Alex Krutchik

An oblique strain has created a temporary void on the Miami Marlins roster. West Palm Beach, Fla.—Jesús Sánchez will miss at least the first two weeks of the regular season with a left oblique strain. The 27-year-old outfielder was injured on a check swing against the Houston Astros on Thursday. He managed to hit a double in that at-bat, but was removed for a pinch-runner one batter later. Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said the imaging revealed a “grade one-plus” strain, which “optimistically” has a recovery time of about one month. “All you can do now is take the time that's required to have this thing heal up and get yourself built back up,” McCullough said. “Because it's not an area and a place where you want to be too aggressive with how you come back, because we’ve just seen a lot of cases where those things can linger.” Sánchez dealt with right elbow inflammation earlier in spring training, but this oblique strain seems to be an unrelated injury. The Marlins looked at Sánchez as someone who would carry a majority of the power in this lineup, especially after trading away fellow slugger Jake Burger over the offseason. Sánchez hit a career-high 18 home runs last year. Jonah Bride is now the only healthy player on the roster who hit more than ten against MLB pitching last year. Sánchez's three years and 118 days of major league service time was the highest among Miami position players. Catcher Nick Fortes (2.149) will be the most experienced hitter on the Opening Day roster unless the Marlins make a move prior to then. As for the outfield, this injury should increase playing time for Dane Myers and Derek Hill while creating a clearer path for corner outfielders in Kyle Stowers and Griffin Conine to both make the club. All of the above spent part of the 2024 season with the Fish. “We’re feeling really good about where Derek Hill is right now, and the at-bat quality he's shown, certainly the ability to play center,” McCullough said. “Dane Myers has had a good camp in that regard as well. Griff, Stowers, we still have plenty of options, and it just opens up some opportunity for others to take on some more regular playing time.” Conine and Stowers are perhaps the biggest beneficiaries of this development. Both are left-handed hitters with good raw power, just like Sánchez. Stowers, who came over from the Baltimore Orioles last July in exchange for Trevor Rogers, has played sparingly in the majors the past three seasons. Conine, who has been in the Marlins organization since 2020, made his MLB debut last September. Both players put up solid power numbers in streaks, but struggled with strikeouts, each recording a strikeout rate of over 30 percent last season. In 11 Grapefruit League games, Conine has slashed .258/.343/.355 with one home run. Stowers has slashed .167/.394/.167 in 10 games. Fellow outfielders Albert Almora Jr. and Heriberto Hernández also remain in big league camp as non-roster invitees. “It's a big piece for us,” McCullough said. “Jesús has been a performer. We were counting on him. But it's kind of next man up, and it'll be an opportunity for others to get a chance to get out there.” View full article

The Marlins may have found the rightful heir to Jon Berti's super-utility throne. Miami Marlins manager Clayton McCullough joked that Javier Sanoja could probably play every position except catcher. But even that may not have been generous enough. The 22-year-old mostly played center field in his four years in the minors, starting in 134 games there, but he’s logged at least 500 innings at second base, shortstop, and third base. He also made two starts in left field last year when he got his first cup of coffee in the major leagues in September. Still considered a prospect, he is ranked 20th on the Fish On First Top 30 list entering 2025. With all of these positions in his bag, Sanoja’s first position as a child was actually catcher. He said his manager moved him out of there, as he was considered too small. Even as an adult, Sanoja stands at just 5’7". “I never asked or demanded to be in a specific position,” said Sanoja via interpreter, who mentioned he has four different gloves in his locker for different positions. “I was always more thankful to be on the roster or the lineup, and that's something that gets you better.” Sanoja, who signed an international free agent deal with Miami in 2019, said he looks at guys like Jose Altuve as examples of selflessness in the field. The 14-year veteran had played virtually his entire career at second base, but will go into 2025 playing in left field. That idea was originally pitched when the Houston Astros were trying to retain long-time third baseman Alex Bregman. Isaac Paredes then would have shifted over to second base, forcing Altuve to the outfield. Even after Bregman signed with the Boston Red Sox, the team still expects to move Altuve to left field. “He was willing to move to the outfield,” Sanoja said. “You always have to look for the better of the team. It doesn't matter. Some things that you have to do, you have to do for the best of the team.” Sanoja started nine games and appeared in 14 with the Marlins in 2024 spending 79 ⅔ innings between center field (21 ⅔), shortstop (21), second base (23), and left field (14). In that small sample size, he recorded positive defensive runs saved at each position except for shortstop. “It’s going to be very important for our guys to be open-minded to (playing multiple positions),” McCullough said. “It's wonderful to have a guy like Sanoja who has the infield and outfield ability. It's a hard thing to bounce like that." 67d1ca53-9156ec9a-a32af684-csvm-diamondgcp-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4 yqtfjv.mp4 This spring, the Venezuelan native has started games at second base, left field, and right field. He’ll be directly competing against outfielders Derek Hill, Kyle Stowers, and Griffin Conine, along with infielders Eric Wagaman and Jonah Bride for the final couple of roster spots. Our own Nate Karzmer currently projects Sanoja to earn a spot at the expense of Wagaman. Among those aforementioned players, Sanoja is the only one who can play both outfield and infield. That versatility is exactly what McCullough will look for as he rounds out his 26-man roster in time for Opening Day on March 27. The recurring word he’s used in camp is “optionality.” “The more optionality we have and the more that they give themselves, it just provides you more opportunity to get in the lineup and stay in the lineup,” McCullough said. Last season, the Marlins' super-utility player was Vidal Bruján—he appeared in 102 games at eight different positions. However, he struggled offensively (.222/.303/.319 slash line, 2 HR and 5 SB) and has since been traded to the Chicago Cubs. The Marlins hope that Sanoja can come close to mimicking the production they once received from Jon Berti, who thrived in that role from 2019-2023. View full article

Clayton McCullough discussed possible strategies for his bullpen this season. Jupiter, Fla.—Clayton McCullough doesn’t want to rely on one traditional closing pitcher this year. But the first-year Marlins manager knows a few guys that can handle the role when called upon. “(Jesús) Tinoco, (Calvin) Faucher, (Anthony) Bender have pitched in high-leverage moments in the past and have done well,” McCullough said. “Declan (Cronin) as well. So I think those guys have some experience and some history in those leverage-type moments. But again, that might not always be the eighth or ninth inning.” McCullough subscribes to the new-school line of thinking, where pitching decisions are based on leverage as opposed to having a setup man followed by a closer. It was something we saw the last two seasons with former manager Skip Schumaker. On a couple of occasions early in 2023, he’d pitch A.J. Puk in the eighth inning despite being Miami’s de facto closer. If tomorrow was Opening Day and the Marlins found themselves up by a run late in the game, how would McCullough and his staff make the decision on who closes the game? “I think we would talk through where we are in the lineup, who we think best matches a particular portion of hitters, what they are going to do, potentially, pinch-hitting wise in those spots,” McCullough said. “So conversation beforehand to at least try to plan out what we think is the optimal way to deploy each particular individual.” But, of course, tomorrow is not Opening Day. McCullough and first-year pitching coach Daniel Moskos still have over three weeks before the Marlins open up against the Pittsburgh Pirates at loanDepot park. For now, they can rely on the precious few in-game reps their pitchers get, along with past regular season performance. In Saturday’s game against the Washington Nationals, Tinoco allowed one run and two hits in his lone inning of work, while Bender pitched a perfect inning. After Scott was traded to the San Diego Padres last year at the deadline, there was a revolving door of guys pitching in high-leverage situations. Faucher was the first to get the closing role, pitching to a 3.60 ERA and 2.17 FIP in 15 games after Scott was dealt. He made six saves in eight opportunities. Unfortunately for him, he was sidelined in early September with right shoulder impingement and would miss the rest of the season. Tinoco was next in line for the job, converting on three of four save opportunities in the final month of the year. Hitters made 35 plate appearances against the 29-year-old right-hander across all of 2024. They collectively mustered four hits, only one of which was for extra bases, and struck out at a 34.3% clip. xzd824.mp4 Bender, coming off Tommy John surgery that knocked him out for all of 2023, didn’t have the best results in 2024, but his pitches still showed the sharpness that made Marlins fans fall in love with him in 2022. His sweeper—a variation of his slider that was his calling card before the surgery—had a .170 batting average against last year. In the same breath, however, the whiff percentage from the slider in 2022 to the sweeper in 2024 went from 40.5% to 31.4%, and the putaway percentage went from 27.0% to 20.6%. For what it’s worth, in limited Grapefruit League action thus far, Bender has posted the highest fastball velocity of the Marlins' main high-leverage candidates, averaging 95.4 mph. Cronin, like Bender, was mostly utilized as a middle reliever last year, but made the most of his opportunity. Used in mostly low-leverage spots, he put up a 4.35 ERA, but his FIP of 2.58 would suggest he should have fared much better. You never want to fall in or out of love with a guy in spring training. But with the lack of true veterans on this team—especially in the bullpen—the staff’s evaluation of pitchers and hitters will be a combination of past regular season success and how they look in camp this year. “What someone has done in the past would give me a bit of a predictor and indicator of what was under the hood that led to that type of success,” McCullough said. “You've got guys, pitchers in particular, can come back from an offseason and their stuff has changed. They're throwing harder, they've added pitches. So in some ways, it's a different pitcher out there.” "Some of it is past performance," he continued. "And then, maybe not get caught up too much in just the results of these spring training games. But what things do we believe, over a longer period of time, is going to lead to results?” View full article

Ryan Weathers showed off his refined fastball in his first start of spring training. West Palm Beach, Fla.—Ryan Weathers had to wait a bit to get back onto a game mound. The left-hander’s spring debut last Monday was canceled due to rain. He was able to get work in on the side that morning, but it may not have had the same juice to it. When Weathers finally threw off a mound in an official game, it was clear how much he missed it. His fastball was buzzing out of his hand. Four of the seven Washington Nationals he faced struck out, including top prospect Dylan Crews. He allowed one walk, zero hits and zero runs in two innings, with only one ball leaving the infield. “It felt good. I felt a little amped up,” Weathers said. “It was just fun getting back pitching. It’s the start of a new year. So it's always fun. It's always exciting. I'm just happy it went well.” The radar gun at CACTI Ballpark of the Palm Beaches showed 100 mph on some of Weathers’ pitches. When speaking with the 25-year-old after the game, he seemed doubtful about that reading, as he hadn’t hit that mark all spring in his bullpens or live batting practices. Regardless of the number, Weathers was very satisfied with his four-seam fastball on Saturday, which is something he wanted to work on this offseason. “It felt really good,” Weathers said. “Tonight is the first time I've seen those kinds of numbers in a start in the windup and the stretch. So once I saw it in the stretch, too, I was like, ‘okay, this could be a real weapon.’ It makes you excited that you've actually figured another little piece out. So now it's just like, how can we use that in the zone?” 0m42lv.mp4 Weathers was one of Miami’s best pitchers in the first half of 2024. Through 11 starts, he had a 3.16 ERA. He had a rough start against the Texas Rangers, allowing four runs in six innings, and was pulled after two innings in his next start against the Cleveland Guardians with left index finger soreness. He’d wind up missing over three months on the injured list and only made three more starts before the season ended. Over the offseason, Weathers said he lost about 20 pounds. He reportedly went up to 238 pounds at one point last year. It’s early, but he said he already feels a difference in the way his body responds both during the game and recovery. “I just, overall, feel better,” Weathers said. “It's quicker for my arm to recover. I feel like I can get my body in better spots, just to be more efficient with my delivery. So far, I'm seeing benefits from it.” Weathers is a lock to make the Marlins rotation coming out of camp. If he continues pitching the way he did in the first half of 2024, along with added velocity and longevity, he can possibly take on the No. 2 spot behind Sandy Alcantara. View full article

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