipeout curveball that had a 40 percent whiff rate in 2024. But there's also the negative. Cabrera has been plagued by control issues his entire career. He had an 11.8 percent walk rate last year, which was in the bottom eighth percentile among MLB qualifiers. He showed flashes of brilliance last year with a couple of seven-inning shutouts. Those were often followed by a step back—he failed to complete three innings in either of his matchups vs. McCullough's former club. “Not everybody's path to success is linear,” McCullough said. “But it's real ability that can win major league games.” Former Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said time and time again that Cabrera’s issues are between the ears. Former pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. echoed the same sentiments. McCullough knows getting Cabrera to be consistent is the obvious key. “He's not the only one that has walked that path, where the initial few years of your major career don’t go as planned,” McCullough said. “Whether that's health or inconsistency in performance. Everyone still believes big time in the arm.” As well-regarded a coach as Stottlemyre was, perhaps having a new set of eyes on Cabrera will benefit him. “It’ll be great for (new pitching coach) Daniel Moskos and his crew to get a chance to get in there with Edward,” McCullough said. “Hopefully we're able to provide him the kind of support and some tangible things he can take and just lead us in more consistent performance. It’s real ability.” Another thing to watch with Cabrera is his health. He went on the injured list twice last year, both times due to a right shoulder impingement. He also dealt with the same injury in 2023. View full article

Clayton McCullough of the Miami Marlins speaks with reporters in Dallas about the coaching staff he's building entering his first season as manager, Sandy Alcantara, Jesús Luzardo, Edward Cabrera and more key players on the roster he's excited to work with, and how he'll define success in 2025. View full video

Back in March, Chisholm publicly criticized how Rojas treated him and other young Marlins teammates. Now, their new teams will face each other with a championship on the line. There is always a Marlins tie-in. Over the last three decades, various team executives have traded veteran players away from Miami in an effort to perpetually get younger or less expensive. Quite often, the move rejuvenates a player's career, or at least lands them in a more competitive situation. The World Series starting on Friday between the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers will feature a bunch of familiar faces, including a pair who have become fierce rivals. Perhaps nobody outside the Miami metropolitan area cares about this grudge. It’s not Nolan Ryan vs. Robin Ventura or Pedro Martinez vs Jorge Posada. It hasn't gotten physical between former Marlins Miguel Rojas and Jazz Chisholm Jr.—at least not yet. Rojas was traded to the Dodgers two offseasons ago, while Chisholm was flipped to the Yankees before the trade deadline this year. Prior to that, they spent parts of three seasons together on the Marlins (2020-2022), and they did not see eye-to-eye on everything. We know that Chisholm was the recipient of criticism from some of his teammates for being too flashy, both on and off the field. These differences culminated in a lengthy closed-door meeting midway through the 2022 season. It was by all accounts counterproductive as the team went on to lose 93 games anyway, part ways with longtime manager Don Mattingly and drastically change its roster. Earlier this year, Chisholm went on The Pivot, a podcast hosted by former NFL stars Ryan Clark, Fred Taylor and Channing Crowder. He all but confirmed that Rojas was at the center of those critiques. Chisholm didn’t mention names, although he did refer to the “team captain” multiple times, which was Rojas. "Our team captain tried to get me out of here," Chisholm said on the podcast. "My team captain would come and tell me, 'Bro you're the best on the team, bro. Keep on going, bro. You're gonna be great. You're gonna lead us one day.' But then the next two seconds, he's in (Mattingly's) office telling the manager something, and then the manager coming and telling me, 'Bro, this is what your team captain said.'” During this period, Chisholm was Miami's most recognizable player despite his brief MLB track record. He would periodically dye his hair different colors. He had an elaborate celebration at each base when he’d hit a home run. Rojas, more reserved and down-to-business than his then-teammate, did not appreciate the showmanship. "They wanted to put me in the box," Chisholm said, "and it wasn't happening, because I'm not ever gonna be put in a box." Chisholm went on to describe all the ways in which the veterans would haze the younger guys. He alleged someone poured milk into his custom-designed cleats and threw them in the trash. He also implied that the first baseman (likely Jesús Aguilar) wouldn’t give as much effort in picking Chisholm’s throws out of the dirt as he did with other teammates. That’s the part of the story where Chisholm dug in the most. “They’ve been there for nine or 10 years and the team calls them the team captain,” Chisholm said. "But they’re not a good captain, they’re not a good person, you’re not even a good athlete at this point. You’re just here and you’re bringing down the young guys that are supposed to be good.” Rojas responded a few days later on the Chris Rose Rotation. "Whatever you want to say about me as a player...you can have that opinion," Rojas said. "But you saying that I'm a 'bad person' when you don't even know me, when you don't even know where I come from, you're not even part of what's close to me or have the opportunity to sit down with me and getting to know me as a person, that's kind of what bothers me." Although they have not directly chirped at each other in public since the 2024 season began, Chisholm is embracing the narrative that he faced adversity in Miami. On Monday, The Players' Tribune published a cartoon strip about his career arc. One panel shows Chisholm sitting in the clubhouse with the following caption: "My passion got me to the league. But at the start of my career...my joy came and went." Chisholm, now 26 years old, was a valuable piece for New York when he first arrived in July. He has continued to be the club's everyday third baseman in the postseason, but his production has withered. He hit a combined .147 with a home run and a double in the American League Division Series and Championship Series, with a couple of defensive miscues mixed in there at his new position. Rojas, 35, excelled as a part-time player with the Dodgers this season, continuing to be one of the game's steadiest defensive shortstops and best contact hitters. Unfortunately, he's been limited to three games in October due to a sports hernia. He was left off the NLCS roster and it's unclear whether he will be activated for the Fall Classic. Health permitting, this would be the first time the two have faced each other since a series at Dodger Stadium in early May. The stakes are obviously higher now. Neither player has won a World Series title before. Watching from afar, Marlins fans can determine their rooting interest based on which player’s cause they identify with the most (flashy new-school player vs. reserved veteran) and live vicariously through that. View full article

Like a boys trip gone awry, the Atlanta Braves got punched in the mouth on their first night in Miami. MIAMI—Just because the Miami Marlins are going to miss the playoffs doesn’t stop them from putting their fingerprints on the race. With the Atlanta Braves two games back of the division rival New York Mets in the NL Wild Card race coming into Friday’s series opener against Miami, the Marlins jumped on them for three runs in the first inning and tightroped their way to a 4-3 victory. Jake Burger, Kyle Stowers, and Jonah Bride drove in one run each against Braves starting pitcher Charlie Morton in the opening frame. The veteran Morton settled down until Connor Norby, standing on third base, dashed home on a wild pitch in the fifth inning to give the Marlins an insurance run, going up 4-2. polowt.mp4 That was all the Marlins got, but it was all they needed. Starting pitcher Valente Bellozo danced through raindrops at times, loading the bases in the third inning thanks to an infield single to Michael Harris II, a single to Marcell Ozuna, and a pitch clock violation walk to Matt Olson. Like he has done most of the season, Bellozo got outs via the fly ball. This time, it was a Jorge Soler fly ball to center field that looked like a go-ahead grand slam. Instead, it fell harmlessly into Stowers’ glove on the warning track for a sacrifice fly. That was the only run Bellozo allowed that inning. 1a831d19-ca10efd2-25a7df83-csvm-diamondgcp-asset-4000K.mp4 Even when he got beat, Bellozo limited the damage. The two home runs he allowed in the subsequent innings were both solo home runs. He allowed three runs in 5 ⅓ innings. Anthony Bender, Lake Bachar, Declan Cronin, and Jesús Tinoco combined for 4 ⅔ scoreless innings out of the bullpen. The Braves led the season series against the Marlins, 7-3, coming into Friday. But that just makes playing spoiler even sweeter. “You want to play against the best teams,” Kyle Stowers said. “To be the best, you gotta beat the best, right? And so I think it starts there. We want to be a team that's in the playoff mix. And to be in the playoff mix next year, you have to beat good teams." Stowers went 2-for-3 with a double and RBI Friday and is now on a modest five-game hit streak. “It just adds a little extra meaning behind the game because we know they're playing for something, so that doesn't mean that we can't find a way to play for something too,” Stowers said. In defeat, Atlanta's playoff odds dipped to 44.2%, according to FanGraphs, the lowest they've been in four months. View full article

Maybe it's a sign of things to come? Filled with midseason call-ups, the Marlins lineup has begun to click, piling up 10 more runs off Phillies pitching on Sunday. MIAMI—It’s hard to predict the future, especially with a franchise that historically wheels and deals its players in quick succession. But if Sunday was any indication of what the Miami Marlins could be, the future looks brighter than it did a few months ago. A conglomeration of newly acquired players, recent minor league call-ups and 2024 regulars who have made a case for themselves since the trade deadline took it to the Philadelphia Phillies in a 10-1 blowout. Connor Norby, one day after hitting a two-run home run, did it again in the first inning Sunday with a two-run blast to right-center field to begin the barrage. He did the exact same thing in the third inning to cap off a seven-run frame. Norby, who was traded from the Baltimore Orioles along with Kyle Stowers in exchange for Trevor Rogers on July 30, has now hit safely in 17 of his first 18 games as a Marlin. Norby came into Sunday hitting .356/.370/.667 with a 1.036 OPS at home as a Marlin, and now has five home runs in 12 games at loanDepot park. Javier Sanoja, who made his major league debut on Saturday and collected his first RBI, notched another RBI when he drove home Otto Lopez with a single in the third inning. Sanoja also had a double in the second inning and came around to score on a Nick Fortes sacrifice fly. Fish On First's 16th-ranked Marlins prospect, Sanoja was given a chance after a slew of injuries to outfielders at the major league level. Then there’s Griffin Conine—son of Marlins legend Jeff Conine—who spent six years in the minors before being called up in late August. The 27-year-old also had an RBI single and came around to score in the third inning and went 3-for-4 on the day. He has been exactly as advertised in his first 12 games here: high strikeout rate of 32 percent coming into Sunday, but a .441 slugging percentage and .333 batting average on balls in play. Otto Lopez and Jonah Bride, regulars on this team that have had their ups and downs, both scored in the third after they each hit a single, with Lopez driving in a run of his own. Bride had spent some time in the minors this year, but came into Sunday slugging .459 with an .837 OPS in 36 games since the trade deadline. It was the first time all season the Marlins scored more than nine runs in back-to-back games. Edward Cabrera was perfect against a potent Phillies lineup the first time through the order, which is par for the course for the Dominican right-hander. But then he was almost perfect again the second time through, allowing a fourth-inning walk to Kyle Schwarber that was negated by a double play on the next at-bat. That was the only walk Cabrera allowed in seven scoreless innings of work. Cabrera didn’t allow a hit until Brandon Marsh hit a single over the left side of the infield in the sixth inning. It was Cabrera’s third shutout appearance this season, with the other two coming in early August against the Atlanta Braves (5.0 IP) and San Diego Padres (7.0 IP). 8a2cd358-7f226ab2-fd83d20c-csvm-diamondgcp-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4 While Cabrera has struggled deep into games this season, he looked just as effective late in the game Sunday as he did coming out of the dugout in the first. “He’ll have three of these innings, then the fourth, you just don't know,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “So I'm proud of how locked in he was every single inning. He didn't let the score dictate how he was going to pound the zone. He was still on the game plan, and him and Fortes were on the same page.” Cabrera was not even slated to start on Sunday. He was originally lined up for Friday night, but was scratched after he went to the emergency room with a severe migraine about 90 minutes before first pitch. The Marlins lost 16-2 that night, with Austin Kitchen and various relievers attempting to fill the void. Cabrera said he has been dealing with these migraines since he was a child, but it had never affected him on a day where he is supposed to pitch. “I know it’s not anybody’s fault, but I kind of felt like I needed to redeem myself,” Cabrera said. The Marlins' nine-run margin of victory matched their largest of the year. Despite trailing the Phillies by 31 games in the NL East standings, they concluded their 2024 season series with a respectable 6-7 head-to-head record. View full article

Edward Cabrera gave the Marlins a lot to be encouraged about, but Ryan McMahon ended his start on a sour note. Edward Cabrera nearly defied the cruel confines of Coors Field on Monday. After being perfect against the Colorado Rockies lineup the first time through, it looked like Cabrera was going to give the Miami Marlins a memorable performance on night one of a four-game set in Denver. But ultimately, this will blur together with many of his other unsatisfying starts. Consistent with a year-long trend, Cabrera struggled the second and third time through the order. He walked a tightrope in the fourth inning, holding the home team scoreless despite allowing two singles and a walk to keep the score at 0-0. After the Marlins notched two runs in the fifth, the Rockies got runners at the corners in the bottom half of the inning with two singles, and tied the game on a sacrifice groundout from Aaron Schunk and a single from Jake Cave. Much like a casino, the house always wins when you're at Coors Field. After keeping the Rockies limited to exclusively singles in the first five innings, Cabrera allowed a leadoff home run to Ryan McMahon in the sixth inning to give Colorado the 3-2 lead. Rockies hitters went 6-for-12 with two walks after they faced him for the first time through the lineup. 60ca22a5-d279cc8f-d7acd0d9-csvm-diamondgcp-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4 Still Cabrera was able to harness two things that are key to his success: his curveball and his control, especially on his changeup. With Coors Field being at high altitude with thin and dry air, curveballs are often ineffective compared to when they’re thrown at sea level. While Cabrera’s vertical and horizontal break were down from his season average three and four inches, respectively, Rockies hitters still couldn’t figure it out. Three of Cabrera’s eight strikeouts were on the curve. The only curveball put into play was a Sam Hilliard groundout to shortstop in the third inning. Cabrera threw 14 of his 17 changeups for strikes, compared to 12 of 19 in his last outing against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Aug. 20. He had an overall strike rate of 66.6 percent on Monday. Notes -The lone two Marlins runs came on a two-RBI single from Jesús Sánchez in the fifth inning. It was a rare breakthrough for Sánchez with the base loaded—prior to that in his career, he had been 3-for-34 (.088 BA) in such situations. -Connor Norby singled in the same frame. He’s recorded at least one hit in each of his first seven games as a Marlin. -Griffin Conine, son of Marlins legend Jeff Conine, made his Major League debut in the ninth inning. He struck out swinging against right-hander Tyler Kinley on five pitches. View full article

There aren't many pitchers in the league who have struggled more at keeping the ball in the yard than Roddery Muñoz, but there's reason to believe he may have turned a corner. Buying a ticket in the outfield seats for the first several starts of Roddery Muñoz’s major league career was a great investment. The 24-year-old right-hander was serving up souvenirs left and right. Called up due to the smattering of injuries to the Miami Marlins starting rotation, Muñoz allowed a staggering 15 home runs in his first eight starts (40.1 IP). During that period from April 20 to June 29, Munoz’s home run/fly ball ratio of 26.3 percent was worst in the league among all pitchers with at least 35 innings pitched, as was his HR/9 of 3.35. Acquired last offseason in exchange for cash considerations and lacking previous MLB experience, the expectations for Muñoz were low to begin with. Still, it was hard to understand why somebody with his high quality of pure stuff was so easy for hitters to square up. What went wrong? The first thing that jumped out while researching for this article was Muñoz’s four-seam fastball. Using it relatively equally with his cutter and sinker as his most-used pitches, he allowed significantly more home runs on the fastball than on the latter two pitches. During his first eight starts, Muñoz had a negative-5.5 run value on the four-seamer, according to Pitch Info from FanGraphs, which was tied for tenth-worst in the league among pitchers with at least 40 innings pitched. His sinker, by comparison, was a relatively-better negative-2.2 while his cutter was grading out at negative-0.8. Judging by the heat maps and his velocity, there is nothing that stands out about why his fastball was so feeble. He doesn’t live over the plate any more than other pitchers of higher caliber do, and his average fastball velocity of 95.2 miles per hour ranks in the top third of pitchers this year. Even FanGraphs has his Stuff+ graded as a 98, with 100 being league average. How did he fix the issue? During Muñoz's last start on August 10, Bally Sports Florida Interviewed fellow starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara and asked him about the rookie's growth. Alcantara, who has taken on the role of coach and mentor while he recovers from Tommy John surgery this season, said on the broadcast that Muñoz had been tipping his pitches. When he was first called up, the 6’2" Dominican would hold his glove around his belly button when he came set for the pitch out of the windup and hold his glove slightly off his body. That made it easier for opposing hitters to see him adjusting his pitch grip and anticipate what he'd be throwing. Alcantara, along with Edward Cabrera and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr., helped fix this issue by having Muñoz lower his glove to his belt and hold it against his body. Here's the comparison between Muñoz's loanDepot park debut on May 1 and his most recent outing: It’s unclear when they discovered this issue, but in watching tape, it seems he began fixing his stance during his relief appearance against the Chicago White Sox on July 5 and was more consistent with it in his following start against the Houston Astros on July 11. Perhaps not coincidentally, that game against the White Sox began a set of three consecutive appearances over 15 ⅔ innings in which he did not allow a home run. While still not a reliable starter by any means, Muñoz has considerably improved the underlying stats mentioned above. Since July 5, he has pitched in seven games, one of them being a relief appearance, for 34 ⅓ innings. His fastball run value has gotten marginally better, at negative-4.4 runs, while his sinker is at plus-2.0 and his cutter is plus-0.3. His FIP has gone down by two full runs, from 7.69 before July 5 to 5.62 after that date. This subtle change is showing up in the more standard numbers as well. In his last seven appearances, he has allowed six home runs (one for every 26 batters faced). In his first eight games, he allowed 15 home runs (one for every 11.66 batters faced). His slugging percentage allowed has also dipped from .569 to .482. With none of the injured Marlins starters ready for game action anytime soon, expect Muñoz to get ample time to hammer down this fix. View full article

With the most reliable arms in the bullpen down, the Marlins couldn't hold the lead for him, but Cabrera pitched one of the best outings of his career on Friday night while facing MLB's hottest team. MIAMI, FL—Skip Schumaker told the media before Friday’s loss to the San Diego Padres that part of the challenge of running a bullpen is changing the game plan based on what happened the night before. Of course, most baseball fans already know that to be the case. But, aside from the trade deadline, Friday afternoon's roster moves may have been the biggest shakeup the Marlins have seen in a single day this season. And that bled over into Friday night’s loss. After the Marlins extra-innings loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday, the Marlins designated starting pitcher Kyle Tyler for assignment. They also optioned Darren McCaughan and Emmanuel Ramirez to Triple-A Jacksonville. Declan Cronin, Calvin Faucher, and Andrew Nardi were all down after pitching in back-to-back games, and Anthony Bender was dealing with undisclosed issues. So, when Edward Cabrera stepped off the mound after a masterful performance in which he threw seven shutout innings, Schumaker handed the ball to George Soriano to get the final six outs, up 2-0. Soriano, who came in with a 7.36 ERA in 12 outings this year, allowed two doubles and a run in the eighth. Jackson Merrill then tied the game with a leadoff home run to center field in the ninth inning. 18df2bc5-af6acb57-d0dae092-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4 Brett de Geus, who was one of the three newly recalled relievers, gave up four runs (one unearned) in the tenth. Manny Machado's two-run double to right-center broke the game open. Pitching at loanDepot park for the first time since the Marlins traded him away, Tanner Scott pitched a scoreless bottom of the tenth. Schumaker confirmed after the game that Soriano and de Geus, along with fellow call-ups John McMillon and Kent Emanuel, were the only relievers available. “I felt like Soriano has been there before and given us some leverage innings, especially last year,” Schumaker said. “And he's looked pretty good since he's been back up and given us some pretty good innings. He had 14 pitches after the first inning, he's had four days off, he was by far the freshest arm and it felt like he can get righties and lefties out. He just kind of threw a hanging slider to Merrill. Merrill, lately, has been doing that, unfortunately for us.” What made the ending more frustrating was the wasting of a great start by Cabrera. He pitched seven scoreless innings and gave up four hits and three walks. It was the deepest he had gone into a game since he completed eight innings against the Oakland Athletics on August 22, 2022. Schumaker walked toward the mound with two outs in the seventh inning after Cabrera had just allowed an infield single to Ha-Seong Kim with his 99th pitch of the game. With two runners on base and Soriano fully warmed up in the bullpen, it seemed like Cabrera’s night was done. But instead of taking the ball from Cabrera, Schumaker only made the 100-foot walk to the mound to deliver a quick message for him that took all of about five seconds. “He just came and said this is my game,” Cabrera said. “And I just went and told him ‘yes.’” Cabrera proceeded to strike out Luis Campusano on his patented 94 mph changeup, high and tight. 635383cc-63d84042-83030660-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4 “I was just super proud of the way he attacked it,” Schumaker said. “And you could see in his eyes that he wasn't sure if I was gonna give it to him or not. But I felt like this was his time to go, and maybe a pivotal moment in his career, because I think it just gave him confidence against a really good team. We needed him to give us length. He provided it, maybe for the first time in his career. We've lost a few games in a row, and we have zero bullpen, we need you right now.” The 26-year-old right-hander has allowed just six earned runs over his last five starts combined (2.00 ERA in 27.0 IP). Each of those opponents have winning records this season. The Marlins scored their runs on back-to-back solo home runs by Jake Burger and Jonah Bride. It was the third time since the trade deadline that both have homered in the same game. View full article

The Marlins finally took a game in the Citrus Series, homering twice off of one of baseball's hottest pitchers, Taj Bradley. St. Petersburg, FL—On Tuesday night, with a roster depleted from trade deadline send-offs, the Marlins had a player hit his first home run of the season, followed by Jake Burger laying it on with a homer of his own. Wednesday afternoon’s victory over the Tampa Bay Rays mirrored the script from last night in that regard. This time, it was Jonah Bride hitting a solo home run in the second inning to open the scoring for Miami, starting his first major league game in the cleanup spot. Then, once again, Burger added to his July home run total with a two-run moonshot to left center field in the third inning. Both went deep against outstanding young right-hander Taj Bradley, who hadn't allowed any runs in his previous three starts. Burger's home run was preceded immediately with a sac fly from Xavier Edwards to score Vidal Bruján from third base to tie the game at 2-2. Thanks to Marlins starting pitcher Roddery Muñoz and the Miami bullpen, those four total runs is all they needed. Muñoz allowed a solo home run to Christopher Morel in the first inning and an RBI triple to Dylan Carlson in the second. He gave up four hits, walked two, and struck out seven in five innings. Wednesday was Muñoz’s 12th start this year, trailing only the recently traded Trevor Rogers and injured Ryan Weathers in that department. Including his minor league appearances, the 24-year-old righty has totaled 107 innings with the Marlins organization, which is a single-season career high. “The confidence I have received from my manager and coaching staff have been really helpful,” Munoz said through translator Luis Dorante Jr. “I had good days and bad days. But I always try to go out there, compete, give it everything I got. So it’s very special to accomplish.” 61b12c68-7b8cce4f-6f512582-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4 Xavier Edwards delivered more insurance in the seventh inning on a two-run single. Edwards had three RBI on Wednesday and finished with a .395 batting average in July, the sixth-highest monthly average in Marlins history for batters with at least 75 at-bats. Andrew Nardi, Jesús Tinoco, Anthony Bender, and Calvin Faucher combined for four scoreless innings to seal the win. Newly acquired outfielder Kyle Stowers, fresh off the plane from Charlotte where the Baltimore Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate was playing, began his Marlins career 0-for-4 with four strikeouts. “Hectic 24 hours," Stowers said. "But, you know, not an excuse. I actually started feeling better as the game went on. Felt like I took some good swings, just didn’t go my way today. You play 160 games in a season—days like this are gonna happen. Obviously, it’s unfortunate it happens on the first day here. But I think I’m built to respond.” On Thursday, the Marlins begin the final leg of their three-series road trip in Atlanta. View full article