Sean Millerick

Happy Edinson Volquez day, Miami Marlins fans! That officially brings you halfway through Marlins no-hitter season. And hey, this time next week, you'll be two-thirds of the way home. That's when the twenty-eighth anniversary of Kevin Brown's no-hit, near perfecto rolls around. Twenty years apart, yet within the same week, came arguably the two greatest pitching performances in Marlins franchise history. In fact, if you go by game score, those are the top two, with Volquez somehow edging Brown out despite the fact he walked two batters, whereas Brown's only baserunner was a HBP on a guy who was really, really crowding the plate. Generally, this is the kind of thing I would leave in the capable hands of our resident Marlinsversarian, Mike Ferguson. He's certainly welcome to break down how only one other Marlins no-hitter cracks the Game Score Top 10...and it comes in at tenth. Tenth! Pushing A.J. Burnett and the Most Effectively Wild Start Ever down the charts I can get behind, but Henderson Alvarez, Al Leiter, and Anibal Sanchez? How can... Anyway, I digress. Fib too, as Marlins no-hitters might be the baseball topic I've written the most about over the years. Most recently, I spent some time last May pondering whether a no-no like Burnett's would ever even happen again with analytics at the forefront, and whether fans would even want it to. I mean, let's be honest here. If a starting pitcher under Clayton McCullough walked five through three innings and nine over the course of a competitive 3-0 game? I'm pretty sure Marlins Twitter would eat themselves over the bullpen mismanagement. However, just one year later, there's now another wrinkle to consider when it comes to how Marlins fans would react to a prospective no-hitter. Not just a wild and wacky one like Burnett's either. Even something as close to perfection as those Brown or Volquez starts could now go under the microscope in a whole new way. Why? Because as you might have read here, there, or everywhere since the Marlins adopted the practice last summer, the team is now calling pitches from the dugout. Meaning that a pretty sizable chunk of the strategy that goes into the feat of a no-hitter now lies in the hands of people that might never set foot on the field. Which begs the question- will that make a difference when it comes to celebrating the achievement? Obviously, Marlins fans will still be happy for the almost certain victory. But in that wider, "baseball is the best" sense, will a Marlins no-hitter today mean the same as the six previous ones? Would it even mean the same as MLB's two most recent no-nos, a pair of combined efforts from the Astros and Cubs? The last true one was all the way back in 2024 when Blake Snell did it, and the last Marlins no-hit effort was Volquez's 2017 gem. Now the answer is probably yes. Pitchers still need to execute, keeping those sliders on the corners and not hanging over the middle of the plate. Catchers still need to work some framing magic, even if the game calling is out of their hands. Plenty of athleticism is still required. If you extend this line of thinking to another sport, it's not as if fans ever question a record setting performance from a quarterback even though an offensive coordinator is calling the plays. So most folks would probably let Miami's pitching staff off the hook here. That definitely seems to be the prevailing sentiment amongst those of you that took the time to vote in a recent Twitter poll on the subject: All the same, I can't shake the sense that it seems worth asking. That there might be some potential for an asterisk to start being affixed, especially if it came to pass that the Marlins or any other team calling pitches from the dugout pulled off the feat more than once. If nothing else, it does feel like it makes the catcher much more of a passenger than ever before. I can still recall watching Charles Johnson and Miguel Olivo fielding questions left and right during the postgame pressers of the no-hitters they helped bring about. Particularly Olivio's, as I perhaps uncharitably thought it would end up easily going down as the highlight of his career. Does it change the accomplishment if there are now three or four seats at that podium, with coaches doing a lot of the strategy talk? It would appear that at least a few of you think so. Here's hoping the Marlins give us the chance to put this question to the test sometime soon. View full article

In case you missed it Miami Marlins fans, the next wave of baseball's labor wars are officially under way. Wednesday saw the MLBPA propose something that really did nothing to address owners' concerns. Thursday saw MLB propose something that the MLBPA exists to defeat at every turn. Throughout it all, and as always in these kinds of talks, fans watched people that tend to make far more money than them put something fans love in jeopardy so those people could make even more money still. Yep, these next six months are going to be a blast. Obviously, no one reading this needs me to tell you that the Marlins spending more money on payroll would be a positive for the Marlins viewing experience. It's not as if MLB just proposed a salary floor without knowing all 30 teams would be able to come up with the cash. Either Marlins owner Bruce Sherman et al. are willing to do so...or they plan on selling the team really quickly to some group that will. Not hitting the floor isn't an option, provided the penalties are similar to what they are in other leagues. So no matter what, if MLB gets their way, Marlins fans win. However, seeing as how MLB has chugged along without a salary cap to this point, it's more than fair to be skeptical about MLB getting one. The smart money remains on that not happening. Yet what does seem unavoidable is some kind of a closing of the gap between the league's rich and poor. And if that gap does close significantly, it could finally allow the Miami Marlins to flex the greatest weapon in their player acquisition arsenal. Miami itself. If you think of essentially every article you've ever read about the Florida Panthers, Miami Dolphins, and Miami Heat signing a free agent, you'll recall that you spent just as much time reading about the allure of Miami and Florida's lack of state income tax than you did about space under the cap. You never really see that talk for the Marlins though, outside of the precious few seasons they did spend aggressively, unless it is about players getting too old or playing too hurt looking for a soft landing in the sunshine. Unfortunately, the palm trees and tax free salaries don't mean much when the competition can freely outbid you to the extent the top spenders currently can. As Will Smith once said, "you gotta have cheese for that summer house piece on South Beach." Top players are content to earn more money elsewhere, and play snowbird instead. But if that gap is suddenly in the neighborhood of $70 million rather than $400 million? If the Marlins can market their geographic advantage to a similar extent that the Dolphins, Heat, and Panthers can? Proudly proclaiming to all free agents that Miami is decidedly, if nothing else, not Ohio? You'd better believe that is going to result in better players bringing their talents to Little Havana, just as they have to Miami, Miami Gardens, and Sunrise. So sure, there will almost certainly continue to be teams that spend more than the Marlins. There will be smarter front offices. If first round miscues continue to happen, that third Marlins championship will probably remain as much of a pipe dream as any of the proposals just issued by the MLBPA and MLB. The thing is though, Marlins fans don't need a guarantee of money buying a championship to benefit here. What they, and all those other fans of low payroll clubs need, is increased hope of having the chance to compete. As I've written about previously, nine of the last ten World Series winners were Top 10 in payroll. The exception was 11th. You're going to feel more confident about competing. More confident about getting more Ryan O'Hearns and less Christopher Morels. The current MLB proposal? That would be a dream come true down here, and one that isn't happening. Any salary change though that favors the league? It's going to result in that Miami part of their title mattering more than ever for the Miami Marlins, and that could end up being just enough to put them back in a title chase. View full article

Back in the good old days of December 2025, the Miami Marlins made a low-risk, high-reward signing when they inked Christopher Morel to a one-year deal. He was a former top prospect. He'd demonstrated significant power upside in the majors. It was only $2 million, with the potential to keep him cheaply for years to come as he was still arbitration eligible and wouldn't hit free agency until 2029. All reasonable enough. However, it was then reported that Morel was being brought in to compete for the first base job. Granted, he would be an improvement over the ball rolling into the first base dugout on account of no one being there— a real possibility given Miami's lack of first base depth at the time. Still, it seemed odd as he had never played the position before. It continued to be odd as no other competition was brought in throughout the rest of the offseason, despite zero statistical evidence from spring training suggesting he would perform well. Concurrent to all this lack of excitement at first base though, a supporting narrative had emerged that Miami was hesitant to block any of their superior internal options. In terms of actual first basemen, that meant Deyvison De Los Santos . Yet it was also suggested that there was concern about blocking Agustin Ramirez, Miami's breakout catcher with the bat of an All-Star but the glove of a Little League fourth outfielder. First base would be the easiest switch if the defense failed to improve behind the plate, since relegating him solely to DH duties wasn't an option at the time. Again, all reasonable enough, at least for a cash-poor team like the Marlins. The Ramirez element even helped to tease excitement for an aggressive promotion of defensive-wunderkind Joe Mack . There was certainly skepticism, but concern seemed unwarranted. After all, if it didn't work out, surely Miami would just move on. But then...the first two months of the 2026 MLB season happened, leaving every red-blooded Marlins fan and even a broadcaster or two to wonder what in the world Morel is still doing in the majors. Those spring training stats of his? Usually such numbers can be dismissed as meaningless, but in Morel's case, they were astonishingly predictive in hindsight. After slashing .150/.239/.200 this spring, he's gone on to post a .169/.222/.220 line in the regular season and has done so with roughly 20 more at-bats. Sure, he missed the beginning of the season due to injury, but there's been no indication he's still dealing with something. He's gotten nearly twice the number of at-bats Austin Slater did before being cut loose and is closing in on the sample size that was deemed enough to send Graham Pauley down to the minors. The defense has been poor. The offense has been worse. After a particularly poor performance the other night, he refused to be interviewed. There is zero track record of past success with the organization for him to lean on. As for those possibly acceptable excuses offered in the offseason? Pretty much all gone. It would have been impossible for the Marlins to make it any plainer they don't view Ramirez as a first base option. Since his demotion, he's played 14 games, with 12 coming at catcher and 2 at DH. And that's with Mack locked in at catcher after an early arrival and Liam Hicks having an All-Star caliber season. De Los Santos is hardly knocking the cover off the ball, but both his MiLB and MLB production this year tops that of Morel. Then there's the as of yet unmentioned issue of platoon splits. As fans are frequently told, Morel's presence in the lineup is often to give Miami a better chance against lefty pitchers. Which would be awesome—this team certainly does need help there—except for the fact Morel's 2026 stats against lefties aren't any better than the players he most frequently replaces. Want to guess which Marlins player has the fewest home runs off a lefty between Morel, Connor Norby, and Javier Sanoja? You only need one guess, which is one more than the zero dingers supposed power bat Morel has hit with Miami. In short, it's becoming increasingly difficult to conclude that Morel's continued presence is about anything other than money. His salary makes him the fourth highest paid player on the active roster. Which is frustrating seeing as how the Marlins have already moved on from their other offseason financial misfires in Slater and Chris Paddack. A case could be made that bad luck with other players has played a part. The Kemp Alderman and Griffin Conine injuries. The fact Ramirez was playing bad enough to need to demote. The fact that De Los Santos hasn't yet pounded down the door in AAA. Once again, all fair. Except...he's a veteran on a one-year deal hitting .169/.222/.220. Peter Bendix could throw a dart at a list of options and find someone that couldn't be any worse than that. Morel is hardly the only problem with the 2026 Marlins, but he's easily one of the biggest. He's also the easiest problem to fix. Bottom-line? It was a worthwhile experiment, but it's an experiment that has now arguably cost the Marlins multiple games. If the team doesn't learn their lesson quickly, it could cost them a season. View full article

Did I ever tell you about my greatest moment writing about the Miami Marlins? It came eleven years ago this past Sunday. The year was 2015. Miami was 16-21 under Mike Redmond. That fateful morning, I wrote an article making the case for why Redmond wouldn't manage another game for Miami if that record hit 16-22. Redmond was fired shortly after that afternoon's loss. Now, my editor at the time referred to my prediction as "pure speculation." Personally, I'd have preferred "astute analysis" of an owner in love with the legacy of his one successful season that was happy to change owners as often as Miguel Rojas changes sneakers. Jeff Torborg was fired at 16-22, and the Marlins went on to win a title. Jeffrey Loria was exactly the kind of owner who would be willing to believe lightning could strike twice. As my four-year old has taken to saying lately, easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy. After a true only in Miami adventure with Dan Jennings recently discussed on Fish Unfiltered, the club hired Don Mattingly next offseason. The Marlins haven't fired a manager since. Which brings us, dear reader, to current Marlins skipper Clayton McCullough and the point of that parable. For beyond the obvious lesson that I should be making ESPN money for that bit of prognostication, there is also a lesson far more useful for today's Marlins devotee. For fan temperature seems to have reached a point where it's worth pointing out how unlikely a manager change is this season, and how little of an impact it would even have on any of the things fans are angry about. Before diving into McCullough specifically, allow me to address anyone sitting there thinking I'm off in my terminated manager count. Sure, you could read between the lines all you want on Miami's "mutual parting of the ways" with Mattingly and Skip Schumaker. However, you can't deny that Bruce Sherman has never fired a manger— capital F, publicly stating you were bad at your job Fired—during his tenure. Manager or general manager, all prominent changes happened in the offseason, with the mask of those mutual differences. He has been far more patient than his predecessor. Partly, that comes down to what is surely just a genuine difference in temperament between Loria and Sherman. Yet it's hard to conclude that just as much of it hasn't been a deliberate commitment to changing Miami's image. Change was needed. In other words, Sherman's track record says no change is coming before October. Period. Everyone the Marlins have moved on from completed their contract. McCullough is extremely unlikely to be an exception. It's also important to stress the difference in circumstances. Every other time a Marlins manager has been fired midseason, there were serious expectations for better play, ones typically backed by aggressive offseason signings and/or front office bluster. The 2026 Marlins expected to better, sure, but drawing a comp between them and the 1996, 2001, 2003, 2010, and 2015 Marlins would be pushing it. Those teams were all much better positioned for success. As I've said before, John Boles is probably the best comparison for Clayton McCullough when it comes to previous Marlins skippers. But if McCullough does go as Boles did, it's more likely to be like when Miami moved on from Boles after 1996 than during 2001. This team was supposed to improve, and still might. That doesn't mean the investment in it happening was high enough to warrant an early firing though if that improvement doesn't happen. There has been no Guillen-esque PR disaster. No clubhouse meeting heard round the world. Nothing off the field to support such a rash decision. Bringing it back to McCullough specifically though, there are two reasons that Marlins fans shouldn't be so quick to wish for him being shown the door. Or at the very least, thinking it will change anything. For one, what would a manager firing do to the identify of those scrappy, in every game to the very last out Miami Marlins you've come to know and love? Obviously, much of that has to do with the players on the field. But a team's identity does tend to be linked to the individual leading it, and that's McCullough. Would a new manager push all those same buttons? Would this clubhouse receive a change well? Again, there's been no evidence that McCullough has lost it. Just evidence that a talent gap remains between the Marlins and more serious contenders. That's not a McCullough problem. It's a front office one. Secondly, let's talk a little bit more about that front office. They aren't going anywhere. Back in the old days of 1993-2023, changing the manager might have had a dramatic impact on how Miami operates. In the brave new world Peter Bendix and company have brought the Marlins into? Waaaay more debatable. That's not a slight against the team's increased reliance on analytics either but merely to say that any new manager Miami brings in is going to be expected to continue to tow the company line. Meaning that any of the things that have upset fans to this point are still going to be there. Platoons. Bullpen decisions. Quick hooks for starting pitchers. All of those decisions have been backed by a massive pile of numbers. The Marlins are going to continue to provide their manager those numbers...and expect their manager to act on them. None of that adds up to a manager change making sense for the Marlins in 2026. View full article

As you might have heard, the Miami Marlins got a bit creative with their start time recently. The organization made the curious choice to go with a 4:10 pm start this past Tuesday with an eye towards seeing if any kind of attendance boost could be gained from such a move. Once you get past the absurdness, the possible advantages are obvious. No rush hour. Works pretty cleanly as an after-school activity. No need to push back bedtime too much. What's not to like? Well, plenty, if the social media response to this is any guide. That 4:10 pm first pitch is even more of a non-starter than usual for the Broward County crowd. If you work a 9 to 5 job? Clearly not happening either, and in that case, some of the angst this experiment has seemed to cause is even understandable. After all, thousands of South Floridians were unable to attend as a result. It would have been particularly upsetting if you were one of the precious few who regularly attend Marlins games. Should we now count how many potential Marlins ticket buyers work non-traditional hours, though? Add up all the teachers? Then tack on all the hospitality workers and a big chunk of first responders? Tabulate all the people able to telecommute and essentially decide when they work and when they don't? Point being, there is no perfect start time. Nothing is going to be convenient for everyone. Over 2 million people live in Dade County alone, and there are less than 40,000 seats in loanDepot park. Which means that in a vacuum, there are plenty of ways for the ticket-buying math to math in the Marlins favor. Of course, as everyone reading this knows, you can't view anything the Marlins do attendance-wise in a vacuum. Merely shuffling a start time is rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic, putting lipstick on a pig level stuff for this franchise. Until they win consistently, and very likely spend more on payroll to do so, no dramatic turnaround at the ticket window is coming. However, that doesn't mean it isn't worth the Marlins time to get creative at drawing more people in. They just need to be far more aggressive at doing so than they have been so far. The same kind of aggressiveness that the club has taken with their analytics and player development should be pursued in boosting attendance. In 2003, the team created special D-Train inspired flex packages to give fans plenty of flexibility in when to come out to the ballpark. While the team doesn't have as equally marketable of a star right now, the idea of any kind of incentive for fans to buy multiple tickets seems worth considering. With thousands of empty seats, it's hard to see what the team would have to lose by even offering 2-for-1 seats, at least for weekday games. And speaking of weekday games, I'm not sure there's a summer camp in Miami that shouldn't be getting heavily discounted tickets to those June and July weekday afternoon starts. Not to mention sending those campers home with a voucher for a free ticket to a future game in case those campers are inclined to tell their parents how much fun they had. As long I'm spending Bruce Sherman's money, though, a radical idea even dearer to my heart would be bussing. The Marlins already have a trolley linked up with the Metrorail, and a bus deal set up with Brightline. Unfortunately, one of those serves a very narrow range that is already close enough to the stadium and the other involves an expensive train that is so popular it is heading for bankruptcy court. But what if the Marlins arranged for a location nearer to Broward to bus in all those fans that wring their hands at the prospect of driving much farther than they did in the past to get to a Marlins game? Hard Rock Stadium, perhaps? Not even kind of kidding, at least not for the many months the Dolphins aren't a factor. There might not be enough parking lot space for the Super Bowl's liking these days, but there's more than enough for Broward-based Marlins fans to park their cars and hop on a bus that gets them to loanDepot in time for first pitch. Same goes for Amerant Bank Arena when the Panthers aren't playing. Even if the stadium owners netted all the parking fees, the Marlins would still benefit plenty from tickets and concessions, as well as the potential for some fan goodwill from going that extra mile. Again, there are no silver bullets for the Marlins attendance woes beyond winning. Ideas like Tuesday's start time shuffle are a step in the right direction, but need to be part of a much more concentrated, creative effort to get people in the door. In my humble opinion, the suggestions offered here would be much more impactful. As would plenty of other ideas, I'm sure. Then again, I'm the kind of fan who used to cheerfully sneak out of school and endure summer rainouts in order to attend games. I presently live in Texas and have already been to three Marlins home games this season. Admittedly, I might not be the best sample size here. So the odd 4:10 pm start isn't something I have an issue with—this team needs to leave no stone unturned in generating interest and revenue. With attendance numbers as bad as Miami's, there are no bad ideas. Seeing as how only 7,521 people showed up for a showdown with the rival Braves, and this was only the third-best crowd on a Tuesday all season? Looks like it'll be back to the drawing board. Until the wins increase, tinker away, Marlins. Tinker away. View full article

If you're a Miami Marlins fan, you'd be forgiven for thinking the franchise is cursed right about now. Well, that thought has probably occurred to you before—there's been ample evidence over the years from countless other calamities. Mostly, this is in response to last week's gut-wrenching news that Robby Snelling is sidelined with a UCL sprain. Snelling is meeting with a surgeon on Thursday. This could just as easily be about fellow top prospect Kevin Defrank's biceps injury. Or Aiva Arquette's struggles to stay on the field. Or the fact the Marlins seem to have a better chance of winning a Super Bowl than winning a series at Tropicana Field. Then again, it could be the fact that so many of the players Miami has chosen to move on from recently are doing well. Troy Johnston is a .300 hitter. Dane Myers and Joey Weimer have been better than any of the new faces manning Miami's bench, all while former first-round pick JJ Bleday continues to look like a stud. Proof after proof that the Marlins just can't have nice things. Most bemoaned of all among many fans right now, though? The trading of Edward Cabrera and Ryan Weathers. Chiefly, the focus there has been on Weathers; Cabrera at least netted an active member of the 26-man roster in Owen Caissie. Meanwhile, Weathers has been worth nearly as much as Sandy Alcantara WAR-wise while producing a career best 3.58 ERA so far this season, yet was traded for a package that won't help at all in 2026. That certainly proved tough to swallow during the Chris Paddack era, as Weathers obviously could have helped flip the M on a couple of those early Marlins losses, and has continued to gnaw as other starters have struggled. While Caissie did single-handedly win a couple games for Miami early on, he's struggled mightily as of late while Cabrera has been a consistent source of production for the Cubs. There has been a fair bit of dismay about the fact the Marlins might have been able to do better in terms of trade return if they had waited. Much like the time when the Marlins chose to move on from Jesús Luzardo—a trade that looked reasonable enough, until it didn't. However, during a tough stretch like this one, it's important to remember that not every decision the Marlins make is the wrong one. That's especially so for when it comes to the cases where a mountain of evidence suggests Miami is selling high on a player. Given the financial constraints ownership chooses to operate the team under (no quarrel from this author if you want to view that as a mistake), they had to move some of their pitching depth this offseason in order to fill out the roster. Years of injury history suggested that the Marlins were picking the right elbows to trade when they opted to move Cabrera and Weathers. In Cabrera's case, in addition to the injury history, there was also a years-long Jekyll and Hyde pattern of production where it was anyone's guess whether he would toss six strong innings or try to walk six within a single frame. In short, if the Marlins were going to trade two pitchers this winter, the only two choices were the ones that were moved. Unfortunately for the Marlins front office, the last two weeks have made both deals look foolish. The Weathers one is an outright travesty from a "competing in 2026" mindset. There's no question that having even one more arrow in the MLB-ready pitching quiver would make a world of difference to Miami right about now. So while it may come as small comfort to fans, it just seemed like a good time to remind folks to continue to trust the process. Sometimes it goes south, sometimes it works out in a big way, as it has with many members of this current Marlins roster. It's also a long season. Plenty of time for more data to come in and change the perception here. Yet the fact that there is a clear, consistent process for the Marlins? It remains a refreshing change of pace. View full article

Coming into the season, trade deadline plans looked clear enough for the Miami Marlins. If Miami was in the race? Aggressively buy, hoping to push the team into the postseason and energize the fanbase. If things didn't break their way? Aggressively shop Sandy Alcantara, selling off another face of the franchise. However, as is often the case with best laid plans, they can go awry in a hurry. Two of Miami's top five prospects have suffered major injuries and a third has struggled all season to stay on the field. On the MLB side, no pitcher has given any indication they can be a reliable ace other than Alcantara. In terms of wins and losses? The team has been maddeningly inconsistent, making it anyone's guess as of right now as to what direction the team should take come midsummer. In other words, that once simple equation for the Marlins is now much more complicated, even without bringing any CBA or television money baggage into it. So what is Miami to do? When it comes to buying or selling, thankfully that decision remains weeks away. Which was always going to be the case given the expanded playoff format. As of this writing, arguably more NL Central teams should be buying than teams in the entirety of the American League. Plenty can and will change between now and late July. But as to what those decisions are going to look like now? Who can Miami afford to move? For my money, there are a few takeaways Fish fans should walk away with. For starters...the Marlins can't trade another starting pitcher. And I'd argue that goes for any starting pitcher, including Alcantara. Look, the Marlins need to be competitive next year, or they might as well ship the whole thing off to Nashville and change their name to the Grand Ole Ospreys. With Robby Snelling very likely on the shelf and Eury Perez still searching for consistency, it's hard to envision a successful Marlins team in 2026 or 2027 without Sandy leading the way. Even if Thomas White makes a 2003 Dontrelle Willis-like debut later this month, that's still only a pitching Big 3 for Miami. A Big 2 just isn't enough. Plus, as this season's attrition has already shown, pitching depth is a myth. Any flexibility the Marlins had here is gone. Of course, that's just what the Marlins should do. At the end of the day, they have less assets to move today than they did when the season started. That's not likely to sit well with Peter Bendix. If the Marlins choose to operate as if MLB isn't about to force them to massively increase their spending, then an argument could be made that rather than the Marlins having zero extra pitchers to trade, that they instead only have one. Which would mean that the chances for Sandy staying in Miami beyond this July just died with Snelling's elbow. Most of this talk though has been more sell than buy in nature. If the Marlins go on a run and are in the race, adding on talent is now dicier as well. Long gone is the prospect of flipping an extra pitcher for offensive help. Such a move would now almost assuredly involve a top position player prospect- something you have to imagine this front office would be very loathe to do. At the very least, it's not something they would do lightly, meaning the bar for "being in the race" is probably higher now than it was when they put this roster together back in the offseason. Would the Marlins move Aiva Arquette or Starlyn Caba to add an above average MLB bat? Maybe, maybe not. Yet it's now clear that any significant summer upgrades are going to involve more pieces than the Marlins planned on, and that's a problem for small-market clubs. Potentially a deal-breaking one. Either way, the Marlins trade deadline just got far more interesting. Time will tell whether or not that's a good thing. View full article

Marlins Win 2, Sandy MVP.

When it came to the Miami Marlins calling up Joe Mack, it was only a question of when. But sending down Agustin Ramirez? For many, the only question being asked right now is what in the world the Marlins are thinking. Ramirez displayed 20/20 potential last season from the catcher position and was in the NL Rookie of the Year conversation right to the very end. Offensively, he was as exciting advertised with an oWAR of 1.2 and an excellent eye at the plate. An already good player, with plenty of skills that could be tapped into. Unfortunately, none of those skills were behind the plate. Ramirez batted .231 with 21 HRS and 16 SBs in 2025...and was a negative WAR player. You have to be shockingly bad defensively for that to be the case and Ramirez was indeed shockingly bad. That trend continued in 2026 as the Marlins continued to throw him out there hoping he would grow into a league average defensive catcher. Thus far, the only aspect of big league catching he hasn't been terrible at is the newest aspect of big league catching. Ramirez has been elite at getting his ABS calls right. Beyond that, though? He's been a defensive disaster. Mind you, all of this has been happening while the Marlins other bad at catching catcher has been hitting like an All-Star. The combination of Liam Hicks torrid start at the plate and Ramirez's horrid defense behind it has paved the way for Joe Mack's big league debut. In the offseason, the thinking was Ramirez would slide over to either designated hitter or first base when Mack arrived, while Hicks would alternate between multiple positions. Sending Ramirez down entirely though never entered the equation. On the surface, it seems fairly crazy. Unless...the Marlins are considering a trade. Well that, or some behind the scenes disciplinary measure that has played a role. Absent being put in professional timeout though, the trade scenario is a fascinating one. If the Marlins really don't think a Ramirez that only plays designated hitter has long-term value to the organization, then it could be that the front office reached the point where they decided to keep alive the illusion that he could be a catcher by having him have be slightly more successful at it back in the minors. And while he's working on that...the Marlins can start working the phones. If they can get a first baseman or third baseman? An outfielder that can actually hit lefty pitching? Really, anything else that comes with a little bit of control that better positions the Marlins to win right now? That's arguably worth more to Miami now if Hicks really has leveled up and Mack's elite defense does translate to the majors. Admittedly, this is probably reach. Gus is probably coming back in a month. Either after thirty straight games as a catcher working on his craft or as a first baseman learning a new position. But don't sleep on the trade chance if the Marlins stay in the race with the big league roster as currently built.

Two quality starts against the world champions later, perhaps the Miami Marlins are beginning to trust their starters a little more. Then again, one of those was a Sandy start, and that's never been the problem. It's the rest of the staff that has been causing headaches. Sometimes it's been on account of being legitimately unable to make it through six or more frames. More often than not though, Marlins starting pitches have just flat out not been allowed the chance to face that dreaded third turn through the batting order. If there's been one consistent source of frustration for Marlins fans so far in 2026 (Austin Slater is now the Mets problem), that would be it. Granted, the numbers do suggest the batter has the edge the third and fourth time through. As is the case with just about every starting pitcher, everywhere. When looked at on the singular game level, this approach makes sense. It especially would in say, a playoff series, or even in a world where baseball's regular season resembled the NBA or NFL format where the off days outnumber the gamedays in any given week. However, as you might have heard, the MLB season is a marathon, not a sprint. Which makes it more than fair to wonder just how long the Marlins bullpen can stay effective if they are forced to fire this many bullets this early in the season. If Miami's relievers are routinely asked to pitch innings the starter normally would, it would seem to only be a matter of time before they run out of gas. And if that happens when it's clear that the starting pitchers that keep getting pulled had gas of their own left in the tank most nights? That's the kind of thing that could haunt Miami all summer long. So why not split the baby on this one and just bump one of the Marlins many starters into the bullpen? Obviously, you wouldn't want to do this with a rookie starter. Josh Johnson did start his Marlins career doing this but only as a September call-up after a full minor-league season of brushing up on those starting pitcher skills. So this would need to be one of the veterans- Janson Junk, Max Meyer, Chris Paddack moving over. Which isn't a new idea, of course. Marlins fans have been clamoring for that since the first weekend of the season. Basically, this is a pitch for piggybacking. Junk was extremely effective in this role last year, and would be the natural choice if it wasn't for the fact he has multiple quality starts himself. Still, his early work in 2025 serves as proof of concept. Ideally, the outings wouldn't be of the 4 to 5 IP sort Junk logged during that stretch, which would effectively burn them for nearly as long as that day's starting pitcher. But if the Marlins could have someone who could throw 2 to 3 IP depending on pitch count two to three times a week without compromising any of their high leverage bullpen arms? That sounds well worth considering, and possibly vital to making sure the Marlins best relievers have something left for the playoff push.

Marlins win two, Schwarber MVP. But don't sleep on the pain here folks. Phillies are better, Fish face two lefties in series.

Marlins Win 1, Ohtani MVP.

Nearly one month in the season, it is finally happening for the Miami Marlins: Something like the version of the team Peter Bendix intended for fans to see is about to take the field. That's the biggest takeaway from the return of Esteury Ruiz, not to mention the subtraction of Austin Slater, from the 26-man roster. Keep in mind that Miami actually traded for Ruiz all the way back in December, sending Adriano Marrero to the Dodgers in exchange for the former AL stolen base king. Miami doesn't move any of their assets lightly. More to the point though, some might forget just what a massive chunk of Marlins offseason upgrades Ruiz represented. By the close of 2025, it was just him and Christopher Morel in terms of offensive additions- the signing of Pete Fairbanks as closer was the only thing making for a merry holiday. Yes, Miami did make their big offensive splash with the Owen Caissie trade not long after the calendar turned. Even so, that's still 33% (check out those math skills) of the offensive improvements for a team that really needed to improve offensively coming from Ruiz. Now, is that overstating things slightly? Perhaps. After all, Bendix and the Marlins had plenty riding on a fully healthy Kyle Stowers and a fully present Jakob Marsee to drive Miami's offense to new heights in 2026. Caissie was a Top 50 prospect. Not unfair to hope for a big boost from that, even if it wasn't what most fans wanted to hear. Still, it's clear that Ruiz was a major part of the offseason plan. So much so that it was really looking like he might actually beat out fan favorite Griffin Conine for that final roster spot, and not just serve as injury depth. And given how aggressive the Marlins have been on the basepaths so far in 2026? It's easy to see how he might very quickly become a secret weapon for the Fish. Provided he gets on base in the first place.

Marlins Win 1, Arraez MVP. On the road, cold and wet is the forecast, they face a lefty.

Marlins Win 2, Otto MVP.

Marlins Win 1, Sandy MVP.

Marlins win 1, Baldwin MVP.

Marlins win 1, Keith MVP