THOMAS JOSEPH

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.

Over the last decade or so, the Atlanta Braves have found a way to break the Miami Marlins' hearts late several times. On this day five years ago, however, the roles were reversed.
After forcing extra innings with four runs in the ninth, the Marlins used a sacrifice fly from Martín Prado in the 10th inning to complete the comeback. Prado's sacrifice fly lifted Miami to a 7-6 win over its National League East rivals.
It looked as though a three-run blast from Atlanta's Johan Camargo in the top of the ninth had put the game out of reach at Marlins Park on Aug. 10, 2019. Camargo's bomb pushed the Braves' lead to 6-2, but the usually reliable Mark Melancon was unable to shut the door in the bottom of the frame.
Melancon started his night by striking out Harold Ramírez, but the Marlins followed with four straight singles from Prado, Bryan Holaday, Curtis Granderson and Jon Berti. With the score now 6-3 and the tying run on base, the Braves turned to Shane Greene, but he wouldn't fare much better.
After Isan Díaz came through with a fifth straight Miami single, Starlin Castro doubled down the left-field line. Two runs scored, but Díaz was gunned down at home trying to score the winning run. Following a walk to Brian Anderson, Greene was able to get Garrett Cooper, who he had given up a game-winning grand slam to earlier in the season, to ground out to end the threat. 
With momentum on the Marlins' side, Jeff Brigham worked a 1-2-3 10th to put Miami in position to walk it off. Against Sean Newcomb, that's exactly what it did.
Ramírez started the Miami 10th with a sharp single to left before advancing to third on an errant pick-off attempt. On a 2-1 pitch from Newcomb, Prado lined a fly ball to left field. Adam Duvall made a strong throw home, but it was not in time as the Marlins completed the comeback.
Despite 13 total runs, the contest was actually scoreless through seven innings. The Braves drew first blood with three runs in the top of the eighth. Miami responded in the bottom of the inning on a solo homer from Granderson and an RBI single from Anderson.

During the 2019 season, the Braves took 15 of the 19 matchups against Miami, which included three walk-off wins. The most thrilling Marlins win from that year came on this day five years ago. 

Here are the latest Miami Marlins game notes, produced by the Marlins communications department and relayed to our loyal SuperSubs.
These notes apply to the second game of Miami's home series against the San Diego Padres.

MIAMI, FL—When Miami Marlins utility man Jonah Bride was recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville on July 4, the third-year player out of South Carolina was looking forward to translating what he learned as a member of the Jumbo Shrimp to prosperity on a big league roster. It might've taken a couple of weeks and a lot of faces from the Marlins lineup to find new homes elsewhere, but Bride has finally gotten the opportunity to play every day.
To say he's capitalized on it would be an understatement.
Entering Saturday's game, Bride has slashed .308/.438/.641 since the July 30 trade deadline with three multi-hit games, four homers and a 7/11 BB/K ratio. Marlins manager Skip Schumaker has leaned on Bride to bring pop in third and fourth spots of the order and Bride has done just that with multiple clutch base hits to start rallies or even give his team a sizable lead like he did in Atlanta a week ago.
"Just going out there every day, competing and having consistent time has been good for me and it's a testament to the coaching staff and all the guys around here" said Bride. "It's a hard game, so every day it's gonna be a grind, and if you can get some consistent time and get comfortable up there, definitely always gonna be a help."
Bride drew a walk on Saturday to extend his on-base streak to 12 games. It's the longest active streak among Marlins players.
What distinguishes Bride from most of his teammates is patience at the plate. He has swung at only 19.5% of first pitches while averaging 4.21 pitches seen per plate appearance (the team's average in 3.74).
Defensively, Bride has taken most of his reps at first base, a position he played just a handful of times a season ago. Similar to his expanded role in the lineup, the increased looks he's gotten at the cold corner have been key.
"I played a lot of first base—maybe not so much at this level, so it's definitely a work in progress with the full work and everything every day, but the guys have made it easy with the throws and stuff to first base. Just getting the reps every day, going out there with (infield coach) Jody (Reed) and getting the early work, just doing everything I can to be as good as I can out there."
Now heading into the final quarter of the 2024 regular season, Bride doesn't have a specific goal outlined. Instead, he sees it as a great opportunity to mesh with his new teammates and build momentum into next year.
"I just wanna go out there and win games with this team, continue to get to know all these new guys and have a good time and have a good vibe in the clubhouse. I think everything's been good lately. Everyone's having a good time, and we can go out there and play hard and set the tone for next year."

MIAMI, FL—Midway through, Saturday afternoon’s matchup between the visiting San Diego Padres and the Miami Marlins looked very familiar. Back in late May, knuckleballer Matt Waldron led his team to a 4-0 win after stifling Miami’s lineup for six scoreless innings. Facing a vastly different set of hitters in this rematch, Waldron had comparable results and had mowed down the Marlins entering the bottom of the fifth inning, the only blemish being a Vidal Bruján solo homer.
The Marlins had other plans, though.
As soon as the lineup flipped to Xavier Edwards at the top, Miami’s bats exploded. Including Edwards, seven consecutive Marlins reached base, notably Jesús Sánchez and Otto Lopez, who both collected opposite-field doubles. When it was all said and done, the Fish batted around and tallied six runs on four hits, three walks, a hit by pitch, a sacrifice fly and walked out of the inning leading 7-3.
fcc1686c-ed6b29f7-da2f1e6a-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4
Marlins manager Skip Schumaker was naturally impressed with his offense’s ability to get to a guy like Waldron.
“We had a lot of good at bats against him," Schumaker said postgame. "That's not easy. I mean, he throws 90 miles an hour. That feels like it's 95-96 because of the knuckleball. If you're sitting on the knuckleball, it's just really effective. But we put (together) really good at-bats. I think Otto Lopez had a big hit. Jesús Sánchez had a really good day, and then Burger’s, just, you know, as hot as anybody in the league.”
San Diego entered the contest tied for seventh in MLB with 29 comeback wins on the season, including one just the night before. The Padres began chipping away in the top of the seventh with two runs courtesy of Luis Arraez and Jake Cronenworth off Declan Cronin.
The big swing the Padres were desperate for came in the top of the eighth of the bat of—you guessed it—rising phenom Jackson Merrill. The 21-year-old deposited a hanging sweeper from Anthony Bender into the seats to knot things up at seven. It was Merrill’s second game-tying blast in as many days.
“He's killing us, especially late in the games. It's not fun to watch. It was fun to watch before he got here, and it's not so much fun to watch right now, because it just feels like any time in leverage, he's just been the guy over there at 21 years old. It's just super impressive.” said Schumaker.
The Padres weren’t done in the eighth. After playing some small ball, the one and only Arraez came up clutch, just like he did so many times in a Marlins uniform, legging out an infield single to put his new club back in the lead, but not for too long.
Going back to July 1, Jake Burger has been one of the best hitters in the sport. During that span, Burger entered Saturday’s game slashing .293/.353/.650 with 13 of his 20 homers and has come up big countless times for a Marlins team that has needed him to. He did it once again with his team down a run.
Burger just pushed out his 21st shot of the year off, with the ball bouncing off the top of the wall into the Padres bullpen.
Burger appreciated the electric reception he received from the larger-than-usual loanDepot park crowd on his trip around the bases.
“It fired me up. You don't get a chance to hit a game-tying home run very often. Give a couple fist bumps, almost black out in those situations. And I think I turned to one of our trainers, and like, 'Dominican heritage night is electric.' I think every night should be Dominican heritage night, but, yeah, it was an unbelievable showing by our fans, and we heard everybody cheering for USA basketball when they won the gold medal there. So they got us a little more fired up as well.”
After a scoreless ninth for both teams, Schumaker turned to John McMillon in his team debut. McMillon did allow the placed runner at second to cross, but allowed no hits, as the run scored on an Arraez groundout to Jonah Bride at first base.
If the Marlins wanted to extend or win a game they fought so hard in, it would have to come against another friend turned foe that took the mound for the tenth, that of course being Tanner Scott.
Instead, after allowing a bunt single to Derek Hill to lead off the inning, Scott recorded three consecutive outs to secure a 9-8 win and series victory for his new team. The final out of the game was a strikeout of Burger.
"I’ve seen him do it all year, last two months, and he's as good as it gets…He's nasty. Hope I get another chance to face him, but he won that battle and we'll it leave at that,” noted Burger on his ex-teammate.
 
TGw3UU9fVjBZQUhRPT1fQXdaWVVBWUJCUW9BREZRSFZRQUFCd0FGQUZsVVVRQUFCbFJRVXdSVUJWRlNWZ01I.mp4
 
Lost in the chaos is Marlins starter Roddery Muñoz, who enjoyed a solid start against the aforementioned deep Padres lineup.
“I assess this outing as a good one. Thank God. I believe we're showing improvement little by little and I'm happy I was out there. Competing and trying to help the team in any way we can and hopefully, we can continue that growth” said Munoz via translator.
Munoz found success with his offspeed and good command, as his slider and changeup missed Padres bats for most of the night. For the first time this season, Munoz walked nobody.
Schumaker was impressed with the young righty.
“I thought Roddery handled a really good lineup as good as he could and got outs when needed, like big, big-time outs when needed in leverage spots. Again, the no walks is a huge plus for him, and a lot of leverage in that lineup. So I thought five innings was really good for him, especially kind of a bounce-back type of outing.”
The Fish and Friars are set to complete their season series Sunday on SpongeBob Day at loanDepot park. Dylan Cease, who tossed the second no-hitter of the 2024 season a couple weeks ago, takes the mound looking to break out the brooms. Max Meyer toes the slab for Miami. Meyer ran into trouble in his last start against the Reds due to overreliance on his fastball and slider and indecent command. First pitch is scheduled for 1:40 ET.

On Tuesday, Elly De La Cruz stole the show again, going 4-for-5 with dynamic baserunning. Max Meyer (4.0 IP, 8 H, 6 H, 3 BB, 2 K, 76 pitches/43 strikes) pitched horribly. Way too many misses over the heart of the plate and only six whiffs against him. Xavier Edwards extended his on-base streak to 23 games. The Marlins lost, 8-2.
Down on the farm, Triple-A Jacksonville lost, 9-2. INF Connor Norby went 3-for-5. Double-A Pensacola won, 7-3. They racked up 14 hits in five innings off of knuckleballer David Fletcher. OF Shane Sasaki went 3-for-4 and he's quietly hitting .351 since returning from the injured list. LHP Patrick Monteverde set a season high with eight strikeouts. High-A Beloit lost, 7-1. RHP Karson Milbrandt (3.2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 85 pitches/45 strikes) struggled with his control. Bad defense behind him didn't help matters. Low-A Jupiter lost, 9-7. Two walks and an RBI double for INF Carter Johnson. DSL Marlins won, 9-2. INF Joseph Tailor drove in four runs and has reached base safely in 14 consecutive games. RHP Estarlin Francisco (4.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K) allowed only two balls to leave the infield. DSL Miami lost, 6-5. The game was decided on a fielding error by OF Jancory De La Cruz (making the catch would've sealed a 5-4 victory).
🔷 Sean McCormack explains which tweaks the Marlins could make with newly claimed relievers John McMillon and Brett de Geus.
🔷 Andy Slater reports that the PNC Club at loanDepot park will be expanding in 2025 to add five more rows of premium seating behind home plate.
🔷 Aram Leighton of Just Baseball summarizes how the Marlins transformed their farm system at the trade deadline. 
🔷 This week, Loud Miami Fan is giving away an autographed Lewis Brinson card from 2018.
🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, Billy Bean, the revered Major League Baseball senior VP of diversity, equity & inclusion, passed away at age 60 from leukemia. Framber Valdez came one out shy of throwing his second career no-hitter. The White Sox beat the Athletics to snap their 21-game losing streak. Next season, the Braves and Reds will be playing a game at the Bristol Motor Speedway. CJ Abrams homered on a pitch up around his chin.
4de9fb73-14e7be64-07efcd8a-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4
🔷 Today's MLB game: the Marlins (probable starter RHP Valente Bellozo) host the Reds (LHP Andrew Abbott). The Marlins have a 44.7% chance to win, per FanGraphs. First pitch at 6:40 p.m. ET.
🔷 Today's MiLB schedule: 
Triple-A Jacksonville at Toledo, 7:05 p.m. ET Double-A Pensacola at Mississippi, 7:35 p.m. ET High-A Beloit at West Michigan, 6:35 p.m. ET Low-A Jupiter vs. Fort Myers, 6:30 p.m. ET  
Marlins podcast episodes

MIAMI, FL—Every summer, the Cape Cod Baseball League brings together some of the most talented players in college baseball. Consider the 2018 Falmouth Commodores. Their roster featured seven future major leaguers, including Atlanta Braves star pitcher Spencer Strider and two current Miami Marlins, Declan Cronin and Kyle Stowers.
"Remember it being a really fun group," said Stowers. "One thing specifically for some reason that comes up to me is I think in the Cape is such a pure form of baseball. You're playing on high school fields, bad lights if you're playing night games, and you're just playing the game. I think summer ball as a whole in college feels like that. Just feels like a simplified form of baseball."
Playing on the Cape between his sophomore and junior seasons at Stanford University, Stowers was one of Falmouth's top position players. He ended up slashing .326/.361/.565/.926 with six home runs, 24 RBIs and a team-leading 78 total bases. He was second on the team in batting average, OPS and slugging.
Cronin, on the other hand, split his summer schedule between the New England Collegiate Baseball League and the Cape. He pitched only five games for the Commodores (all in relief).
"There were some talented guys," said the Holy Cross right-hander. "Obviously the Cape is really cool because of the high level talent that you can be surrounded with, both on your team and the guys you're going against every night."
Many members of the Marlins clubhouse departed over the last two weeks in trade deadline day deals. That includes left-hander Trevor Rogers, who went to the Baltimore Orioles on deadline day in exchange for Stowers and prospect Connor Norby.
"We were waiting to see what the return [for Rogers] was and somebody was like, 'Oh, we got an outfielder, Stowers,' and I was like, 'We got Stowers!' I was so pumped. I was fully exuberant, so it's great to know that he's here and we're back on the same team."
"He was one of my favorite teammates when we played together then and it's obviously awesome to be back on the same team with him," said Cronin about Stowers. "He's an awesome guy. He's a really talented ballplayer and he's going to be a huge impact on the field, but also off the field. He's one of the best guys I've come across."

Stowers and Cronin have kept up with each other since the summer of '18. They attended the wedding of a mutual friend and competed head-to-head in recent years at the Triple-A level as members of the Orioles and Chicago White Sox organizations, respectively.
"We've stayed in touch through that and I just remember him being very intelligent, as he obviously still is a very intelligent person," said Cronin. "Knew what he was doing, knew what he wanted to do to be successful."
This time around, their stint as teammates could last much longer. Both players are under Marlins club control through at least the 2029 season.

Here are the latest Miami Marlins game notes, produced by the Marlins communications department and relayed to our loyal SuperSubs.
These notes apply to the third game of Miami's home series against the Cincinnati Reds.

MIAMI, FL—When Valente Bellozo took the mound in Atlanta five days ago, the Marlins starter completed five impressive innings, going into the sixth, but not recording an out. The rookie took another step forward on Wednesday night against the Cincinnati Reds, Bellozo pitched a career-high 5 ⅔ shutout innings, striking out four, walking two and allowing five hits. He was given a large lead thanks to newest Marlin Derek Hill and the Marlins defeated the Reds by a final score of 6-4.
The same Reds lineup that scored 10 runs in the opening game of this series and eight more in the second game couldn't put anything on the scoreboard while Bellozo was on the mound. This marked Bellozo's first career win at the Major League level.
"He doesn't have much velocity, but his pitch shapes are really good," said Marlins manager Skip Schumaker. "All of his other characteristics on his secondary stuff, the shaping is really good. The goal of pitching is to miss bats or miss barrels and he is missing barrels at a really good percentage so that's a credit to him."
Bellozo's four-seam fastball averaged only 89.4 mph and maxed out at 91.8 mph. It was still by far his most-used pitch and accounted for three of his nine whiffs.
This season, Marlins pitchers have had no success containing Reds superstar Elly De La Cruz. On Wednesday night, however, Bellozo struck him out twice with two fastballs inside. De La Cruz ended the night going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and one walk after having combined for eight hits between the first two games of the series.
hx42ta_1.mp4
One thing that stands out about Bellozo is he's extremely confident, something Schumaker has observed as well. Bellozo has been meeting with a psychologist for the last year or so and he mentioned that the biggest takeaway is just keeping a positive mindset.
"I think the better mindset is, it's a game," said Bellozo. "Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Sometimes you throw your best pitch and it's a base hit and some days you are not and it's an out. That's the game. I think if we enjoy the game, have fun, embrace every sensation, every moment. I think that's really the mindset."
On August 3, the Marlins claimed outfielder Derek Hill off waivers. Four days later, Hill took Reds starter Andrew Abbott deep for a grand slam. That marked Hill's first career grand slam and the team's third grand slam this season (Jazz Chisholm Jr. had the previous two). Hill is the first Marlins hitter to hit a grand slam in one of his first three games with the team since Jerar Encarnación in 2022 against the New York Mets.
"What it's all about is, are you ready for your opportunity?" said Schumaker. "There's going to be guys we said earlier that are going to get their first shot of playing a lot at this level and Hill is one of them. He was a first-rounder years ago. He's a journeyman, but he hits the ball as hard as anybody. If he can cut down the strikeouts a little bit and hit the ball as hard as he's hitting it, he's gonna be okay up here."
After getting off to a rough start this season, Jake Burger has turned it up a notch since the Marlins visited Cincinnati last month. On Wednesday, Burger went 2-for-4 with two home runs. It marked his fifth career multi-homer game. Burger also has hit 12 homers in his last 30 games. He now leads Miami with 19 total long balls in 2024.
The Marlins held a 6-0 lead entering the top of the seventh inning, but that's when the Reds answered back with a grand slam of their own from TJ Friedl against reliever Andrew Nardi. This was only the second game in the Major League Baseball season where both teams have hit a grand slam.
Down 6-4, the Reds made it interesting in the ninth inning. New Marlins closer Calvin Faucher loaded the bases, but was able to escape it and earned his second save of the season.
With the win, the Marlins are now 43-72. They will aim for a series split on Thursday with Kyle Tyler taking the mound and the Reds going with All-Star Hunter Greene, who has been one of the best pitchers in baseball as of late.

On Wednesday, all of Miami's offense came via the home run: two Jake Burger solo shots and a Derek Hill(?!) grand slam. On the mound, Valente Bellozo (5.2 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K, 92 pitches/56 strikes) had a great outing, albeit a somewhat lucky one. His dependency on fly balls has me nervous about his future. Declan Cronin and Andrew Nardi combined to make a mess in the seventh inning, but never relinquished the lead. The Marlins won, 6-4.
Down on the farm, Triple-A Jacksonville won, 6-4. 1B/C Agustín Ramírez had a productive night at the plate (3-3, HR, 2 RBI, BB) and Connor Norby played third base for the first time since being acquired. Double-A Pensacola lost, 5-4. Jacob Berry made his professional debut at second base and recorded two hits. High-A Beloit lost, 7-0. RHP Noble Meyer (0.2 IP, 1 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 0 K, 35 pitches/15 strikes) couldn't escape the first inning and finished with only one swinging strike. Low-A Jupiter lost, 10-2. It was even messier for RHP Eliazar Dishmey, who allowed every batter he faced to reach base (0.0 IP, 2 H, 7 ER, 5 BB, 0 K, 36 pitches/15 strikes).
Here's more Marlins news and content:
🔷 The Fish On First staff released our updated Marlins Top 30 prospects list on Monday. Now it's your turn! Become a FOF member to submit your personal Top 30 with the option of leaving comments to explain your reasoning. Those submissions will be combined into a public prospect ranking after voting closes on Sunday night.
🔷 The Marlins are hiring area scouts for five different regions: Northeast, Southeast, Mid-Atlantic/Ohio Valley, Midwest/Ohio Valley and South Texas. Joe Frisaro of Man On Second Baseball previously reported that several of the organization's pre-existing scouts were let go following the MLB Draft.
🔷 Updated farm system rankings from Baseball America and ESPN have the Marlins at 18th and 19th, respectively.
🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, the White Sox fired second-year manager Pedro Grifol. He had a 89-190 record (.319 winning percentage). The Padres have won 13 of their last 15 games. Even in a losing effort, Pittsburgh's Aroldis Chapman threw a fastball at 104.7 mph, the top velocity of the pitch-tracking era for a pitch that resulted in a strikeout. The Diamondbacks are similarly hot, victors in 12 of their last 14. They swept a doubleheader from the Guardians with the aid of two Josh Bell homers. Kyle Schwarber (4-4, 3 HR, 7 RBI, BB) singlehandedly led the Phillies past the Dodgers on the scoreboard and past the Guardians in the standings to reclaim MLB's best record.
🔷 Today's MLB game: the Marlins (probable starter RHP Kyle Tyler) conclude their series against the Reds (RHP Hunter Greene). The Marlins have a 40.3% chance to win, per FanGraphs. First pitch at 6:10 p.m. ET.
🔷 Today's MiLB schedule: 
Triple-A Jacksonville at Toledo, 7:05 p.m. ET Double-A Pensacola at Mississippi, 7:35 p.m. ET High-A Beloit at West Michigan, 6:35 p.m. ET Low-A Jupiter vs. Fort Myers, 6:30 p.m. ET DSL Marlins vs. DSL Mets Orange, 11:00 a.m. ET DSL Miami at DSL Mets Blue, 11:00 a.m. ET  
Marlins podcast episodes

Here are the latest Miami Marlins game notes, produced by the Marlins communications department and relayed to our loyal SuperSubs.
These notes apply to the fourth and final game of Miami's home series against the Cincinnati Reds.

MIAMI, FL—Entering the trade deadline, the Miami Marlins had the top rental reliever on the market in Tanner Scott. He was dealt to the San Diego Padres along with Bryan Hoeing in exchange for four prospects. That has made life more complicated for Marlins manager Skip Schumaker, who has been left with an inexperienced bullpen for the final two months of the 2024 season. Who fills Scott's shoes as Miami's closer?
Anthony Bender leads the team with nine career saves at the Major League level, though he has none this year. Instead, Calvin Faucher has recorded the only two saves for the team since Scott departed.
"I don't think it's fair to say he's the closer," Schumaker told Fish On First when asked about Faucher's role. "I think he has closed out games and done a really good job of providing us with some big innings in the ninth inning lately. If there's three lefties at the top, I'm guessing (Andrew) Nardi is gonna get that. However, if the eighth inning is three lefties at the top, Nardi is gonna get that eighth inning."
Schumaker noted that Andrew Nardi is the only lefty currently in his bullpen, which affects the order that relievers are used.
"I think with Bender and (Declan) Cronin and Faucher and Nardi, I feel like you can mix and match. You can get all those guys potentially in the ninth inning one of these games depending on availability and different pockets and where to use them to get guys out with."

"When we go down to the bullpen, we're told possibilities of when we're going to throw," said Faucher. "Every day, it's towards the sixth to ninth. Me, Nardi, Cronin, (Jesus) Tinoco and Bender kind of in there in those talks, so we're just ready when that time comes."
Faucher has entered in the ninth inning during four of his last five appearances. He only did that twice through his first 37 appearances of the season. The first-year Marlin has a 3.38 ERA, 2.77 FIP, 9.70 K/9 and 4.64 BB/9 in 42 ⅔ innings. His greatest strength has been preventing home runs.
Even Jesus Tinoco has found himself pitching and succeeding in high-leverage situations. Claimed off waivers following the deadline, Tinoco has struck out four, allowed one hit and hasn't issued a walk through 4 ⅓ scoreless innings. On Wednesday night, he pitched the top of the eighth, recording a strikeout to set up Faucher's save.
"Guys have been down," said Schumaker. "Bender was dealing with something a little bit earlier, so he was down a few days. Yesterday we ran into a spot where it was really him. That's why he got the opportunity. We didn't have many guys left, but to his credit, we have been using his name a lot in the pitcher's meetings because he has 97 with a real slider."

MIAMI, FL—Aiming to get the series split on Thursday night, the Miami Marlins had to go through All-Star right-hander Hunter Greene. Despite putting together some quality at-bats against him and enjoying clutch performances from most of their relievers, they lost to the Cincinnati Reds in extra innings, 10-4. This was the first series loss for the Marlins since the MLB All-Star break.
The Marlins offense had a quiet night except for a three-run fourth inning. The Marlins loaded the bases with no outs before a Derek Hill RBI fielder’s choice. Vidal Bruján and Jhonny Pereda would drive in the other two runs with RBI singles.
The main issue was their combined 2-for-14 production with runners in scoring position.
Right-handed pitcher Kyle Tyler got the start for the Marlins. Tyler struggled early in his outing giving up two runs in the first and another in the third. Tyler threw 4 ⅓ innings allowing five hits, three runs, two walks, and three strikeouts.
Relief pitcher Jesus Tinoco came in for Tyler, who had allowed two runners on base with one out. Tinoco was able to work around the traffic with a Tyler Stephenson strikeout and TJ Friedl fly out to center field. He threw 1 ⅓ innings allowing one hit, no runs, no walks, and one strikeout. Declan Cronin replaced Tinoco in the top of the sixth with two outs and a runner on second.  Cronin got Noelvi Marte to ground out to Xavier Edwards at shortstop.
Southpaw reliever Andrew Nardi came in relief for the seventh and dominated. Nardi had a clean inning and struck out all three batters faced.
In the eighth inning, Miami handed the ball to Anthony Bender. After giving up a leadoff single to Tyler Stephenson, Bender retired the next three batters and kept the ballgame tied at three. Calvin Faucher pitched in the ninth and had a quick 1-2-3 inning.
Eventually, the Fish ran out of trustworthy arms to use. Emmanuel Ramirez pitched in the tenth inning and was awful in his short relief outing. Making his job more difficult, a well-located 3-2 pitch was called a ball to force in Cincinnati's go-ahead run. Ramirez didn’t record a single out and allowed seven runs (five earned) on three hits, two walks, and one hit by pitch; in his previous 11 appearances as a big leaguer, he had allowed only four runs.
Right-hander Darren McCaughan finished the tenth inning, though the damage had already been done.
Z0daMDRfWGw0TUFRPT1fVkFNSFZWTUNWUVFBRHdZSFVBQUFWRlVGQUFOVFZsWUFVUWNIQVFKWFVBTlNVd01E.mp4
Xavier Edwards went 2-for-5 in his first game after losing his 23-game on-base streak. Jhonny Pereda went 2-for-4, collecting his first two hits and first RBI of his MLB career.
 
What’s next?
The Marlins will host the San Diego Padres for a three-game weekend series. Right-handed pitcher Edward Cabrera will be on the mound for the Marlins. Cabrera pitched well in his last outing against the Atlanta Braves. He pitched five innings allowing three hits, no runs, two walks, and eight strikeouts.
Veteran left-handed pitcher Martin Pérez will get the start for the Padres. Pérez was traded from the Pirates to the Padres at the MLB trade deadline. In his first start, he threw six innings allowing three hits, one run, no walks, and seven strikeouts. The first pitch for the series opener is at 7:10 pm EST.

Aug. 9, 1994Chuck Carr was known far more for his speed than his power. On this day 30 years ago, however, Carr did something he would do just once during his Major League Baseball career, and something no Marlin had ever done before him.
The Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals met for the second game of a four-game set at Joe Robbie Stadium on Aug. 9, 1994. When all was said and done, Carr would flex his muscles with the only walk-off home run of his career—a two-run blast in the bottom of the ninth—and the first in franchise history.
Starting pitchers Allen Watson for St. Louis and Mark Gardner for Florida had each given their teams quality starts. In the battle of the bullpens, it was the Marlins who would have the upper hand. Luis Aquino and Yorkis Perez had combined for three shutout innings of relief to give Florida a chance to walk it off.
Against right-hander Vicente Palacios, shortstop Kurt Abbott would get things going with a hustle double to start the bottom of the ninth. After pinch hitter Jerry Browne successfully bunted Abbott to third, Carr came to the plate needing only to lift a fly ball to end the contest against his former team (the Marlins acquired him in the 1992 expansion draft).
Lift a fly ball, Carr would. He hammered the 2-2 pitch from Palacios over the right field wall for a two-run walk-off home run to give the Marlins a 5-3 victory.
Prior to Carr’s blast, Abbott and catcher Benito Santiago had combined for five of the Marlins’ 10 hits and two of their three RBIs. Tom Pagnozzi, the St. Louis catcher who had a walk-off hit against Florida earlier in the year, homered in the loss. Gregg Jefferies scored two of the three St. Louis runs. Perez worked a scoreless eighth to earn the win.
Unfortunately for the Marlins, that would be their final victory of the 1994 season. The Cardinals took the next two games before the infamous work stoppage took effect and the remainder of the season was ultimately canceled.
A fan favorite, Carr would homer just eight times in three full seasons with the Marlins and 13 times in his big league career. The Carr blast marked the seventh walk-off win for the Marlins during the 1994 campaign and the 12th in franchise history to that point, but it was the first by way of the long ball. It happened on this day three decades ago.

Miami Marlins starting shortstop Xavier Edwards sits down with Fish Unfiltered for an exclusive interview!
Topics covered during our conversation:
Trade from Rays to Marlins Foot infection earlier this season Hitting for the cycle How he became a switch-hitter Toughest pitchers he's faced Top Triple-A call-up candidates Friendships with Josh Bell and Troy Johnston Find Fish Unfiltered on the Fish On First YouTube channel, our new-look Apple Podcasts channel and wherever else you get your pods. FOF's audio programming also includes The Offishial Show, Swimming Upstream, Big Fish Small Pod and more.
The Fish On First podcast is presented by MPT College Consulting! They pride themselves on helping clients navigate the college application process. This includes preparation for standardized testing, guidance through high school, assistance with essays and applications, and choosing the right college. Visit them today at mptcollegeconsulting.com to learn more about their services and schedule a free consultation.
 
Our partners are FOCO are creating a limited-edition bobblehead honoring Edwards' performance on July 28 when he became the second player in Marlins history to hit for the cycle. Pre-order yours here.
Speaking with Fish On First the day before his 25th birthday, Edwards has been exceeding all expectations. Since taking over as Miami's everyday shortstop on July 2, the speedy switch-hitter has accumulated 1.5 fWAR while slashing .387/.449/.471, putting up comparable numbers from both sides of the plate. His 46 hits during that span rank second in Major League Baseball behind only Bobby Witt Jr.
A crucial question for the Marlins moving forward is whether Edwards can stick at shortstop or whether he'll ultimately shift over to second base. He explains the differences between the positions:
"I think it starts with your feet, just getting going towards the ball faster and just getting your feet moving forward. At second, you can sorta wait back, catch the ball and the guy should be out...Really enjoying it again, remembering how much I loved playing short as an amateur and at the beginning of my pro career."
N1ozUGtfVjBZQUhRPT1fVWdsVEFsWlJYMUFBQ0FNQ1VRQUFVbFVDQUZnTlZGWUFDbEZUQXdVTUJ3RUVDUVZR.mp4
Edwards currently wears No. 63 for the Marlins, but expect a change in 2025.
"I am gonna try to get No. 9 next year," Edwards says. "That's my favorite number, my mom's favorite number and the number I've worn my whole baseball career."
Follow Xavier (@xavierjedwards), Isaac (@IsaacAzout), Kevin ( @kevin_barral ) and Fish On First (@FishOnFirst) on Twitter. Join the Marlins Discord server! Complete Miami Marlins coverage here at FishOnFirst.com.

MIAMI, FL—The last time Elly De La Cruz faced the Miami Marlins, it was at Great American Ball Park right before the All-Star break. The switch-hitting shortstop was in All-Star form, going 5-for-13 with two home runs and three RBI. On Monday night, facing the Fish as a visitor one month later, De La Cruz made himself at home against Miami pitching by putting up two homers and two doubles in a 10-3 Reds win.
De La Cruz is the first Marlins opponent to record four extra-base hits since Jose Altuve accomplished that feat in 2017. The exclusive club also includes Hall of Famer, Rickey Henderson.
  Following the game, Marlins manager Skip Schumaker praised the young superstar.
"The game is in a really good spot with Elly, Oneil Cruz and Gunnar Henderson," said Schumaker. "There's some really big-time young shortstops in the game that are fun to watch. I typically don't give too much credit to guys on the other side, but he had some incredible at-bats today. He's a special player and he's going to be a lot of fun to watch throughout the next however long."
62cfbb43-0407c158-ae07c3f4-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4
De La Cruz also joined Eric Davis and Joe Morgan as the only players in Reds franchise history to hit 20 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season.
The 22-year-old wasn't aware of what he had done when asked after the game.
His response when he found out from a reporter? "Nice," and followed it with plenty of laughs. De La Cruz is the second player in Reds history to have two doubles and two homers in a game.
"I feel great," said De La Cruz. "I feel grateful to God."
The Reds still have 50 games left in their regular season. When asked how much higher he can raise his numbers, De La Cruz's response was simple: "As long as I go out on the field every day, I can do whatever I want."
Through seven career games against the Marlins, De La Cruz has slashed .379/.419/.897/1.316 with four home runs and six RBI.
Max Meyer will take the mound on Tuesday night against the lefty Nick Lodolo. De La Cruz is batting in the number two spot of Cincinnati's lineup.

Here are the latest Miami Marlins game notes, produced by the Marlins communications department and relayed to our loyal SuperSubs.
These notes apply to the second game of Miami's home series against the Cincinnati Reds.

MIAMI, FL—The Elly De La Cruz show continued on Tuesday night in South Florida. The second-year phenom collected his fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth hits of the series between his Cincinnati Reds and the Miami Marlins, and there are two games still remaining in the four-game set. De La Cruz spearheaded his offense’s outburst, as the rest of the Reds lineup tallied 13 hits with eight of them coming off Miami’s starter, Max Meyer. Miami’s bats were only able to muster up four hits courtesy of the impressive outing from the arm opposite of Meyer in Nick Lodolo in what ended up being a decisive 8-2 Reds win.
In his last start when he battled a notoriously powerful Braves lineup, Meyer got hurt when he left too many pitches over the heart of the plate and stuck too close to his fastball and slider instead of mixing in his changeup to keep hitters guessing and stay unpredictable. Those exact same problems persisted in his first game back at loanDepot park since mid-April. Meyer’s inability to effectively locate his pitches—notably his fastball—led to a quick departure on Tuesday. Reds hitters recorded 10 hard-hit balls and the 25-year-old allowed a career-high three walks before being relieved by Emmanuel Ramírez following the fourth inning.
“His command was off. You could see it. From early on, a lot of three-ball counts, three walks, a hit by pitch. Just kind of uncharacteristic of him,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said of his starter postgame.
"Slider didn't really have its shape," Schumaker continued. "No swing-and-miss on his changeup. Just a rough start for Max. You know, he's a young pitcher. He's going to have these coming off a major surgery first year back. He's going to have a couple of these. And unfortunately, he had one tonight."
In addition to substandard command, Meyer leaned heavily on his four-seam and slider, throwing those pitches a combined 77% while throwing his changeup 12 times (16%) plus a handful of sinkers. Meyer’s limited changeup usage also bit him last week in Truist Park when he threw the pitch 12% of the time.
Simply put, two-pitch starting pitchers are unheard of at the big league level. If Meyer wants to secure a spot in the rotation moving forward—a job that’s only going to be harder to lock down when Miami gets their best arms back from the injured list—it is imperative that either his changeup or sinker develops into a pitch that can occasionally finish off hitters or at least put him in more favorable counts.
“I just didn't have it tonight. I didn't have my good stuff tonight. I know I can be a lot better. I'm gonna be a lot better,” said Meyer postgame.
After Ramírez’s lone inning in relief, Schumaker turned to Darren McCaughan to eat the final four innings. McCaughan, who pitched for Miami for the first time since early May in the infamous 20-run A’s game, was solid albeit a little lucky, only giving up one run. 
Unluckily for Meyer, in addition to not having his best stuff, he had the seemingly impossible task of retiring the newest Fish killer in De La Cruz and the rest of the powerful Reds lineup.
De La Cruz, who had four hits and a homer in game one of the set on Monday night, somehow had an equally impressive encore with four more hits (two of them doubles) and a stolen base.
Schumaker raved about Cincinnati’s star, noting “Elly’s a special player. He's reminded me a lot of (Fernando) Tatís Jr. in his first couple years. The size, the strength, the speed, power combination...he's a freak..”
In addition to EDLC, the Reds were powered by Tyler Stephenson and Ty France who both sent home fans with souvenirs and tightened the Reds' grip on the lead.
On the contrary, Miami’s offense produced another dud after being shut down by Lodolo and the southpaw's four-seam/curveball/changeup mix. Two of the four hits for the Marlins came, unsurprisingly, off the bat of Xavier Edwards, who extended his on-base streak to 23 games. It is tied for the current longest streak in baseball with the Phillies’ Alec Bohm.
First pitch for game three of the four-game set between these two teams is slated to start Wednesday night at 6:40 ET. Valente Bellozo takes the ball for Miami coming off an impressive start in Cobb County. Andrew Abbott, who Marlins hitters found success off of less than a month ago at Great American Ball Park, looks to claim the series win for his Reds.

After being designated for assignment by their previous teams, John McMillon and Brett de Geus have been claimed by the Marlins in recent days. Both have been optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville. Although we aren't going to see them in the big leagues immediately, they have the potential to make a positive impact in the near future as pieces of this new-look bullpen. I am going to break down why the Marlins may have been interested in these players, or what I believe they may look to tweak. 
McMillon broke out onto the scene last year, striking out every batter in sight and making his MLB debut with the Royals. During his short spurt in the big leagues, he posted impressive numbers. 
McMillon was ranked 17th among Royals prospects coming into the season, according to MLB Pipeline. Why would the Royals get rid of a reliever who was viewed so highly and also has all three of his minor league options left? The answer is he has struggled commanding the baseball in 2024 and has had an unusual velocity decrease, although his slider is still as elite as ever.  
McMillon is the classic high-velocity bullpen arm. Even with a decrease in both his pitches, he is throwing his fastball at 95 mph this season in AAA and his slider at 84 mph. Last season between AAA and MLB, he threw his fastball at 99 mph and his slider at 86 mph. This is unusual, but potentially fixable. His velocity has gradually increased as his arm slot and release point fall back in line with his career norms. 
A major change McMillon has made in the past two months is upping his slider usage. 

To highlight just how good his slider is, last season in his brief MLB stint, he got 75% whiff on it. Relying on his slider may be the way to go especially with shaky control and a fastball that even when in the high 90s doesn't miss many bats. This season in the minor leagues, McMillon has thrown his fastball for a ball 47% of the time. This is extremely poor, and as a result, many hitters may be sitting on his slider. 
McMillon's fastball has been hit hard in all parts of the strike zone. He has a poor VAA along with 15 inches of IVB, which grades out as a below-average fastball even with elite velo on it. The Marlins could look to take a page out of the Red Sox playbook and continue to lower usage of a poorly graded fastball and up the slider usage even more, or develop a sinker that would play more efficiently off of his slider, allowing him to attack righties inside.
His fastball comes in with -4.9 VAA, which would be 12th percentile in MLB—this means he should be attacking players higher in the zone with the fastball. He does this, but it is still being hit hard. Maybe hitters are able to pick up the difference between a high fastball and a low slider easily so they can sit on a pitch, or it could be the shaky control. 
Overall, the Marlins claimed a guy in McMillon who with some tweaks, may have the upside to be a high-leverage arm. 
Now Brett de Geus is the opposite type of pitcher. A journeyman right-hander who was most recently with the Mariners org, de Geus brings an unorthodox arm movement and a unique pitch mix. Can he find a home here in Miami?
de Geus does a few things very well: he generates a lot of ground balls and limits hard contact. He has been hindered by poor control and a hittable sinker.
Recently, he has increased his cutter usage, which has been a very efficient pitch for him. A harder knuckle curve and a new splitter may be pluses to his arsenal. In 2024, de Geus has seen an increase of velo on all of his pitches, helping him have a bit more whiff. 
This pie graph shows the pitch usage for de Geus this season in AAA. In addition to his sinker and cutter, his knuckle curve also generates soft contact on the ground. I suspect we see de Geus have another increase in cutter usage, surpassing his sinker, which is something many teams have started to do over the past couple of years because the cutter offers the upside of being able to get players to swing and miss. 

de Geus is much more of an east-to-west pitcher than north-to-south. If he can locate his cutter in to lefties as he does and away from righties and vice versa with his sinker while mixing his offspeed pitches to keep batters off balance, he should be able to stop loud contact. Leaving the ball over the plate normally hurts anyone, but especially De Geus. The Marlins must find a way to get the 26-year-old to command the ball.
This heat map shows in 2024 where the damage against him has been. Balls in the middle of the plate or higher get hit hard.

The Marlins added a project who has had an uptick in velo, a new pitch, and the ability to limit hard contact and get balls on the ground with a funky release and barely one year of MLB service time under his belt. I believe there is an up arrow next to Brett de Geus. 

On Sunday, Edward Cabrera (5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K, 98 pitches/60 strikes) held the Braves scoreless. He had to grind for it, averaging more than five pitches per plate appearance. Xavier Edwards extended his on-base streak to 21 games—a 2-for-5 day actually lowered his season-long on-base percentage, from .460 to .458. Jonah Bride is also in the midst of a career-best hot stretch, homering in three of his last five contests (only one homer in his previous 114). The Marlins won, 7-0. It was the first shutout they've pitched since May 24 when Braxton Garrett went the distance against the Diamondbacks.
Down on the farm, Double-A Pensacola won, 6-4 and 4-3. INF Jared Serna finished his first week in the Marlins organization with a 1.274 OPS and sealed the second victory with a go-ahead RBI double. LHP Robby Snelling (5.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 63 pitches/48 strikes) had outstanding command in his Blue Wahoos debut. High-A Beloit won, 4-3. INF Josh Zamora went 2-for-4 with a walk.
Here's more Marlins news and content:
🔷 Just a few weeks since the previous update, our Fish On First Top 30 prospects list has been refreshed again to incorporate the likes of Serna, Snelling and numerous trade deadline acquisitions. The depth of the Marlins farm system is much improved, though there's still a dearth of high-ceiling players. Beginning on Tuesday, we'll open a new round of public prospect voting where FOF members can submit their own Top 30 lists.
🔷 The Marlins have recently released 27 minor league players to create space for draftees and trade arrivals. Notables include Jonathan Davis and Tanner Allen. Several were due to be minor league free agents following the season anyway, such as Osiris Johnson and Davis Bradshaw.
🔷 Listen back to Sunday's State of the Fish call-in show, reflecting on a chaotic week and the Marlins' surprisingly solid play dating back to the All-Star break.
🔷 Through 36 Marlins series, here's an updated look at the Prediction Time leaderboard. Make series predictions with us all season long when you become a Fish On First SuperSub.

 
🔷 Anthony Bender has added a four-seam fastball to his pitch mix, explaining to MLB.com's Christina De Nicola that he'll be using it mainly against left-handed batters to change eye levels.
🔷 Happy birthday to Braxton Garrett! The Marlins left-hander turns 27 today. Garrett has a career 110 ERA+ across parts of five major league seasons (all of them in Miami).
🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, the White Sox suffered their 20th consecutive loss. Bob Nightengale of USA Today describes Skip Schumaker as the "leading candidate" to manage the Sox once Pedro Grifol inevitably gets dismissed. The Rangers have lost seven of their last nine, plummeting their playoff odds into the single digits. The Yankees are 6-1 since Jazz Chisholm Jr. made his debut for them. A.J. Puk recorded his first save as a Diamondback, retiring former teammate Bryan De La Cruz for the final out.
🔷 Today's MLB game: the Marlins (probable starter RHP Roddery Muñoz) begin a new homestand against the Reds (RHP Nick Martinez). The Marlins have a 41.3% chance to win, per FanGraphs. First pitch at 6:40 p.m. ET.
🔷 Join us for a new episode of Fish On First LIVE tonight from 5:30-6:30 p.m. ET on YouTube/Twitter/Facebook. FOF LIVE is presented by Berger & Hicks. If you’ve been injured as a result of somebody else’s negligence, give them a call at (305) 670-7050.
🔷 Today's MiLB schedule:
DSL Marlins at DSL Rockies, 11:00 a.m. ET DSL Miami vs. DSL NYY Bombers, 11:00 a.m. ET  
Marlins podcast episodes

Here are the latest Miami Marlins game notes, produced by the Marlins communications department and relayed to our loyal SuperSubs.
These notes apply to the first game of Miami's home series against the Cincinnati Reds.

MIAMI, FL—On deadline day, the Miami Marlins traded starting pitcher Trevor Rogers to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for Connor Norby and Kyle Stowers. Norby, the main piece of the deal, was sent down to Triple-A Jacksonville to get reps at third base, but Stowers reported straight to the Major League team.
"I was at the field in Charlotte with the Norfolk Tides," said Stowers. "I had just gotten out of the tubs and was getting ready for the game and one of my buddies, Coby Mayo, said that [Connor] Norby had gotten traded to the Marlins with one other player and when I checked my phone, I was the other player."
Stowers, 26, was regarded as the Orioles number eight prospect in the system according to MLB Pipeline in 2022. He earned his first call-up that year and since then, he's had limited playing time in the big leagues. At the Major League level, Stowers has slashed .215/.261/.343/.604 with four home runs, 20 RBI and a 71 OPS+ in 184 plate appearances.
The Marlins hold a 42-71 record this season with what is now one of the youngest rosters in baseball. Someone like Stowers will have an opportunity to play every day, per Marlins manager Skip Schumaker.
"It's all I can ask for, " said Stowers of his opportunity. "I think any player just wants an opportunity to showcase their abilities and help the team win. Hopefully I can just help this team win as many games as possible."
Through five games with his new team, Stowers has struggled, going 2-for-20 with 11 strikeouts. Throughout his minor league career and early on in the Majors, Stowers possesses an aggressive approach which has led to high strikeout percentages, with this season being the highest of his short career at 41.5%.
"Maybe pressing a little bit early on, trying to show he's worth the trade, that type of thing," said Skip Schumaker. "It's only natural to feel like you want to showcase who you are right away. I think giving him the off day yesterday and giving him a chance to breathe and then coming back out there today and just letting him play. There's no pressure. We're going to be running you out there and just play and have fun. I think limiting some of the pressure is the biggest thing. So I don't think he's not going to hit. It's just a matter of, you know, meeting new players and new team the whole deal."
Stowers spoke to his early struggles with his new team as well. "I think just early on I am just a little anxious. Maybe just trying to do too much. Trying to go get it a little bit. I thought the at-bats the last two games were getting a lot better, so just hoping to build off of that. Keep putting good swing on balls and it'll turn. That's how baseball works."
The newest Marlin said it best: he's trying to do too much at the plate. The current league average swing percentage is 47.9. Stowers' career swing percentage up to this point is 56.6%. He currently ranks third in baseball in swing percentage this season amongst players who have at least 50 plate appearances. Former Marlins Avisail Garcia and Nick Gordon also made the top ten.
 
The Marlins welcomed the Cincinnati Reds for a four-game set where the Reds took game one led by Elly De La Cruz's incredible game. After a two-run home run in the top of the first, De La Cruz would hit his second home run of the night in the eighth, marking his third career multi-homer game. He became just the fifth player to ever have four extra-base hits in a game against the Marlins.
Marlins starter Roddery Muñoz struggled as he surrendered six runs (four earned) off of seven hits and three walks. The Reds would win by a final of 10-3. This is the third time this season that Muñoz allowed more walks than strikeouts. It's also the ninth time this season that he surrendered multiple home runs. The second home run Muñoz allowed was to Noelvi Marte.
Jesus Sánchez took Jakob Junis 480 feet deep to right field marking the longest home run hit by an MLB player this season. It also marked the hardest hit ball by Sánchez this season. Sánchez also grounded into a double play that drove in the Marlins second run of the game. Jonah Bride drove in Xavier Edwards in the bottom of the seventh inning to add on their third run of the game.
Max Meyer will take the mound for the Marlins on Tuesday night at 6:40 pm. For the Reds, lefty Nick Lodolo will take the mound.

As relayed to Fish On First by the Miami Marlins on Monday, left-hander Jesús Luzardo remains a long way away from returning to full strength. Sidelined by a lumbar stress reaction since mid-June, Luzardo hasn't even begun a throwing progression yet. He'll rest for at least six more weeks before doing so. Thus far, his rehab has only consisted of bike workouts and forearm and shoulder strengthening.
Do the math. The MLB regular season is over in less than eight weeks. Luzardo could be playing catch entering the final two, but restarting a progression from scratch, it's a multi-week process before being cleared to face live batters of any kind.
Luzardo will not pitch for the Marlins again in 2024. He logged 66 ⅔ innings across 12 starts, falling short of his career averages in ERA (5.00) and FIP (4.26). His 21.2 K% and 37.0 GB% were both new single-season lows as was his average fastball velocity. The Fish had a 4-8 record with him on the mound.

Rumor had it that, if healthy, the Marlins front office was going to shop Luzardo aggressively leading up to the trade deadline. Considering what Trevor Rogers fetched with the same amount of club control remaining—and far lower upside—the offers would have been tempting.
Come November when the offseason fully commences and Luzardo should be throwing off a mound at full intensity, will trade negotiations resume? Although Peter Bendix is famously "always having conversations," I have a hard time seeing them leading anywhere.
Unfortunately for Luzardo, his prolonged injury absence will cost him millions of dollars. Last year, by making every scheduled start and eating 178 ⅔ innings at a very high quality, he earned a $3.05M raise via arbitration, from $2.45M to $5.5M. This time around, his case looks a lot like 2023 Nestor Cortes, who settled with the New York Yankees at a $750k raise. That would put Luzardo's salary at $6.25M for the 2025 season.

That suppressed cost is a boon to Luzardo's trade value. However, it also alleviates some of the pressure on the Marlins to move him now.
With Luzardo off the table, Bendix was busy flipping productive veterans who were either in the midst of their arb years or about to enter them. Rogers, Jazz Chisholm Jr., A.J. Puk, JT Chargois and Bryan De La Cruz, all of whom would've been in line for significant pay bumps next season, are out of the picture. That leaves the Marlins' books in pristine condition. In 2025, Sandy Alcantara is owed $17.3M and Avisaíl García will collect $12M, but after Luzardo's estimated $6.25M, no other Marlin comes close. The only other player on a fully guaranteed deal is Woo-Suk Go ($2.25M).
The upcoming MLB free agent class is shaping up to be pretty deep when it comes to left-handed starters (Max Fried, Blake Snell, Yusei Kikuchi, Sean Manaea, Andrew Heaney, José Quintana, Clayton Kershaw, James Paxton, etc.). If enough of them finish 2024 healthy, there might not be a team eager to trade let's say 150% of the Trevor Rogers package for Luzardo. Having only two years of club control left narrows Luzardo's market to genuine contenders.
It would be very unorthodox, but would Luzardo and the Marlins mutually agree to have him participate in the 2024-25 winter ball season, making a few starts in Venezuela, the Dominican Republic or elsewhere to verify that he's back to 100%? Mending from an arm injury, no way; with this being back-related, perhaps there'd be less anxiety.
Taking everything into consideration, I expect the Marlins to hold onto Luzardo for the first half of 2025. He can restore much of his former value if he reverts to his No. 2 starter form. While expectations for next season's Fish ought to be low, those aforementioned trade deadline maneuvers filled the upper levels of the farm system with quality prospects. If several of them makes smooth transitions to the majors, it's within the realm of possibility that they're competitive from the get-go and prefer to utilize Luzardo as a pitcher than a trade asset. Shipping him away before Opening Day would dash that dream.

Over two stints with the club, Paul Lo Duca played in more than 200 games as a member of the Florida Marlins. An All-Star in 2005, Lo Duca was acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers at the trade deadline in 2004 and it didn't take long for him to make his presence felt.
On this day 20 years ago, Lo Duca, in just his fifth game with Florida, played the role of hero. His two-run walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth capped the comeback as the Marlins rallied past the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-6.
Through seven innings at Pro Player Stadium on Aug. 6, 2004, the Marlins and Brewers founded themselves in a 4-4 deadlock. Six pitches into the eighth inning, however, that all changed.
After Florida reliever Matt Perisho hit Geoff Jenkins to open the inning, Ben Grieve took the very next pitch over the wall in right field for a two-run blast to give the Brewers a 6-4 lead. Rudy Seánez was able to prevent any further damage, but entering the bottom of the inning, the Marlins had work to do.
Florida was able to get a run back when Jeff Conine singled home Miguel Cabrera in the eighth. After Billy Koch worked a 1-2-3 ninth for Florida, the Marlins were down to their last three outs. Milwaukee closer Danny Kolb failed to record even one out.
After pinch hitter Lenny Harris walked to open the inning, Juan Pierre attempted to sacrifice. Kolb fielded it and threw it away, putting two runners in scoring position with nobody out. Following an intentional walk to Luis Castillo to load the bases, the stage was set for Lo Duca.
The Florida catchers worked a terrific bat. After fouling off several pitches, including two off himself, Lo Duca flared Kolb's seventh pitch of the at-bat past the drawn-in infield and into center field for the game-winning two-run single.

The Marlins trailed 3-0 early on before finding their offense in the third inning. After Castillo singled home the first Florida run, Lo Duca followed with a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to 3-2.
A World Series hero for the Marlins in 1997, Craig Counsell got the scoring started for Milwaukee with an RBI single in the first. In the fourth, he doubled home a run to extend the Brewers' lead to 4-2. In the bottom of the inning, Florida took advantage of a fielding error with a pair of unearned runs on a single from Pierre.
Counsell and Wes Helms, a future Marlin, each finished with two hits for Milwaukee in the loss. Cabrera led the Marlins with three hits and two runs scored. Lo Duca finished with a game-high three RBIs.
Lo Duca's walk-off single continued a torrid start to his tenure as a member of the Marlins, which included a home run in his first at-bat as a member. His heroics came on this day two decades ago. 

Enjoy new episodes of our Miami Marlins streams leading up to the first pitch of every 2024 series opener. Special guests join Fish On First staffers to provide honest analysis of the Marlins and their upcoming opponent.
If you are a SuperSub, leave a comment with your Prediction Time picks. We'll feature them on the livestream and track your points on a leaderboard throughout the season!
If you are not a SuperSub, please consider signing up here to support the FOF staff.
FOF LIVE is presented by Berger & Hicks. If you’ve been injured as a result of somebody else’s negligence, give them a call at (305) 670-7050.
You're encouraged to participate in the live chat via YouTube, Twitter or Facebook to ask questions and share your own takes.