Nate Karzmer

Luzardo twirled some gems in his three-and-a-half years back in South Florida. Raised in Broward county, Jesús Luzardo grew up a Marlins fan. "Getting in this position is something I can't put into words, and it really hasn't hit me yet," said the lefty back in 2023 before he started Miami's first playoff game in a full season in twenty years. "So, hopefully, down the road it does, but so far, I'm just enjoying the ride and trying to make it last as long as possible." That ride was prolonged when previous trade talks fell through and Luzardo suffered a lengthy injury, but it came to an end Sunday morning when he was traded to the division-rival Philadelphia Phillies along with OF/C Paul McIntosh in exchange for SS Starlyn Caba and OF Emaarion Boyd. Luzardo was hyped yet unaccomplished when the Marlins acquired him in 2021. Since then, he has turned in some stellar outings to establish himself as a desirable piece of any MLB rotation. Here are five times when he flashed front-of-the-rotation potential. October 2, 2021 Final line: 5.1 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 11 SO, 0 HR, 87 NP A little over two months after being acquired by the Marlins, Luzardo took the mound for his final start of an up-and-down 2021 campaign against his now-teammates, the Phillies. He was being hindered by command struggles in his first couple of outings in August and September, but his finale was a preview for what ended up being a breakout 2022 season. Due to a significantly improved fastball, Luzardo sat down 11 Phillies, including Bryce Harper and J.T. Realmuto twice. Even better, he allowed zero free passes for the first time as a Marlin. Mk43TDNfWGw0TUFRPT1fVTFOUlV3QUNWbE1BV2xSVUFBQUFVd0plQUZnTlVsZ0FBRjBEVkZJTVYxSURDUVZV.mp4 While Luzardo only went 5 ⅓ innings, it was enough momentum to notch Miami's 66th win of the season in 3-1 fashion. April 12, 2022 Final line: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 12 SO, 0 HR, 76 NP When I said Luzardo carried the success in his final start in 2021 into 2022, I wasn't kidding. Breaking camp behind Elieser Hernández as the number five starter in a deep Marlins rotation, Luzardo made a statement in his first start in his second year in Miami against a star-studded Angels squad. Luzardo set a then career-high in strikeouts at 12, displaying serious swing-and-miss stuff with his slider, which collected 12 out of his 28 whiffs. Miami’s bullpen crumbled in the late innings and inevitably allowed a walk-off fielder's choice, but Luzardo’s dominance against a team like Los Angeles showed his development was on schedule. August 7, 2022 Final line: 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO, 0 HR, 91 NP A left forearm strain sidelined Luzardo for most of the summer, hindering Marlins fans a chance to see their potential star in a lost season. A Sunday afternoon start at Wrigley Field was Luzardo's second start off the IL, which made what he accomplished all the more impressive. For the first time as a Marlin and only the second time in his career, Luzardo completed seven innings and allowed just one hit en route to a 3-0 Marlins win. The southpaw displayed exceptional command and great control of his changeup. This start was a good omen of what was to come, as Luzardo went seven strong again just two weeks later and once more in September. VkEwRE1fVjBZQUhRPT1fQlZOVlZGSUdYd1FBWEFFQVZnQUFBd0pTQUZnQ0FBUUFVMU5YQUFGUUJ3SlRDVk5Y.mp4 July 23, 2023 Final line: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 13 SO, 1 HR, 115 NP Luzardo's second start after the All-Star break came in what was arguably the most must-win game for a Marlins team in a long time. Heading into the Midsummer Classic, the Fish had the fourth-best record in all of baseball. Exhilarating and close wins were the calling card for a squad who was surpassing all expectations. Then, the second half started. Sweeps in St. Louis and Baltimore sent Miami into a spiral, and when the lowly Rockies came into town and took the first two games of their set, manager Skip Schumaker needed length from his starter. In return, Luzardo delivered the best start of his career. Luzardo was masterful, setting new career-highs in strikeouts with 13 and pitches with 115. Due to his offense sputtering yet again against a mediocre Rockies staff, Luzardo was put in high-leverage moments where it almost felt a playoff berth was on the line. The most memorable of these moments came in the bottom of the seventh with runners on the corners and Miami clinging on to a one-run lead. In what ended up being his final pitch of the day, Luzardo did this: NU43VjFfWGw0TUFRPT1fRHdnREFWeFNVMWNBWEZVQVZnQUFVRlZmQUZoV0JsY0FWMTBHQVFNQ0JRTmNWRmNE.mp4 May 22, 2024 Final line: 8,0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO, 0 HR, 100 NP Due to bonafide ace Sandy Alcantara missing all of the 2024 season with Tommy John surgery, Luzardo was the Opening Day starter and expected leader of an undermanned rotation. Alas, much like the team around him, Luzardo struggled in March/April with a 6.58 ERA and 5.09 FIP. May, though, was a complete 180. Luzardo allowed just five earned runs the entire month. The most impressive start of not only that stretch, but his final season as a Marlin, came against the contending Brewers. Coming off a minor left elbow injury, Luzardo wasn't too much focused on velocity, instead "emphasizing location." "I'm focused." Luzardo said postgame. "The location and my misses had been really good, which is something that me and Mel (Stottlemyre Jr.) talked about a lot. Just emphasizing location over velocity." The decision worked out well for Luzardo, as the new ace got through eight shutout innings for the first time in his career. The rare "pitch to contact" Luzardo only tallied four strikeouts, however he only needed 100 pitches to get through a potent Brewers order and lock up an impressive series win. MkJEeFBfWGw0TUFRPT1fQUZJSFVRQUNCQVVBRDFZSFV3QUFBd05XQUZsUlVnSUFBMU5RQXdvQUFWZFRCZ0lI.mp4 "I think since he's come off the IL, it's the best version," said his manager. "He's in a groove." View full article

The most intriguing prospect sent Miami's way at the trade deadline finished with a 19.80 ERA in the Arizona Fall League. Following the 2024 MLB trade deadline, it was a consensus among insiders and fans alike that Peter Bendix and the Miami Marlins walked away as one of the biggest winners. While the first-year president of baseball operations sent away some key contributors and fan favorites at the big league level, those transactions brought back impact talent that was sorely needed in Miami's farm system. Deservingly so, power bats Deyvison De Los Santos and Agustín Ramírez and potential front-of-the-line arms Robby Snelling and Adam Mazur got the most attention from the general media. Bendix's second-to-last trade of the day, though, was perhaps the most fascinating. During batting practice at the now-disfigured Tropicana Field, the Marlins' home run leader at the time of the deadline, Bryan De La Cruz, got word he was headed to join the playoff push in Pittsburgh. Coming to Miami in return was Pirates #25 prospect Garret Forrester and #19 Jun-Seok Shim (as ranked by Baseball America). The term "lottery ticket" gets thrown around often in reaction to deadline deals. Generally, it is used to describe a lower-level prospect who could end up being great, but has to overcome many question marks just to reach the majors. Shim fits the bill as well as anyone. Think Powerball ticket. Coming out of South Korea as the top prospect from his country in the 2023 international signing period due to "his combination of physicality, polish, and present stuff", Shim inked a $750k deal with the Pirates. MLB Pipeline pegged Shim as the #2 pitcher in his class with high praise for his fastball that sat mid-90s and hit triple digits, coupled with two solid offspeed pitches. The only concern at the time of the signing? An elbow injury back in 2021. Unfortunately for both Shim and Pittsburgh, it was a sign of things to come. Shim's debut season in the Pirates organization was cut short due to a right pectoral strain, another injury to his throwing arm at just 19 years old. In 2024, a few months before he was moved south, a shoulder injury sidelined Shim for the entirety of the season. Still, it was easy to dream on a 20-year-old, 6'4" arm who had flashed such talent coming to a organization with a track record like Miami's, even if he had only thrown eight innings as a professional. On September 21, the Marlins announced Shim was headed out west to the Arizona Fall League as the youngest of the Marlins prospects. It'd be his first in-game action since he took the mound for the FCL Pirates in August 2023. Now in mid-November, the dust has settled. In just five innings of work for the Peoria Javelinas, Shim's first impression as a member of the Marlins left plenty to be desired. What went wrong? In all six appearances, Shim struggled with command. Whether it was missing down the plate leading to hard contact or an astounding 37.5 BB%, the righty simply couldn't spot his pitches. Even in his final outing on Thursday, when Shim punched out three batters in an inning, he still allowed two baserunners on free passes. When you couple Shim's lack of command with a significant drop-off in quality of stuff, eleven earned runs across just five innings is the result. Rustiness was expected, but the degradation of his velocity was alarming. There is Statcast data available for three of Shim's appearances. His best fastball registered at 93.5 mph. He averaged 92.0 mph with a spin rate just below 2,000 RPM. Among right-handed MLB pitchers from the 2024 season, those data points are most comparable to journeyman Aaron Brooks. The silver lining is that while Shim's performance in the desert was extremely underwhelming, it was his first time seeing live batters in games in over 15 months. These type of setbacks happen, especially in small sample sizes. Additionally, Shim's final two outings were easily his best, allowing no earned runs in two innings with five strikeouts. Shim can use the next couple of months to rest, recover and prepare for what he and Bendix and Co. hope is his first full season of healthy baseball stateside. Shim is expected to start 2025 in Jupiter, either with the FCL Marlins or Low-A Hammerheads. View full article

Thursday's rollercoaster rubber match in Minneapolis ended up being the longest game of the Marlins season. They pulled off a road upset against a team that had everything to play for. The Miami Marlins are no stranger to the spoiler role. Throughout their franchise history, Miami has had no choice but to be "that team," the team that, on paper, has nothing to play for...except breaking the hearts of a contender. Most notably, the Marlins of 2007 and 2022 excelled in this role, as those squads snatched the Mets' and Brewers' playoff hopes away in the waning moments of the season. After an off-the-wall Thursday night in the Twin Cities, you can add the 2024 Marlins to that list. "Out of respect for the game, you try to win the game, and we've been trying to disrupt the situation in certain divisions and playoff races, whether it was the Dodgers, the Braves or the Twins. And I felt like we know, we tried to do everything we could to win today's game." said Marlins manager Skip Schumaker after what ended up being a 13-inning, 8-6 Marlins victory over a desperate Twins team. "The players did that. It wasn't nothing I did. The players executed when in leveraged spots and made great plays when they had to, made pitches when they had to, and put together the at-bats when they needed it. So yeah, they played it like it was a playoff game. Just proud of the outcome." Through five innings, a four-hour battle seemed out of the cards as Valente Bellozo stifled Twins bats with his patented pop-up-inducing stuff. Bellozo's start coupled with two RBI from Jake Burger had Miami in command. Things changed in the sixth—and fast—when Bellozo was pulled with just 74 pitches and 4-1 lead. Minnesota's offense struck for a run in the seventh and an ever-important two in the eighth to knot things at four. Brooks Lee, who the Marlins infamously passed on back in the 2022 MLB Draft, delivered a massive 2-RBI double. In extras, though, Derek Hill, Anthony Maldonado and Griffin Conine played hero for not just the Marlins, but the Royals and Tigers as well. In the 10th, Hill traveled 118 feet to make an incredible falling catch that kept the Marlins alive. Miami failed to score in both the 11th and 12th, but awful situational hitting and stellar high-leverage relief work from Maldonado kept the game rolling. As the contest entered its fourth hour, Miami's offense came around to make the Twins pay. Otto Lopez pushed across the first run in what felt like days, before Griffin Conine—who didn't even enter the game until extras—came through with a 2-RBI flare single in his second at-bat that ended up being the difference. "All through the first eight, nine innings, obviously I wasn't in there and in the cage, just waiting for the opportunity to present itself. And sure enough, I didn't know it would come in extra innings, but I'm glad I was staying locked in and getting work in," noted Conine. "We like playing the role of villain. We want to be the spoilers. That's what we said going in, and we got a couple good wins in the series, which is awesome." On August 17, the Twins were 17 games above .500 and were battling with Cleveland for AL Central supremacy. Now, for all intents and purposes, their season will not continue into October, as FanGraphs has their playoff odds at a slim 3.3%. Minnesota's "tragic number" has dropped to just one, leaving them zero margin for error this weekend while praying that either Detroit or Kansas City gets swept against the White Sox or Braves, respectively. Of Note - Lost in the eventual madness was Bellozo's on-brand season finale. As he's done since being called up three months ago, Bellozo leaned on flyouts to an almost-absurd degree. Eight of the 15 outs the righty recorded came in the air. Bellozo finishes his rookie campaign with a 3.67 ERA, a sizable difference from his 5.73 FIP. - Xavier Edwards dealt with a rough couple of weeks after being on the IL, but he found his swing in the Twin Cities. Miami's shortstop finished with six hits, three RBI and two walks when it was all said and done in Minnesota. - Jesús Sánchez delivered a three-hit game, with two of the knocks coming in extras. - After it was nearly unhittable for a month-plus, Jesús Tinoco finally ran into some trouble with his slider: - Jonah Bride was just another Marlin who raked in the second to last set of the year. The Marlins infielder went 6-for-14 with two doubles and a home run. His season OPS+ now stands at 111. Up Next The Marlins begin their final series of the season Friday night, north of the border in Toronto. The set marks the first time Miami has visited the Rogers Centre since mid-June of 2015! This was the starting lineup for manager Dan Jennings: Fast forward nine years later and Adam Oller toes the slab opposing José Berríos in this edition of Marlins-Jays. Oller was solid in his last outing Saturday against the Braves, going 5 ⅔ innings allowing just two runs to come across as the 29-year-old continues to impress as a Marlin. First pitch from Canada is slated for 7:07 pm. View full article

A busy day at loanDepot park ended with a familiar sight. MIAMI—Coming off a series-opening and playoff-spoiling victory, Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker spoke Saturday afternoon about embracing the challenge of facing the well-oiled machine that is the Atlanta Braves: "Where we're at in the season, we're lucky that we get to face playoff-caliber teams right now, because when you're 150 games in or so and you're facing teams that might be in our situation, it's not that it's tough to come to the ballpark, but it's tough to play against some teams that are may be checking boxes...The great news is we have to play the Braves. We just got to play the Dodgers. We're playing the Twins pretty soon. So like all these teams we're facing lately are trying to get into the tournament, and that is a great thing for us because I don't need to motivate them." The second game of the series started with both offenses exchanging blows, as Derek Hill and Otto Lopez got Miami on the board in the first and sixth, while old friend Jorge Soler and Matt Olson did the damage for Atlanta. Marlins starter Adam Oller, who has quietly been solid for Miami since being called up in mid-August, delivered 5 ⅔ innings of bend-but-don't-break pitching. The righty allowed eight hits, but also struck out eight and featured heavy reliance on his slurve, which tallied seven whiffs when it was all said and done. "I made pitches when I needed to make pitches. The punchouts were obviously there, a lot better today. So all in all, not really upset with the outing at all," said the veteran. As soon as Oller departed, though, Olson and Gio Urshela immediately struck back, as contending teams often do, with two two-run homers in the top of the seventh off of Lake Bachar. Schumaker said with regret postgame that he could've put in Xzavion Curry to face Urshela, but elected to leave Bachar out there. "That one I kind of wish I had back and not put him in that position...So I'll put that one on me, the Urshela home run." Following the two blasts, Miami's offense couldn't make a late-inning push against Atlanta's stifling bullpen, collecting only one hit from the seventh onward. Jesús Sánchez grounded out to first, putting the nail in the Marlins' coffin as they fell 6-2. Saturday's loss dropped Schumaker's club to 57-98 on the season. Of Note - Pregame, the Marlins held their 2024 minor league awards ceremony: - Alex Carver broke down top prospect Thomas White's media scrum, including White's goals for 2025 and his assessment of his first full year in pro baseball. FOF will have similar pieces on Ryan Ignoffo and Joe Mack soon. - Schumaker noted pregame that Braxton Garrett felt something in the back of his elbow during his last bullpen and that "it’s gonna be tough for him to make a start before the end of the season.” Garrett met with the media postgame, saying "the outside elbow just hasn't quite got there. I've been able to battle through it a little bit, expecting to get over that hump, but it just didn't happen. Just after the bullpen, it just didn't seem like it was quite there.” Garrett made just seven starts MLB starts this year. - As previously mentioned, Saturday's game was the final time the Marlins will don their City Connect Uniforms inspired by the Cuban Sugar Kings. Miami finished with a record of 22-27 in the caliente red and baby blue threads. - The Marlins announced that Jun-Seok Shim, one of the two prospects they acquired for Bryan De La Cruz at the trade deadline, is heading to the desert to pitch in the Arizona Fall League. Up Next Miami looks to play spoiler once again in Sunday's rubber match that features two inexperienced starting arms. Darren McCaughan toes the slab for the Fish in their final home game of the season, sporting a 7.33 ERA this season in seven appearances as a Marlin. Opposing the 28-year-old is Braves rookie Grant Holmes, who has had a rocky September thus far, allowing five earned runs in just seven innings. The last first pitch from loanDepot park in 2024 comes your way at 1:40. View full article

After a rocky first inning, Miami played nearly flawless baseball to secure their second win of the season over Washington. In 2022 and 2023, the Miami Marlins, simply put, found ways to beat the Washington Nationals. Whether it was clutch hits—see Jorge Soler's walk-off homer with two outs last May—dominant pitching performances, or just capitalizing on how poor those Nationals teams were, the Marlins possessed a 26-6 head-to-head record during the two seasons. This season, the Fish have made a complete 180. Entering their final matchup of 2024, Miami owned a 1-8 record against their divisional foe, as Washington starts to reap the rewards of their rebuild they started late in the 2021 season. Thursday night was a throwback performance. Even when Darren McCaughan put them in an early 3-0 hole, the Marlins bullpen kept them in the game. The offense rallied for three runs in the top of the eighth before eventually securing a 6-3 series-opening win. Connor Norby and Jonah Bride got things started in the eighth and led the way the entire night for Miami as the one and two holes both collected two RBI's. Otto Lopez put Miami on top with a forceout, coupled with a misplay at first base. It included Lopez's seventh RBI of September, more than he had in July and August combined. Anthony Veneziano, Anthony Bender and Jesús Tinoco were spotless in relief, giving up no hits in four combined innings of work. Tinoco delivered a six-out save, continuing the impressive start to his Marlins career. Going into Thursday, Tinoco had a 1.47 ERA in 15 appearances. "Our bullpen was outstanding...Tinoco with the two-inning save was fantastic." raved Marlins manager Skip Schumaker. Of Note - Aside from the up-and-down first, McCaughan was solid through five frames. The righty threw his sweeper and sinker a combined 75% of the time with the two pitches combining for three whiffs. "It didn't look like it was gonna go great...but Mac did a really good job of stabilizing the game from there on," said Schumaker. - Once again, Xavier Edwards didn't make the start due to illness. However, Miami's dynamic middle infielder racked up two hits from each side of the plate off the bench. - After a rough couple of weeks, Jake Burger tallied three hits. He had the two highest exit velocities on the Marlins in this game (109.9 mph single in the third and 108.4 mph single in the eighth). Up Next The four-game series between these division rivals continues Friday night at 6:45 ET. Edward Cabrera, coming off one of his better starts of 2024 on Sunday against the Phillies, makes the start for Miami. Opposing Cabrera is DJ Herz, who punched out 13 Marlins in six innings back in mid-June. View full article

For the first time in franchise history, Miami went a full-length season without picking up a win over Pittsburgh. The finale of the 2024 sweep took place almost a year to the day that the Marlins secured a postseason berth on the same field. There was a party in Pittsburgh 347 days ago as the Miami Marlins secured their first full-season playoff berth in twenty years right in front of a young, up and coming Pirates squad. Many members of the team even stayed behind to watch their opponents soak in the moment or to use the scene for extra motivation moving into 2024. The Pirates will fall short of reaching the postseason themselves this year, but at least they got back at Miami in head-to-head competition. After sending the Marlins into an instant spiral during the season-opening series way back in March, Derek Shelton and Co. doubled down in their second meeting back at PNC Park. Wednesday afternoon's 3-1 win ensured a season sweep over Miami, a perfect 7-0 record. Leading the way was Bailey Falter, who carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning before Jonah Bride and Cristian Pache singled, leading to Falter's departure. As expected, the lefty didn't overpower Miami's lineup, topping out at 92.9 mph on his four-seamer, although he demonstrated some pretty serious swing-and-miss stuff. Falter collected 18 whiffs across 93 pitches (38%), with ten of them coming on his slider. Additionally, the breaking pitch was responsible for three of Falter's five strikeouts. "Falter was really good." Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said postgame. "Fastball at top of the zone that we couldn't get on top of...just a lot of weak contact and strikeouts. The slider was super effective as well. We just couldn't flush anything...Today was his day and he was just better than us today." Similar to the first three games, Miami did rally late, putting the tying run on first after Pache's second hit of the day put his team on the board. Kyle Stowers reached on an infield single—his third hit in two games—to load the bases for Xavier Edwards, but Miami's best contact hitter couldn't pass the baton, flying out to, you guessed it, former Marlin Bryan De La Cruz to put a bow on the series. Of Note - Wednesday was a bullpen day from the start, as Jonathan Bermúdez got the ball. Bermúdez displayed shaky command and was unable to get in front of hitters consistently which led to him allowing three earned runs on three hits in just two innings of work. - Following Bermúdez and John McMillon's injury-shortened appearance was Xzavion Curry, who kept Miami in the game as a long reliever. "He saved us", said his manager. "He kept us in the game, I can't say enough about what he did...he pitched." - McMillon was removed from the game after just two pitches (both fastballs that registered far below his usual velocity). He left the game with tightness in his right forearm area, per Schumaker. - Declan Cronin continued his eye-catching streak of keeping balls in the yard. Up Next Miami heads to the nation's capital to face the Nationals, a team they faced just last week in South Florida. Darren McCaughan toes the slab for the Fish, opposing another lefty, rookie Mitchell Parker. Parker was dominant in his last start against Miami in mid-June, tossing six innings of one-run ball. First pitch is slated for 6:45 ET. View full article

Griffin Conine's milestone proved to be crucial to Miami's victory over the Giants. The club improved to 3-1 when the second-generation Marlin is in their starting lineup. Stepping into the box for his first at-bat of Saturday night's game on a picture perfect night in San Francisco, Miami Marlins outfielder and new call-up Griffin Conine knew exactly what he was looking for. "Game plan was to get on his heater up. He threw me a lot of heaters at bat, took some good swings. Just felt like I was a touch late, so wanted to catch one out front, and he gave me one." Giants starting pitcher Mason Black "gave" Conine a 91.7 mph four-seamer middle-up, and Miami's anticipated rookie did not miss it. The 27-year-old drubbed a 112.5 mph line drive to right field for his first big league homer. The foul pole was the only obstacle that stood in its way from plunging deep into McCovey Cove. That gave the Marlins an early 2-0 lead. Behind a steady five-plus innings from Edward Cabrera and another round-tripper off the bat of Connor Norby, they held onto that lead for the rest of the night, ending with a competitive 4-3 win to even the set at one game apiece. "Surreal is the word that keeps popping up in my head," Conine said. "It feels like a dream." When asked by Bally Sports Florida's Craig Minervini if he ever envisioned his first blast hitting the foul pole, Conine jokingly noted "Never, not once. I think that might be the first time I've ever hit the foul pole on a homer." With his long ball, Conine has already achieved a career cycle in less than a week since his awaited promotion to The Show. Through 17 plate appearances, Miami's newest slugger is OPS'ing .919, showing the impact he can make at the highest level . "That's why I'm here, obviously, to achieve a dream and all that, but I'm here to help this team win, and anytime I can do that, I'm doing my job." Conine's strong start as a Marlin doesn't stop at the plate, either, as manager Skip Schumaker mentioned postgame. "Every hit so far except I think one's been extra-base hits, so he's got that. He provides really good defense too. So he's a smart baseball player. It's not that not surprising that you know how he grew up." Of Note - Schumaker had high praise for his starter: "I was really excited to see him attack after that first inning. After that, he really was attacking inside the strike zone with all of his pitches." Cabrera didn't stack as many swings-and-misses as most have grown to expect from the flamethrower with just three. Instead, Cabrera was more in the zone than usual with a 62% strike percentage. The righty relied on his four-seamer the most, throwing his heater 39% of the time (had been averaging 26% usage this season entering Saturday). - Norby's sixth-inning solo shot was the third homer in his near two-week-long tenure with the Fish, as well as his ninth extra-base hit. - David Hensley delivered the lone RBI not from a homer with a productive groundout in the top of the seventh. - The waiver claim crew in the bullpen was nearly perfect, as Xzavion Curry and John McMillon both delivered hitless outings, while Jesús Tinoco allowed one hit, although it was a costly solo blast from Michael Conforto. Up Next The first pitch for Sunday's rubber match is scheduled for 4:05 ET. Giants 2024 All-Star Logan Webb, who pitched to the tune of a 2.16 ERA in the month of August, takes the mound for Bob Melvin's club. Darren McCaughan is slated to make his first start of the season for Miami. View full article

Tormented by poor swing decisions, Kyle Stowers went 5-for-52 at the plate to start his Marlins tenure, but he has put together an impressive week and a half since then, including an eight-hit series at Coors Field. The Miami Marlins instantly added Kyle Stowers to their big league club after acquiring him at the trade deadline. The 26-year-old ex-top prospect who never got a true, sustained look as a member of the Baltimore Orioles slid into the middle of manager Skip Schumaker's lineup. Understandably, everybody was intrigued to see what he'd do with the opportunity. The El Cajon, CA, native responded by putting together one of the most disappointing stretches in recent memory. In his first game as a Marlin, Stowers wore the golden sombrero, striking out in each of his four at-bats. Through his first 16 games, he had a .096/.175/.096 slash line, with 23 strikeouts, three walks and just five hits. Although there was reason to be concerned about the considerable amount of swing-and-miss in Stowers' game, the most prevalent issue plaguing him was his chase rate. Through the same 16-game stretch, Stowers was chasing pitches outside the zone at an alarming 40.3% clip, leading to a painful increase in strikeout numbers. It all seemed to click for Stowers starting last Monday, when his good friend Connor Norby got the call to join him in the majors. Norby relayed to the media that he went up to Stowers when he saw him in the clubhouse and said, "You're gonna start raking again now that I'm here, right?" In 10 games with Norby on the roster, Stowers has certainly held up his end of the bargain, hitting 12-for-31 (.387), with his most notable performance coming Thursday afternoon at Coors Field in the finale against the Colorado Rockies. Stowers led the way with three hits, including a double, and four RBI's as the Marlins picked up a 12-8 win and series split. "He's a good overall hitter," said Schumaker postgame. "It's just when he's in the strike zone. I could say that about 100 different guys in the major leagues—still a young guy in this league, still trying to figure out the league as well. The league adjusted. He adjusted. So that means that he's a really good athlete, because he adjusted to the league. "It's going to be one of those chess matches every single day. That's how you survive in this league. I'm really proud of him, of how he's adjusted," As his manager mentioned, a big catalyst of Stowers' success has been healthier swing decisions. Since last Monday, Stowers' chase rate has dropped to 30.4%, still fourth-highest on the team in that time frame. However, the near-10% improvement has helped Stowers to find his stroke, and strike out significantly less. "I mean, new manager, new to coaching staff, new hitting staff, new team, meeting new people every single day. I think that definitely changes things. Now, he settled in. I think this is more the version you're going to see than the first couple weeks version." Of Note - Stowers wasn't all alone on offense, as Derek Hill capitalized on the "fun" atmosphere at Coors with his second multi-homer game of his career. The entirety of Miami's offense combined for 18 hits, a season high. - Connor Norby continued to impress, reaching base five times on two hits, two walks and a fielder's choice. Additionally, he extended his hit streak to 10 games. Norby is creeping up on Gary Sheffield and Juan Pierre, who share the record for longest hitting streak to start a Marlins career at 12 games. - Declan Cronin exited the game in the sixth with left knee discomfort. - Valente Bellozo, perhaps the most fly out-reliant pitcher in all of MLB, did not have a fun day at the office. Rockies hitters sent out three homers, two of which came off the bat of Brendan Rodgers. Up Next Miami wraps up their 2024 west coast slate in the Bay Area with a weekend set against the San Francisco Giants. Friday night's game one is a classic "Late Night With The Fish" with first pitch slated for 10:15 ET. Adam Oller makes his third start for Miami opposite of 2023 NL Cy Young winner and bonafide ace Blake Snell. View full article

The 20,223 fans at loanDepot park on Saturday were treated to an exciting albeit tough Marlins loss. Traded from Miami to San Diego earlier this season, Luis Arraez recorded the game-deciding RBI while Tanner Scott earned the save. 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. View full article

What has been working so well for Miami's newest middle-of-the-order bat? 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." View full article

Iffy command and overreliance on his two best pitches hurt the former third overall pick yet again on Tuesday night. 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. View full article

Three Braves left the yard and Charlie Morton was as steady as ever as another road trip to Cobb County starts out on the wrong note for the Marlins. Dating back to a season ago, in eleven games played at Truist Park, the Miami Marlins are now 1-10 against the Atlanta Braves following Thursday night's series opening 4-2 loss. In the majority of those previous matchups, Atlanta's high-powered offense led the way, a theme that was prevalent yet again with Max Meyer on the bump for Miami. After Meyer punched out Flipped Fish and new Brave Jorge Soler in the bottom of the first, Austin Riley, who entered the contest with 13 blasts in 70 career games played against the Marlins, took flight with an opposite field 342-foot solo shot to put Atlanta on top early. To make matters worse, the meat of the Braves order, spearheaded by Marcell Ozuna and 2023 NL MVP fourth-place finisher Matt Olson, also saw Meyer well. Ozuna took a poorly placed Meyer four-seamer—which plagued Meyer throughout the night—into center, followed up by an Olson two-run homer to give starter Charlie Morton an early 3-0 cushion. Aside from the rough opening inning and additional homer off the bat of Orlando Arcia in the third, Meyer enjoyed a solid night and was able to persevere into a five-inning start. Per usual, the 25-year-old leaned on his wipeout slider the most, throwing it 40% of the time and racking up 8 of his 13 whiffs with the pitch. His aforementioned fastball, however, was less exemplary due to shaky command. Four of Meyer's seven hits allowed came on the heater including Arcia's moonshot. Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said his starter "attacked the zone...He was really good through the next four innings. He had a tough first inning, that happens. It shows you what kind of mentality he has and to get through five was pretty impressive today." Meyer's seven strikeouts agains the Braves marked a career-high. Emmanuel Ramírez and George Soriano delivered scoreless innings in relief of Meyer. Unlike his six earned-run performance against Miami in mid-April, Morton carved up Marlins bats all night aside from an unearned run in the fifth, a Nick Fortes sacrifice fly that plated the speedy Forrest Wall. "Uncle Charlie" struck out six Marlins, only walked two and collected five of his patented groundouts, two of them being double plays. Schumaker joked postgame about Morton's longevity and dominant curveball. "I faced him and he was tough ten years ago, and he's still doing it...he's still throwing 95, 96 mph down in the zone. He can throw it at the top as well...and a really good curveball...He was really good again tonight." Following Morton's departure, the Marlins were able to scratch across another run in the seventh courtesy of the hot-hitting Jake Burger, who came into the game hitting .391 since last Friday's game in Milwaukee with three long balls. Burger scorched a single into the outfield to plate David Hensley. Unfortunately for Miami, that's all they were able to get, as the back end of Brian Snitker's bullpen was lights out in the eighth and ninth, locking up the 4-2 victory for the Bravos. Valente Bellozo is Miami's probable starter for Friday's game. In his last start on July 2 against the Red Sox before being sent back down to Triple-A Jacksonville, Bellozo went five innings and allowed five earned runs, but demonstrated solid off-speed, led by his sweeper, and a good cutter. Rookie Spencer Schwellenbach takes the ball for Snitker's club, riding high after a strong month of July. In his last start against the streaking Mets, Schwellenbach dominated with seven innings of shutout ball. First pitch is scheduled for 7:20 ET. View full article