Nate Karzmer

More than half the hits that the Marlins allowed on Saturday afternoon ended up in the seats. Since his debut in 2021, the main concern when looking at Miami Marlins starting pitcher Edward Cabrera has been the 26-year-old's ability to find the strike zone. Entering Saturday afternoon's game against the Cincinnati Reds, Cabrera had walked 13.9% of all batters faced during his career, nearly double the MLB average for starters. Interestingly enough, that number did not go up after his most recent lackluster outing. Instead of missing the zone, Cabrera couldn't miss barrels, as although the Reds lineup recorded six hits, four of them left the yard. This theme continued following Cabrera's departure just 3 ⅓ innings into the game. Just as they did two games ago in Houston, the Marlins out-hit Cincinnati, 15-10, but also displayed some poor clutch hitting yet again, going 3-for-20 with runners in scoring position. Standout performances from Jake Burger and Josh Bell kept the Fish in the game, but the two JB's couldn't do enough. Miami fell by a score of 10-6, securing yet another series loss in their 31st set of the season. While Cabrera did generate a good amount of swing-and-miss—he tallied seven strikeouts—the righty let up seven hard-hit balls. Cabrera allowed one homer on his four-seam fastball, one on his changeup, and two on his curveball. Overall, Cabrera's power-changeup was the pitch that he found the most success with, as it was responsible for two of his strikeouts and 14 of 33 whiffs (42%). Saturday's late-fireworks show marked the first time Cabrera allowed more than two homers in his career. The former-top prospect's 2024 ERA now sits at 8.26. Marlins manager Skip Schumaker defended his starter postgame, saying, "He's just not sharp yet. I think the velocity was his best of the year so far. I think the changeup was good again. Just some hanging breaking balls got hit like last start." Huascar Brazobán, Andrew Nardi, Anthony Bender and A.J. Puk finished the game out of the bullpen for Miami. Brazobán entered the contest in the middle of the fourth with a 5-4 lead, although the bases were loaded after Cabrera allowed two singles and hit a batter before being pulled. All three runs crossed after some Reds small-ball, allowing Cincinnati to take a lead they never gave up. Nardi was bit by the homer bug as well, as Santiago Espinal and Rece Hinds gave more fans souvenirs. The homer off of Nardi was Hinds' second of the day and third of the series. On the bright side, Bender and Puk both enjoyed clean innings. Offensively for Schumaker's club, the two 2023 trade deadline acquisitions, Jake Burger and Josh Bell, essentially kept Miami in the game. The two went back-to-back in the third, one of four hits and two RBI's for Burger, while Bell laced a double in the sixth to put his team back within a run, his second RBI of the day. Burger's 10th homer of the season was just his first against a left-handed pitcher, as Andrew Abbott struggled just as much as Cabrera did. Elsewhere in the Marlins lineup, Xavier Edwards tallied two more hits, raising his batting average to .333 and his OPS to .816. After coming back to the big league club with a chip on his shoulder, Edwards is showing the Marlins coaches and front office what he can do when given the opportunity. Finally, hours after Schumaker mentioned that he could be getting looks in the infield, Jazz Chisholm Jr. was moved from center field to second base in the middle of the game. Chisholm had not played in the infield since June 28, 2022 before Saturday. After recent trade reports, it appears that Miami is sending a message by showing the 26-year-old's versatility. Trevor Rogers takes the ball in an attempt to salvage the series Sunday afternoon at 1:40 ET. Opposite of Rogers is Nick Lodolo, who is enjoying a solid 2024 campaign, sporting a 3.30 ERA and an 8-3 record. It is the Marlins' final game before the All-Star break. View full article

The top of the order excelled and Roddery Muñoz delivered the longest outing of his career, but neither were enough for the Marlins to salvage game three in the Space City. Coming off an outing that was a step in the right direction—albeit against the lowly Chicago White Sox—Miami Marlins starting pitcher Roddery Muñoz had a tough challenge awaiting him Thursday night at Minute Maid Park in the form of the surging Houston Astros. Houston has not lost a series since June 10-12 in San Francisco, and their bats had already secured another series win against Miami, putting up a combined 13 runs in the first two games. While Muñoz did allow six runs to cross, just four of them were earned, and the 24-year-old gave the Marlins much-needed length, tossing 6 ⅔ innings on just 94 pitches. His offense put up eleven hits, but could only put three runs on the board due to an abysmal 1-for-10 night at the plate with runners in scoring position. Josh Hader went 1-2-3 in the ninth, locking down a 6-3 win and series sweep for the 'Stros. After walking and hitting a couple batters led to runs in the first, second and fourth innings, Muñoz was able to pitch into the seventh after an efficient final couple innings of work. The righty threw just 30 pitches in his final 2 ⅔ innings of work even though he allowed another run via a sac fly in the fifth. Marlins manager Skip Schumaker praised his starter for working out of tough situations, saying "I thought he did really good containing them...When they had guys on base, we could've gotten in much more trouble then what we did." Muñoz's slider was effective, as the pitch was responsible for both of his two strikeouts and three of his eight whiffs. The same cannot be said for Muñoz's sinker, though, as Astros hitters saw the pitch well all night. Three of the six runs and two of the three doubles Muñoz allowed came on his sinker. The pitch was thrown sixteen times and generated zero whiffs. According to Stathead, Munoz's final line is the first of its kind in MLB history. At the plate, the outfielders at the top of Miami's lineup enjoyed solid nights. Bryan De La Cruz got the scoring started just two batters in to the game with a solo shot into the Crawford Boxes. Thursday's blast was De La Cruz's second career homer against the team that signed and developed him. Additionally, Jesús Sánchez doubled twice to bring his season OPS back up to .710, while Jazz Chisholm Jr. sent out his second homer of the series. Chisholm Jr. has upped his play since being brought up in trade rumors earlier this week and is back to being on a 20 homer/20 stolen base pace. Elsewhere, Nick Fortes continued his dominance at the dish with runners in scoring position and two outs with an RBI single in the second inning. Fortes entered Thursday's contest with a .467 batting average in said situations (.147 BA in all other situations). Schumaker addressed his offense's poor performance with RISP, saying "We had the right guys up with less than two outs, we just couldn't capitalize." Out of the bullpen, Andrew Nardi completed the sixth following Muñoz's departure, and Tanner Scott did more Tanner Scott things with a scoreless bottom of the eighth. Looking ahead, Miami travels to Cincinnati to face the Reds, coming off a sweep of their own against the Colorado Rockies. Yonny Chirinos gets the ball for Miami for game one on Friday night. Chirinos owns an ERA of 4.19 in four starts with the Fish. Cincinnati will counter with rookie right-hander Carson Spiers. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 ET. View full article

The 2022 sixth overall pick led the way for Marlins affiliates from July 1-6 as he put together his best week of the season. Throughout the course of the Minor League Baseball season, Fish On First staffers will release detailed recaps each week taking you through the previous week's developments at all levels of the Miami Marlins organization. Low-A Jupiter The Hammerheads had a rough couple of days at the office, dropping five of six games against the team they share Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium with, the Palm Beach Cardinals. The main culprit for the majority of the losing was Jupiter’s offense. Hammerhead bats combined for just seven extra-base hits all week, six of them being doubles and a lone triple off the bat of Triple-A rehabber José Devers. To put into context just how subpar the offense was the entire series, just one player OPS'd over .600, that being Brett Roberts at .616 (Roberts was there on a rehab assignment as well). It wasn’t the best of week’s on the mound either, but there was a lone standout that earned FSL Pitcher of the Week after a five-inning, no-run, seven strikeout performance from Eliazar Dishmey. Four of Dishmey's last five outings have been scoreless. High-A Beloit Similar to Jupiter, the Sky Carp did not see much success this past week against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, going 2-4 in their six matchups. On the hill, Emmett Olson and Thomas White were responsible for both wins. Olson was solid, allowing three runs over 5 ⅓ innings of work, but White was dominant. FOF’s number one prospect tossed five innings of one-run ball with two walks and three punch outs. Noble Meyer undeservedly took a loss in a game that he shoved, sitting down six Timber Rattlers in 4 ⅓ innings while allowing one run to come across. You can catch both White and Meyer at the Futures Game this Saturday at 4:10 ET from Globe Life Field highlighting the first day of All-Star week’s festivities. The undisputed top two prospects in Miami’s system have shined in their first full season of pro-ball, with White racking up 81 strikeouts and pitching to a 3.10 ERA over 61 innings between both Jupiter and Beloit, while Meyer has struck out 61, and allowed a meager 25 hits in 50 ⅓ innings pitched. Also similar to Jupiter, there was minor action at the plate, with the only notables being Jake DeLeo and Tony Bullard. DeLeo hit 7-for-20 (.350) with 3 RBI’s, whilst Bullard OPS’d .869 with two doubles. Double-A Pensacola The Blue Wahoos out-performed the Hammerheads and Sky Carp with their series split against the Montgomery Biscuits. We’ll start with the bad for Pensacola on the hitting side. Nathan Martorella, who has been struggling since coming over from the Padres in the Luis Arráez deal, had his worst week as a Marlins farmhand yet. The lefty went hitless in seventeen at-bats, dropping his batting average as a Wahoo down to .163 and his OPS down to .429. Ely Sussman detailed last week what has gone wrong for Martorella here. Now for the good, and perhaps most intriguing development of the past month-plus down on the farm. Jacob Berry, Miami’s 2022 first-round pick, had an abysmal April and May to start his 2024 campaign, slashing .173/.239/.272 and .138/.169/.163 in those months, respectively. Since then, though, Berry has been one of the most consistent bats in all of the Marlins’ system. In June, Berry rebounded with a .300/.388/.500 month with nine extra-base hits (two home runs) and 14 RBI’s. Now, in the first week of July, the former LSU Tiger put together his best week yet. Against Montgomery, Berry OPS’d an astounding 1.178 with two long balls and two doubles. While Berry’s season stats are still poor, his recent play has been just what the doctor ordered, especially with the Minnesota Twins calling up Brooks Lee, the player who was taken one pick after Berry in the 2022 draft. Somehow out-performing Berry last week at the plate was Paul McIntosh, with an even more impressive OPS of 1.377 and one blast of his own. McIntosh has had an up-and-down 2024 and after his dominant performance against the Biscuits, his season slash line now sits at .247/.345/.390. A few days after his 24th birthday, Luis Palacios celebrated with the only quality start for Pensacola last week, as he delivered a strong three earned-run, six inning outing, striking out three and walking one. Triple-A Jacksonville Taking three of five against the Charlotte Knights, the Jumbo Shrimp were the lone Marlins affiliate to win their inaugural series of July. Evan Fitterer, Shaun Anderson and Max Meyer were all solid on the bump for Jacksonville. Fitterer and Anderson both allowed six hits and two earned runs, the only difference being Fitterer completing seven innings compared to Anderson’s six. Meyer spun his best outing since being sent back down to Triple-A, striking out six Knights over 4 ⅔ innings. The righty could be back in Miami in roughly two weeks, when his lack of service time in 2024 locks in another year of club control on the former third overall selection. Marty Costes and Troy Johnson rivaled Berry and McIntosh when it came to mashing at the plate, as Costes OPS’d 1.143, coupled with Johnston’s seven RBI’s and two doubles, good enough for a 1.155 OPS of his own. Up Next Low-A Jupiter travels to the west coast to take on the Bradenton Marauders High-A Beloit welcomes the Cedar Rapids Kernels to town Double-A Pensacola heads north to face the Rocket City Trash Pandas Triple-A Jacksonville visits the Gwinnett Stripers View full article

Getting a rare opportunity to make back-to-back starts, Dane Myers carried the Marlins to a 4-3 win on Saturday afternoon. MIAMI, FL—In the seventh inning of a one-run ballgame with RHP Michael Soroka on the mound, Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker had plans of pinch-hitting the powerful and hot bat of Jesús Sánchez to start a rally for his ballclub. The only problem? The lefty was unavailable on Saturday due to hamstring soreness. "If (Sánchez) was really available, I would have pinch-hit him" said Schumaker postgame. "That shows you how smart I am," he added jokingly. The second-year manager laughs because that would have made Dane Myers a spectator. Instead, Myers took his turn in the cleanup spot and hammered a hanging slider 420 feet to put the Marlins in the lead. A.J. Puk and Tanner Scott recorded six consecutive outs to secure Miami the 4-3 win in game two of three against the MLB-worst Chicago White Sox. For Myers, it was the climax of a great day at the plate. Against Garrett Crochet, one of the best starters in the American League, the 28-year-old recorded two hits on two impressive at-bats, with the second being an RBI single after fouling off three Crochet heaters in a row. After striking out to Soroka in the fifth on a slider, Myers was looking for that same spinner when he stepped up to the plate in the seventh. "Just a hanging breaking ball. I took one of those in the first at-bat off of Soroka, so saw that one and didn't miss it." In a riveting turn of events, the Marlins got to the aforementioned lefty Crochet. They had been an unfathomable 4-26 against left-handed starters this season. On Saturday, though, Miami's bats were able to draw long counts and hit 28 foul balls, leading to the removal of Crochet after just four innings of work. In addition to Myers' RBI, Vidal Bruján notched one of his own in the fourth. "Good pitcher. Obviously his numbers are good. We were just trying to be aggressive on the fastball. He's got one of the best fastballs. Worked out for us today." Myers said of the Marlins approach at the plate. Yonny Chirinos took the ball for Miami. In what is becoming the norm for the righty, he worked himself into multiple situations with runners on. Chirinos had mixed results. Chicago put runs on the board in the first and third, but that was all. In his fourth start, the 30-year-old kept his team in the contest, just as he did in his first three. The unsung hero of Saturday's contest was Miami's bullpen. A trio of relievers combined for four dominant innings following Chirinos' departure. Outside of the usually dominant Scott, Puk enjoyed an impressive 1-2-3 inning against the heart of Chicago's order. When asked postgame what has worked since returning to the 'pen, Puk said it was "just a little transition going back from starting and going back to the bullpen. I kinda just lower my arm slot again, getting back to something more comfortable. That was the biggest, the mechanical change: throwing a different slot." Schumaker praised Puk for reverting to his old slider grip and regaining velocity in the process, saying, "He went from an 83 mph slider to an 87 mph slider. That's a much different pitch. It's a much different break." Sunday's series finale sees the return of Edward Cabrera to the Marlins rotation after a a two-month hiatus following a 60-day stint on the injured list with a right shoulder impingement. Rookie Jonathan Cannon, who owns a 4.62 ERA on the season, toes the slab for the South Siders. First pitch comes your way at 1:40 ET. View full article

South Florida native and Red Sox starter Kutter Crawford had never even been to loanDepot park as a fan, let alone a player before his gem on Tuesday night. MIAMI, FL- Following a relatively successful 3-4 road trip, highlighted by a series split against the National League-leading Philadelphia Phillies, the Miami Marlins returned to loanDepot park on Tuesday night to begin their eighth home stand of the season against the 44-39 Boston Red Sox. Essentially from pitch one, Miami was playing from behind. It took Boston just four batters to grab an early 2-0 lead, one they held on to for the rest of the contest behind starter Kutter Crawford's fourth consecutive quality start on their way to a 8-3 win. After his offense got to Marlins starter Valente Bellozo in the first inning, highlighted by a Rafael Devers two-RBI single, Crawford dominated. Crawford's combination of efficiency and mixing of his fastballs allowed him to cruise through Miami's order his first time around, allowing one hit on a minuscule 39 pitches through his first three innings of work. The 28-year-old said postgame that he "knew (his) job is to attack the strike zone with as many quality strikes that (he) could", and he did just that, walking zero batters. Crawford threw his four-seam and cutter 77% of the time, with the two pitches combining for twelve whiffs. The righty finished his night tossing six innings of one-run ball, with his only mistake being a solo shot to Jake Burger in the fifth. Crawford, who hails from Okeechobee, Florida, and who played college baseball in Fort Myers at Florida Gulf Coast University, had "a number of family and friends in attendance". Tuesday was his first time in loanDepot park not just as a player, but his entire life as well, as he noted postgame. When I asked him what it was like to be back home professionally for the first time and pitch in front of said family members and friends, he said it "felt good...You know, I'm a fan of indoors even though it still gets hot in there. But no, it was a good atmosphere here." Miami was only able to scratch across two more runs following Crawford's departure, with the loudest and most noteworthy being Jesús Sánchez's 448-foot no-doubt homer to dead-center field in the seventh. It was another lackluster day at the plate for the Fish, who were only able to put up seven hits the entire night with just a 37.9% hard-hit rate. Opposite of Crawford was Bellozo, making his second major league start after an encouraging debut last week in Kansas City. Unlike his first start, Bellozo was getting hit around early and often. The first four batters he faced combined for an average exit velocity of 96.9, with the fourth being the previously mentioned two-RBI single off the bat of Devers. Innings two and three were Bellozo's most impressive in his short tenure in the big leagues, as the 24-year-old recorded two strikeouts in the second, then struck out the side in the third. Disaster struck yet again in the fourth, though, after Ceddanne Rafaela worked a seven-pitch at-bat and deposited a Bellozo changeup into the stands that gave Boston a 5-0 lead. Bellozo was able to get though five innings before turning the ball over to Declan Cronin. All in all, as Bellozo noted postgame, it was a "good effort... a good fight", especially considering that "one pitch" was the difference between an OK start and a good start. Bellozo, like Crawford, leaned mostly on his fastball and cutter, specifically his backdoor cutter, throwing the two pitches 65% of the time. Six of Bellozo's eight strikeouts came on both fastballs. Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said of his starter's outing, "It's kind of an interesting outing because he had, gosh, eight strikeouts, but then when he was hit, he was hit hard. So it's just kind of an interesting outing. I don't know how else to put it, but he didn't shoot himself in the foot. He had one walk. I thought he attacked against, you know, in his second career start against the Boston Red Sox. I thought it showed that he's, you know, not afraid. He's gonna go on the attack. He does not walk any guys and that's what we preach here." Cronin and JT Chargois pitched in relief for Miami. The former allowed an uncharacteristic five hits and two earned-runs, while the latter allowed a singular run, a Jarren Duran blast, in two innings of work. The second of three games between Boston and Miami features the Marlins leader in starts, Trevor Rogers. Rogers is coming off one of his best performances of the season, a solid six inning three earned-run performance in Philadelphia last Thursday. Young righty Bryan Bello will toe the slab for Alex Cora's squad in his 15th start of the season. Bello was shelled in his previous start, giving up seven earned runs in just 2.1 innings of work. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 ET. View full article

Valente Bellozo was just four outs away from being awarded a win in his first MLB start. The Royals had other plans, though. Entering a 1-0 game in the eighth inning of Wednesday's series finale against the Kansas City Royals, Miami Marlins reliever Huascar Brazobán had been, in the words of his manager Skip Schumaker, "really good" as of late. After allowing two earned runs on the first day of June to the defending World Series champion Texas Rangers, the 34-year-old gave up just three more earned runs thus far in the rest of the month, including a hitless appearance in ⅔ innings of work just less than 24 hours before he took the mound in Kaufmann Stadium once again. His quality performance looked like it was going to continue, as the Dominican made quick work of Michael Massey and Maikel García before the heart of the Royals lineup finally woke up. Superstar shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. started the rally with a triple into the right-center field gap. He was driven in by Vinnie Pasquantino's line drive single up the middle. on a frozen rope double in to left field. The Royals then took and extended their new lead, courtesy of a Salvador Pérez frozen rope double in to left field and a single from Nick Lofton. After allowing his fifth consecutive hit and third run, Schumaker had seen enough, calling upon JT Chargois to keep Miami in the contest. Instead, Kansas City kept on rolling, tacking on two more runs off yet another single, this time off the bat of Freddy Fermin. Chargois finally escaped the inning with a Massey groundout. When it was all said and done, the Royals put up five runs, had seven consecutive hitters reach base, six of them being on hits, all with two outs. Brazobán's season ERA now stands at 5.63. The main issue for the righty was his command, most importantly his four-seam fastball, as Royals hitters took advantage of missed spots. Three of the five hits Brazobán allowed were off of his heater. Most importantly for the Royals faithful, closer James McArthur enjoyed an easy 1-2-3 inning on his way to clinching a 5-1 victory and series win for Kansas City for the first time in nearly three weeks when they took two out of three against the Seattle Mariners. The biggest tragedy to come from the rally and subsequent loss is Valente Bellozo's impressive MLB debut. Schumaker had high praise for his starter, saying that he's "not sure what more you could've asked for", that Bellozo was "not scared on the mound" and "didn't hurt himself." As Schumaker detailed, the righty was going after Royals hitters from pitch one. Bellozo did not walk a batter all day and finished his inaugural start with just 72 pitches in five innings of work. Bellozo relied on his four-seam fastball to get ahead and his sweeper to put hitters away. Bellozo generated nine whiffs on his fastball and six on his sweeper, a combination that kept Royals hitters "off-balance," as Schumaker said. Postgame, Bellozo detailed his competitive nature, saying that he "loved the adrenaline and nerves" and that "if you don't have it, I think you don't love the game." 49a38801-9931b67a-1075847c-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4 On the hitting side for Miami, it was another slow day at the office. The lone run of the contest came in the form of a Nick Fortes single in the second inning. After putting up a respectable five hits in the first four innings of the game, the Marlins went hitless the entire rest of the way. The Fish put up just 16 hits over the three games in Kansas City amounting to four runs. Next up on the road trip for Miami is a flight northeast to Citizens Bank Park and a four-game set against the division-rival Philadelphia Phillies. The probable starter on the mound for Schumaker's club is Trevor Rogers, the lone healthy arm remaining from the season-opening rotation, albeit sporting a 1-8 record with a 4.90 ERA. It won't be easy for the Marlins to end their hitting woes, as opposing them is NL Cy Young contender Zack Wheeler. First pitch is scheduled for 6:20 EDT. View full article

The Marlins walked out of Kauffman Stadium a winner for the first time in eleven(!) years on Tuesday night. Going into the seventh inning of Tuesday night's matchup against the Kansas City Royals, the Miami Marlins were desperate for any offense after they had the misfortune of facing Kansas City's ace, Seth Lugo. Miami was the latest victims of Lugo's Cy Young-caliber campaign, as the 34-year-old did not allow a hit until the fifth inning and shut down the entirety of the Marlins lineup with the exceptions of Otto Lopez and Josh Bell, who both got on with singles. Lugo was pulled only six innings in to his start with 87 pitches, opening the door for Miami to tie or take the lead. The Marlins were still in the contest thanks to veteran righty Yonny Chirinos, who was making his second start for the club. Similar to his team and 2024 debut last week against the Cardinals, Chirinos got into multiple jams, but showed yet again that he can walk the tightrope and get out of tight situations as fast as he gets in them. Manager Skip Schumaker credited Chirinos' ability to generate "weak contact" along with his slider that generated nine whiffs over the course of his start. Chirinos' only hiccup was walking leadoff batter Maikel García back in the first, as Garcia came all the way around to score after two stolen bases and a Vinnie Pasquantino RBI single. The aforementioned Lopez got the seventh-inning rally started for Miami, lacing a double down the left field line against new arm Carlos Hernández. After a Tim Anderson groundout moved Lopez to third, it was up to Nick Gordon to come up big for Miami. Gordon, who came up short in an identical situation back in the fifth, roped a ground ball into the four hole that Maikel García made a stellar sliding play on. Just as Mark Vientos did a few weeks back, though, García rushed his throw to first, pulling Pasquantino off of first base and allowing Lopez to come across and score, tying things at one apiece. Just two batters later, more 2023-esque magic struck for Miami. After being in an 0-2 count against lefty reliever Will Smith, Jazz Chisholm Jr. smoked a 95.9 mph line drive right back at the veteran's left shoulder. Smith panicked and made yet another bad throw to first base, bringing home Gordon in the process. In the matter of minutes, Miami had taken the lead after looking lifeless through six innings. A.J. Puk, Huascar Brazoban and Calvin Faucher were all lights out in their respective middle relief and setup roles, throwing up zeroes in the sixth, seventh and eighth. Miami fought to get Tanner Scott some insurance runs off of old friend Nick Anderson in the eighth, however Anderson escaped the frame after allowing a Jake Burger double. Scott made things more interesting than he usually does in the ninth, allowing a Salvador Pérez single and stolen base from the pinch-running Dairon Blanco, but still secured the victory for Miami, getting yet another old friend, Garrett Hampson, to ground out to Burger to make things final. "We'll take any win however we can get it" Schumaker said when asked about the wacky albeit resilient win for his club. The Marlins look to take their third series in a row Wednesday afternoon at 2:10 EDT. Valente Bellozo will make his MLB debut and take the ball for Miami, as announced postgame. A corresponding 26-man and 40-man roster move will be needed to make room for the 24-year-old native of Mexico, who was acquired from the Astros in the Jacob Amaya deal back in April. Brady Singer is the probable starter for Kansas City. Singer, a Florida native and former Florida Gator, possesses a 5.31 ERA in the month of June. View full article

The Marlins clawed their way out of a three-run deficit and had plenty of chances to walk-off Monday night's game a winner, but could not finish the job, losing 7-6. MIAMI,FL- After a tough road trip in which the Marlins took the first game and dropped the final five, Miami returned home to loanDepot park with hopes of getting back on track against the 35-35 St. Louis Cardinals, the same team they defeated for win number one of 2024 back in April. The Marlins trailed for the majority of the night, and after Calvin Faucher allowed three runs to come across in the top of the eighth, it was looking unlikely that a win would come on Monday. That is, until, Bryan De La Cruz crushed a three-run, opposite field homer to tie the game at four just a few minutes later. Both teams exchanged jabs until the twelfth inning, when Masyn Winn delivered the knock-out punch with a game-winning two-run homer off A.J. Puk. Although the Fish continued to fight and made things interesting with a Nick Gordon triple in the bottom of the frame, a questionable tag-up from Gordon and subsequent laser throw from Cardinals right fielder Dylan Carlson took away any chance they had of keeping the contest going. The Marlins lost, 7-6. "I'm super proud of the fight." Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said postgame. "Unfortunately, we didn't win, but I'll take that effort all day long." As mentioned, the Marlins appeared to be dead in the water in the eighth after the Cardinals rallied for three runs, all coming with two outs. After Kent Emanuel limited the damage to just three, Miami came up to bat prepared to face the back of St. Louis' deep bullpen. Down to two outs with two runners on, Bryan De La Cruz sent a rocket to right-center field to tie the score, electrifying the crowd of 9,468. Schumaker noted that De La Cruz saw the ball well all night, and for the Dominican outfielder to hit a "backside" home run shows that "he's going to start getting hot again". After a scoreless ninth and tenth inning, the Cardinals broke the tie with a Dylan Carlson sac fly in the eleventh. Miami struck back fast on a Jesus Sanchez RBI groundout in the bottom half. In the twelfth, eerily similar to his go-ahead home run that he allowed to Cardinal Jordan Walker around this time last year, Marlins reliever A.J. Puk got beat again in crunch time, this time by young star Masyn Winn, who drove a home run to left. "I've said it before, the preparation, everything is there. Metrically, all this stuff looks there. Unfortunately, just the execution at those times is not," Schumaker said of Puk postgame, adding that Puk is, "frustrated you know, you can feel like you can see it because he knows that he's in those spots to get big outs and he knows he's been in those spots before to get big outs...I believe he can still do that". Winn's homer didn't deter Miami's fight, though, as Nick Gordon began the home-half of the inning with an RBI ground-rule double that was rightfully-overturned into a triple down the right-field line, bringing Miami back to within just one run. However, to the dismay of Marlins players and fans, they were back out of the game as fast as they were back in it. Standing at third as the tying-run with zero outs, Gordon tagged-up on a Tim Anderson line out to right. Carlson, who has 40th percentile arm strength (according to Baseball Savant), made a fantastic throw on a line to nab Gordon at home, quite easily. Schumaker defended his base-runner postgame, saying "I trust my coaches and trust Gordon, he's got a good speed. I know," and noted that it would "[take] a perfect throw to get him out" at the plate. Gordon added that Carlson had "to make a perfect throw. He's got to be good. And at the end of the day, we are professionals...we're in a little bit of a rut so we're trying to get something going and just kind of really trying to make plays." Otto Lopez would ground out just one batter later, extending Miami's losing streak to six games. If not for De La Cruz's heroics, the story of the game would be on Redbirds starter Sonny Gray. The 11-year veteran came into Monday night's game dominating the Marlins in his career, possessing a 3-0 record in five starts. Gray one-upped those five good performances with a stellar one on Monday, going 7.2 innings at an extremely efficient pace, averaging almost 11 pitches per inning. After five innings of dominance, the Marlins finally got to Gray in the sixth. Tim Anderson, who has been one of the hottest hitters in all of MLB over the past week with a .417 batting average since coming off the bereavement list, started things for Miami. He notched his second hit of the night with a single through the infield, the same spot where he recorded hit number one. After Otto Lopez and Nick Fortes moved him over, Jazz Chisholm Jr. drove a triple down the first base line to tie the game at one. Braxton Garrett started this game for Miami, coming off two starts where he did not look like the guy most are used to seeing. The 26-year-old possessed an 11.00 ERA in his two starts last week. Monday ended up being just what the doctor ordered, which was a great bounce-back for Garrett. The fifth-year lefty wasn't perfect, but threw six innings of one-run ball, the only blemish being a solo home run in the fifth. When asked about what worked on Monday night, Garrett credited, "mixing my two fastballs. Finally. I felt like, I don't know what the numbers were, but felt like 50/50 sinker, four-seam. My slider was the best it's been all year. I think that was the main thing." Miami looks to even this series on Tuesday night at 6:10pm. Veteran Lance Lynn takes the mound for the Cardinals while Roddery Muñoz, coming off the best start of his young career, toes the slab for the Marlins. View full article

Brooks' one-hit performance headlined Marlins affiliates from June 11-16. Throughout the course of the Minor League Baseball season, Fish On First staffers will release detailed recaps each week taking you through the previous week's developments at all levels of the Miami Marlins organization. Low-A Jupiter Although their week was all over the place in terms of scheduling—with both Wednesday's and Thursday's contests being postponed due to storms all over Palm Beach County and subsequently made up in the form of two doubleheaders—the Hammerheads won five of six matchups against the St. Lucie Mets. The standout performance this past week from not only Jupiter but the entire system came from 2023 11th-round pick Jake Brooks. Brooks, who has debatably been Jupiter's best arm all season as he entered Sunday’s game with a 1.94 ERA, was lights out in his start against St. Lucie. The former UCLA Bruin shined with a seven inning one-hitter while gathering four strikeouts. Brooks’ performance earned him Florida State League Pitcher of the Week honors. Notable hitters for Jupiter included Angelo DiSpigna, Colby Shade and Ryan Ignoffo, with all three hitting north of .389. DiSpigna, specifically, continued his impressive first year in Jupiter, batting an even .500 over 12 at-bats. Prized outfield prospect Dillon Head has spent the past month on the Hammerheads injured list. FOF's Isaac Azout reported earlier on Tuesday that Head will require season-ending hip surgery. High-A Beloit The Sky Carp, like the Hammerheads, were affected by weather, with their Sunday series finale being canceled due to rain. Beloit was still able to clinch a 3-2 series victory over the Quad Cities River Bandits anyway over the course of the week. We’ll start at the dish this time around, as while Osiris Johnson led Sky Carp bats with a .357 average, it was Cameron Barstad who put together the most well-rounded week. Barstad belted two home runs and OPS’d over 1.00, making for his best week of the season. The 2018 draft selection brought his season average up to .234 with his powerful week. On the mound, in his third start in Beloit, Fish On First #1 prospect Thomas White delivered his best start yet. The 19-year old went five strong innings while striking out six River Bandits. With his dominant outing, White now posses a 1.35 ERA over 13 ⅓ innings with just eight hits allowed. While White was dominant, he was one-upped by another flamethrower in FOF #11 Jacob Miller. Miller dazzled in his best start of the season, striking out eleven over six innings of work. Double-A Pensacola Also affected by weather, the Blue Wahoos were forced to play a doubleheader on Sunday, where they took both contests en route to a series win against the Birmingham Barons. The headline for my last MiLB recap was the continued struggles of 2022 first-round pick and current Wahoo Jacob Berry. Berry has still been below-average all around the diamond, but displayed some promise over the past week. The LSU product slashed a productive .300/.364/.450, while striking out just two times. With the emergence of JJ Bleday in Oakland, it is an important reminder that all prospects are on different timelines and while Berry has underperformed in his Marlins tenure, there is still potential in the switch-hitter. Additionally at the plate, power-hitting catcher Paul McIntosh was yet another Marlins hitting prospect that delivered his best hitting performance of the season. McIntosh slashed an impressive .409/.435/.682, in addition to two homers and five RBI’s. Pensacola was short on noteworthy arms outside of starter Evan Fitterer, who tossed five innings of one-run ball. Triple-A Jacksonville The Jumbo Shrimp, unfairly, put together the worst performance of the week as a team in the system as they split their series at home versus the Indianapolis Guardians. Jacksonville had three hitters at the dish who sported over .300 averages this past week in Griffin Conine, Jonah Bride and Javier Sanoja. For Conine, he continues his monstrous month of June, where he is now OPS’ing 1.210 with eight extra-base hits. The 26-year-old is putting together a great case to be called up to the major league club, should a spot open up. Like Pensacola, it was a slow weak on the bump. Only Yonny Chirinos gave Jacksonville both length and efficiency on the mound, as he went five innings allowing no runs to come across. It appears that Chirinos' reward will be receiving a call-up on Wednesday to fill out the Marlins starting rotation. Up Next Low-A Jupiter welcomes the Clearwater Threshers High-A Beloit hosts the Lansing Lugnuts AA-Pensacola takes on the Chattanooga Lookouts AAA-Jacksonville visits the Memphis Redbirds View full article

A wild throw from Mets 3B Mark Vientos ended up being the difference on Tuesday night in Queens. Trailing by a score of 2-1 in the top of the fifth, the Miami Marlins offense started threatening against New York Mets starting pitcher Tylor Megill. Marlins SS Tim Anderson, who enjoyed his best all-around game as a Marlin on Tuesday night, started the rally with a single and subsequent sharp baserunning placed him on third with one out. After a Jazz Chisholm Jr. walk, Bryan De La Cruz plated Anderson with a double to the left-center field gap that tipped off the glove of Mets CF Harrison Bader. The turning point of the contest, however, came two batters later in the form of a Jake Burger ground ball. Following a Josh Bell fly out, Burger ripped the fourth pitch of his at-bat to Mark Vientos at third base. Vientos made a great sliding play to his backhand side and it looked like Megill and the Mets were going to stop the bleeding and head into the bottom of the fifth with the game tied. Fortunately for the Marlins, Vientos rushed his throw to first base, pulling Pete Alonso off the bag and allowing Burger to reach on an error. V3kxT29fVjBZQUhRPT1fVUZCVUJ3SldBMWNBRFFBRlV3QUFVbGRWQUFBQkFGUUFBbFlNQWdFQ1Z3SlVDQWRl.mp4 The mishap gave Miami a 3-2 lead, one which the Marlins were able to hold onto the rest of the night as they started their six-game road trip with a 4-2 victory. Miami got the scoring started early in the second inning. The aforementioned Anderson notched his first RBI since May 5 with a two-out single. Additionally, it was Anderson's first game since returning from the bereavement list (he had missed the Marlins' previous series as a result). Getting to Megill early was key for a Marlins team that could not figure out the righty last season, as Megill won both of his outings in dominant fashion against the Fish in 2023, allowing two earned runs in 11 innings of work. On the mound for the Marlins was ace Jesús Luzardo, who was coming off one of the worst outings of his career a week prior against the Rays. Similar to Megill, Luzardo ran into some trouble in the bottom of the second, allowing two earned runs on two hits and a hit by pitch. After what Luzardo described as a "hairy" inning, he was able to "follow through with (him and Nick Fortes') game plan", finishing his night with 5 ⅔ innings pitched and allowing just two additional hits in his final 2 ⅔ innings before being pulled for Anthony Bender. Both the Mets and Marlins bullpens would hold steady up until the ninth inning, with Bender, Andrew Nardi and Tanner Scott (who we will get to in just a minute) on the Marlins side putting up zeroes. In the ninth, behind Otto Lopez and Nick Gordon, Miami would tack on an important insurance run. After Lopez continued his continued his career-high seven-game hit streak with a single, he successfully stole second and advanced to third on a Francisco Alvarez overthrow. Gordon then pushed a Adam Ottavino sweeper just deep enough to left field to plate Lopez on a sacrifice fly. This brings us to Tanner Scott, who Marlins manager Skip Schumaker called upon to pitch the eighth inning against the meat of the Mets lineup. After going one-two-three, Schumaker decided it was best to stick with Scott for a six-out save opportunity. The powerful lefty proved his manager right, as he breezed through the trio of Starling Marte, Vientos and Tyrone Taylor, locking down the victory for Miami. When asked how he prepared for the first six-out save of his eight-year career, Scott noted that he was, like always, "just trying to get outs" in any situation he is faced with. "You feel really good with Tanner with one run, but especially with two runs," Schumaker said postgame when asked about his closer and the insurance run in the top of the frame. It has been nearly two months since Scott last allowed an earned run on April 14, a streak that spans 20 innings. His last run allowed of any kind came on April 30. The Marlins look to secure a series victory Wednesday night in The Big Apple with Braxton Garrett taking the mound. Garrett, like Luzardo, is coming off a rough start in which he allowed five earned runs in just 2 ⅔ innings pitched against the same Rays. David Peterson, who owns a 2-2 record and 2.06 ERA against Miami in his career, takes the ball for New York. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 pm. View full article

As a guest on Fish Unfiltered, Skip Schumaker gives an update on Max Meyer. The Marlins optioned the talented right-hander to Triple-A nearly two months ago. Miami Marlins manager and reigning National League Manager of the Year Skip Schumaker was the most recent guest on Fish on First's Fish Unfiltered podcast. He provided a plethora of information about his personal life in the midst of an 162-game season and how the Marlins season has gone thus far, among other intriguing topics. You can check it out here. At around the 19-minute mark, Ely Sussman asked Schumaker when he expects a big league return from starting pitcher Max Meyer. Meyer was exceptional early in the 2024 campaign with a 2-0 record and 2.12 ERA in three starts before being shockingly sent down just two days after the best of those starts, as he went six innings allowing just one run against the Atlanta Braves. When Meyer was sent down, the Marlins had right-hander Edward Cabrera completing an injured list stint and were experimenting with A.J. Puk as a starter. Unfortunately, Cabrera has since gone back on the IL. Puk missed some time as well, then reverted to his accustomed reliever role. Sixto Sánchez (right shoulder inflammation) isn't an option, either. Is it time to bring up Meyer to fill the rotation void? "I know you’ll see him up here soon," the second-year manager replied. He cited discussions that the Marlins staff had with Meyer back in the offseason and in spring training about their plan to "protect" the 25-year-old on his way back from tearing his UCL and subsequent Tommy John surgery in August 2022. Schumaker also mentioned that Meyer needed to be "built up and not just this (MLB) level" and "real innings didn't feel like the right move, just to throw 170 innings first year in." When it came to the demotion itself, Schumaker noted that Meyer was rightfully upset and not "mentally all-in on the decision," which had a negative effect on Meyer's first two starts in Jacksonville, where he gave up a combined 7 earned runs over 5 ⅔ innings of work. However, in the words of his manager, Meyer has "gotten back on track" and had an "outstanding" last three outings, citing the development of his sinker and glimpses of a "really good" changeup. The former third overall pick has allowed a drastically different 5 runs over 11 innings with 17 strikeouts. In his latest start against the Durham Bulls, Meyer punched out seven batters while walking just one. With the Jumbo Shrimp, Meyer has thrown on a weekly schedule and had a conservative pitch count. As a result, MLB and MiLB combined, he's been limited to 40 ⅔ innings so far in 2024. Meyer will start at least one more time in the minors on Friday (his eighth start since being optioned). Right-hander Roddery Muñoz is likely to be recalled for the time being—he's projected to start in Miami on Saturday. If Meyer can continue what he's done recently, Marlins fans should not have to wait long to see him competing at the highest level again. View full article

Wednesday night's 5-3 loss gives the Marlins a near-unfathomable 3-23 record against their in-state rival since 2019. MIAMI, FL—The two-game Citrus Series finale between the visiting Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins on Wednesday night generated more pregame buzz than your usual midweek contest at loanDepot park, thanks to actors Will Smith and Martin Lawrence making an appearance just minutes before the 6:40 start time, with the latter throwing out the first pitch while promoting their new film "Bad Boys: Ride or Die". The entertainment and excitement boiled into the first inning, as both teams combined for five runs off of three extra-base hits. Unfortunately for Miami, they only could tack on one more run the rest of the contest while Tampa Bay added two insurance runs. Their bullpen locked down a 5-3 victory and sweep. Braxton Garrett, making his fifth start of the season, toed the slab for Miami. The Alabama native was coming off back-to-back dazzling starts in Arizona and San Diego where he allowed just one earned run over 14 innings of work. As hinted at in the introduction, his success did not continue against Tampa Bay, a lineup that was struggling to put up runs coming into their series in South Florida. After getting Yandy Díaz to ground out, the rest of the Rays lineup begun to see the young lefty quite well, ripping two doubles and a single that was misplayed by Marlins outfielder Jesús Sánchez, leading to an early 3-0 deficit for Garrett and Co. Fortunately for Garrett, the Marlins would pick up their starter in the bottom half of the inning. Josh Bell, Otto Lopez and Jesús Sánchez, who doubled to the left-center field gap and continues to hit the ball hard and look much-improved at the plate, all contributed to close the gap to 3-2. Garrett had a clean second frame, but ran into more trouble in the third, with the Rays tacking on two more extra-base hits and runs before Marlins manager Skip Schumaker saw enough out of his starter, calling on Declan Cronin, subsequently ending Garrett's night with just 2 ⅔ innings pitched. That was his shortest start of the season. "He didn't have many first-pitch strikes and that's just unlike him," Schumaker said after the game. "He's usually commanding all four quadrants and just didn't feel like he had the feel for any real pitch." Garrett only collected nine whiffs all night. On the bright side for the Fish, Cronin, A.J. Puk, Anthony Bender, Andrew Nardi and Calvin Faucher all excelled in relief, allowing eight hits over 6 ⅓ innings of work. The Marlins 'pen came into Wednesday night's game with a sneaky good 3.52 ERA in their last ten contests and continue to show improvement as a unit. Although the solid pitching gave the Marlins a chance to tie or even take the lead throughout the game, their offense could not build upon their first-inning rally against Zach Eflin. Fresh off the IL, Eflin retired the last 10 batters he faced before exiting. The Marlins got runners into scoring position in both the fifth and the eighth innings, but could only push across one run courtesy of a Josh Bell single in the aforementioned fifth. Bell continues to stay hot for Miami, and with his RBI single, he extended his hitting streak to eight games, matching the longest such streak he's had as a Marlin. Pete Fairbanks successfully shut things down for Tampa Bay in the ninth, securing a 5-3 win and series sweep while collecting his eighth save of 2024 with a dominant 1-2-3 inning. Miami is back in action this Friday at loanDepot park against the American League Central-leading Cleveland Guardians. Ryan Weathers takes the ball for the Marlins while Logan Allen gets the nod for Cleveland. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10. View full article