Tag Archive for: Miami Marlins

Miami Heads to The Bronx for An Early Season Test

/5 Comments/in , /by

Miami FL – The Miami Marlins have opened the season 5-1, taking care of business against some of Major League Baseball’s weaker teams. More importantly, they have done so in dominant fashion, backed by strong performances both at the plate and on the mound.

Several players have stood out early:

  • Owen Caissie: 7-for-20, 8 RBIs
  • Liam Hicks: MLB leader with 12 RBIs
  • Javier Sanoja: 7-for-12
  • Otto Lopez: 7-for-22
  • Sandy Alcantara: 2-0, 16.0 IP, 12 strikeouts
  • Pete Fairbanks: 3 IP, 2 saves, 5 strikeouts

As a team, Miami ranks in the top five in both offense and defense to begin the season

A Major Early Test in New York

The Marlins now head to New York for a three-game series against the Yankees, who also sit at 5-1. This series represents Miami’s first real test of the season.

The Yankees have been dominant, posting a remarkable 1.01 team ERA. They have allowed just six runs and already recorded three shutouts. This matchup will challenge Miami’s young and surging offense in a way they have not yet experienced.

Game 1: Eury Perez vs Will Warren

Game 1, the home opener at Yankee Stadium, will set the tone for the entire series. The Marlins will send their young potential ace Eury Perez to the mound, while the Yankees counter with another promising young arm in Will Warren.

This projects to be a pitcher’s duel. Miami’s best path to making this a competitive series will be getting into the Yankees’ bullpen as early as possible. A strong outing from Perez combined with early offensive pressure against Warren could give the Marlins a real opportunity to take control.

Game 1 feels like the swing game and the most important matchup of the series.

Game 2: Max Meyer vs Ryan Weathers

Game 2 presents an interesting matchup against former Marlins pitcher Ryan Weathers. In the Yankees’ only loss this season, Weathers did not factor into the decision and lasted just four and a third innings.

This will also be his first start at Yankee Stadium in a Yankees uniform, which adds another layer of pressure. The Marlins’ approach remains the same. They must work counts, force Weathers out early, and capitalize on the bullpen.

Max Meyer will need to deliver a quality start to keep Miami in position, especially with the pitching disadvantage looming in Game 3.

Game 3: Chris Paddack vs Max Fried

Game 3 heavily favors New York on paper. Yankees ace Max Fried will take the mound against Chris Paddack, who struggled in his previous outing, allowing eight runs in a loss to the White Sox.

For Miami, success in this game may depend on how well they managed the first two matchups. If they can limit bullpen usage early in the series, manager Clayton McCullough may have more flexibility to treat this game with a playoff-like approach.

The Marlins’ disciplined lineup will need to be at its best to challenge one of the top pitchers in the league.

Prediction: Yankees Take Two of Three

The Marlins taking one game in the Bronx would represent a successful road trip. The Yankees are the more complete team, they are playing at home, and they have the advantage of starting their ace in the final game.

This series will be an early measuring stick for Miami. Their lineup, starting rotation, and improving bullpen will all be tested in a difficult environment.

It is a valuable opportunity for the Marlins to show how competitive they can be and to give a clearer picture of what this team may become.

Ex-Marlins pitcher Valente Bellozo re-emerges with Rockies

/0 Comments/in , /by

A former Miami Marlin emerges with a new team.

The Colorado Rockies have called up right-handed pitcher Valente Bellozo from Triple-A Albuquerque on Thursday, just in time for their weekend series against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Bellozo spent the previous two seasons with the Marlins, both as a starting pitcher and in the bullpen. The Marlins acquired him in a trade with the Houston Astros for Jacob Amaya on April 6, 2024. His best season came as a rookie in 2024, where he posted a 3.67 ERA in 13 starts as the Marlins were trading away veterans for prospects.

Bellozo started last season in the rotation but spent most of his appearances out of the bullpen, pitching in 32 games (6 starts) with a 4.65 ERA in 81.1 innings pitched. His WHIP remained consistent through both seasons (1.31-1.33) and he allowed 15 home runs each year regardless of his role.

The 26-year-old signed a minor league contract with the Rockies over the offseason. He made five appearances in spring training but only one start and he allowed 11 earned runs in 15.2 innings pitched (6.32 ERA) before being optioned to the minor leagues.

Bellozo made one start in Triple-A for the Isotopes before getting called up. He gave up three runs with four strikeouts in three innings in a 13-6 loss against the Oklahoma City Comets (Dodgers) on March 28.

Bellozo’s call-up coincides with Colorado placing veteran pitcher Jose Quintana on the 15-day injured list on Thursday (retroactive to March 30) with a right hamstring strain. Quintana, a 37-year-old veteran, began his 15th big league season against the Marlins on Sunday, allowing two runs on four hits and four walks with two strikeouts in 4.1 innings pitched. The teal-clad Fightin’ Fish won the game 4-3 on a walk-off home run by Owen Caissie. 

As an example of the Rockies’ push to improve on the highest starting rotation ERA in history last year (6.65) with veteran free agents, Michael Lorenzen is slated to start in the Rockies’ (2-4) home opener on Friday, and Tomoyuki Sugano is set to appear on Sunday. Quintana’s start on Saturday is left open, however, it remains to be seen whether or not it will be filled by Bellozo.

Marlins trade with Twins

The Marlins traded right-handed pitcher Garrett Acton to the Minnesota Twins for minor league pitcher Logan Whitaker on Thursday, just before their first road series of the season

Whitaker showed his promise in Double-A Wichita last year when he allowed only three earned runs in 11 appearances with 16 strikeouts in 16.1 innings pitched. He will report to the Marlins’ Double-A affiliate in Pensacola.

Acton made six spring training appearances for the Marlins, but missed out on the Opening Day roster despite not giving up a hit and striking out six in 5.1 innings of work. He continued to shut down batters in Triple-A early this season, having allowed only one hit while striking out four in 2.1 innings pitched for the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp.

The Marlins claimed Acton off waivers from the Rockies over the offseason, shortly after Colorado claimed him from the Tampa Bay Rays, where he made only one appearance in 2025. Acton made his MLB debut with the Athletics and made six appearances in 2023.

Acton was traded after being designated for assignment in a roster move corresponding with the Marlins trading for Toronto infielder Leo Jimenez on March 29. Jimenez, who made his Marlins debut on Wednesday, appeared in 18 games for the Blues Jays last season and 63 games in his rookie season in 2024.

Sandy Alcantara Begins His Cy Young Campaign As the Marlins Move to 5-1

/0 Comments/in , /by

The Miami Marlins dropped the first game of the series to the Chicago White Sox to end their perfect 3-0 start to the season. After the White Sox spoiled Chris Paddack’s debut, the Marlins bounced back in a big way, led by back-to-back complementary baseball games.

Wednesday was about as perfect as you can get. Sandy put up a zero in the first, and the Marlins scored first, scoring in each of the first three innings.

A four spot in the 1st led by Liam Hicks, Connor Norby, and Owen Caissie rbi hits. The Marlins cashed in on the should have been double play that was hit straight back to Shane Smith.

In the second, it was Liam Hicks again, the MLB’s rbi leader hit a sky-high two run homer to drive in Xavier Edwards.

In the third, the Marlins tacked on two more thanks to the bottom of the order as Heriberto Hernandez and Graham Pauley got on for Javier Sanoja who drove them both in with an rbi single.

Hicks would later add another rbi on a single (off a lefty!) in the 6th, driving in Otto Lopez after his 1 out triple.

Otto Lopez homered in the bottom of the 8th for the Marlins 10th run of the game.

Elite Pitching Yet Again

But beyond the bats which were hot for the second straight night, the story was the Marlins pitching staff again, this time, Sandy Alcantara.

Alcantara made his second start of the year and has officially begun his Cy Young campaign, something I predicted he would once again be in the running for. Sandy has picked up where he left off last season with two strong starts both allowing no earned runs.

Against the White Sox, Alcantara was as dominant as you could imagine. He got through 9 innings only allowing three hits while striking out 7 in under 100 pitches for his fifth career shutout. It was his first complete game since 2023 and the first complete game from a Marlins pitcher since Braxton Garrett in 2024.

It was Alcantara’s 13th career complete game, trailing only Dontrelle Willis and AJ Burnett for the most complete games in Marlins history.

The Marlins 5-1 start provides some good cushion before they head up to the Bronx for their first big test on the road against the New York Yankees.

Other Notes

  • Per Marlins Communications: C Liam Hicks has set a Marlins record with 12 RBI through his five games to start the season, surpassing the previous record of 10 RBI by Casey McGehee from March 31-April 4, 2014.
  • Per Marlins Communications: 2B Xavier Edwards is the first player in Marlins history to collect at least one hit and score at least one run in six-consecutive games to start a season. The last player in MLB to record such a streak was Christopher Morel, who set a MLB record with one hit and one run in 12-straight games to start his 2023 season.
  • Per Marlins Communications: RHP Sandy Alcantara today completed his fifth career shutout and first since April 4, 2023 vs. Minnesota.   It marks his 13th career complete game, marking the third-most complete games in Club history trailing only Dontrelle Willis (15) and A.J. Burnett (14).
  • The Marlins sit alone in first place (NL East)
  • Every starter reached base today (Marsee was the only one without a hit)

White Sox Spoil Chris Paddack’s Marlins Debut Leading to First Loss

/0 Comments/in , /by

Miami FL – The Marlins never had a chance against the visiting Chicago White Sox on Monday.

After two strong innings from newly acquired Chris Paddack, everything fell apart. Paddack cruised through the first two innings with four strikeouts and two scoreless frames. Then in the top of the third the White Sox offense picked up where they left off in Milwaukee. With two outs, Miguel Vargas hit an RBI single and Austin Hays followed it up with a three-run homer to make it 4-0.

In the top of the fourth, the Sox added four more as Paddack got hit around by the bottom of the order, leading to a Miguel Vargas grand slam that put the game well out of reach.

The Marlins bullpen only allowed 1 run in 5 innings to continue their hot start to the season as Lake Bachar, John King, and Michael Peterson finished up the last five frames.

Offensively, the Marlins scratched across four runs, much in thanks to the top of the order today as Jakob Marsee, Xavier Edwards, and Liam Hicks all had two-hit ball games. Hicks homered in the bottom of the fourth and later hit an RBI single as he was the Marlins’ most productive player tonight.

The performance from Paddack was most certainly disappointing, especially as the Marlins brought him along with the hopes of returning him to some of his previous form and making him a usable back-of-the-rotation starter. It is too early to make any judgments, but an 8 spot is just not good (No walks and six strikeouts are a positive however).

Paddack will need to be better than this going forward as the Marlins have multiple young prospects waiting for their big-league opportunity.

The Marlins will tee it up with the White Sox again tomorrow with Janson Junk on the hill against Erick Fedde, a good chance to even the series.

Some Other Notes

  • Edward Cabrera dominated the Angels in his first performance as a Cub
  • Owen Caissie had his first hitless game
  • Leo Jimenez joined the active roster for Deyvison De Los Santos
  • Connor Norby is now 2-for-12 to start the season

The Miami Marlins Start 3-0 For the First Time Since 2009

/0 Comments/in , /by

It was quite the competitive opening weekend between the Rockies and the Marlins. Miami took care of business taking all 3 for an opening weekend sweep on the backs of the Marlins pitching staff who gave up only 7 runs all weekend. The starters, the bullpen, and timely hitting all led to the Marlins first 3-0 start since 2009.

Game 1-Marlins 2 Rockies 1

The Marlins started the year with a nailbiter in front of 32,000 Marlins fans as Sandy Alcantara delivered a vintage 7 inning performance where he gave up 1 unearned run. The Marlins scored 2 in the second on an Owen Caissie double and a Javier Sanoja single. The bottom of the order came through in a big way and helped the Marlins get into the Rockies bullpen. Anthony Bender and Andrew Nardi cleaned up the eighth while Pete Fairbanks came through with his first save as a member of the Marlins.

Player of the Game Sandy Alcantara 7.0 IP 4H 5K 2w Win

Game 2- Marlins 4 Rockies 3

Game 2 was much of the same story that started on the mound with a dominant performance from Eury Perez who went a strong 7 innings. Perez gave up a homerun in the top of the second to TJ Rumfield (first career homerun) and settled in nicely from there giving up one more home run to Ezequiel Tovar in the top of the fourth. But the Marlins lineup got the job done plating across four runs. One in the third on a sac fly from Liam Hicks, and two more to tie the game at three on a Liam Hicks 2-run homer that drove in Agustin Ramirez. After Perez was pulled, Calvin Faucher pitched a scoreless eighth that gave the Marlins the runway to take the lead in the bottom half as Owen Caissie (3-4 rbi) drove in Otto Lopez. Pete Fairbanks then came in for the second night in a row and dominated the Rockies on 9 pitches securing his second save of the year.

Player of the Game Eury Perez 7.0IP 5H 3ER 8K 1w

Game 3- Marlins 4 Rockies 3

A fun game for the Marlins that saw them trail 3-2 for the whole game. Max Meyer got tagged for 3 in the first inning of his start and settled in to get through innings. The Marlins lineup was able to scratch across two thanks to Otto Lopez and Austin Slater rbis, and the bullpen held the Rockies scoreless to the ninth. In the bottom of the ninth the Marlins lead off batter Xavier Edwards got on base before Liam Hicks smoked a ball to first for an unlucky unassisted double play. Javier Sanoja extended the game with a double and the man of the weekend Owen Caissie delivered a thunderous two run walk off home run, securing the sweep.

Player of the Game Owen Caissie 2-Run Walk Off Homerun

This was a wonderful start to the season for the Marlins and will give them great momentum heading into another series where they are simply the better team. The White Sox come to town for a 3-game set starting Monday 3/30.

 

Marlins prospect Deyvison De Los Santos to make MLB debut Sunday

/0 Comments/in , /by

Due to Christopher Morel going on the 10-day injured list, Deyvison De Los Santos will get his chance to live out his big league dream.

The slugging first base prospect was called up on Saturday and is expected to start in Sunday’s series finale against the Colorado Rockies. De Los Santos said the first thing he did upon receiving the promotion was to call his parents.

“They’ve all been waiting for this moment and I’ve been waiting for this moment as well since I was a little kid,” De Los Santos said through an interpreter. “Now I just need to do my best out there and just help the team win some games and stay out here.”

De Los Santos came to the Marlins in a 2024 midseason trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks for relief pitcher AJ Puk. In 2024, the 22-year-old hit 40 home runs and 120 RBI in the minor leagues. He struggled to replicate those numbers in 2025 but drove in 54 runs in 106 games in Triple-A Jacksonville.

He went 2-for-4 with a three-run homer in his lone game for the Jumbo Shrimp this season. De Los Santos said one of the things he has been working on for over a year in order to reach the big leagues was his emotions.

“To be a big leaguer, you’ve got to have that maturity, that mindset,” De Los Santos said. “That’s what it takes.”

Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said De Los Santos will likely see the bulk of his opportunities as a first baseman or designated hitter against left-handed pitching. He slashed .288/.326/.438 in 80 at-bats against lefties in Triple-A last year.

“Probably that’s where his opportunities starting will come from is versus left,” McCullough said.

Despite his young age, De Los Santos has already logged 206 games in Triple-A before getting called up.

“You forget how young he is,” McCullough said. “The power potential, the impact, we know that’s certainly something that we’re intrigued by acquiring De Los Santos, how hard he hits the ball, and him refining his at-bat quality, his approach offensively will probably be the determining factor of how much of that power he gets to in the Major League level.”

Morel was expected to start at first base for the Marlins on Opening Day, but strained his left oblique before first pitch. Morel, who signed a one-year $2M deal with the Marlins over the offseason, is expected to miss 4-6 weeks.

McCullough said they will have a better idea of how much time Morel will truly miss within the first two weeks.

“In the next week-10 days, we’ll have a better idea of what the range is but looking at somewhere around a month,” McCullough said.

Along with De Los Santos, McCullough said Connor Norby will get the majority of appearances at first base along with Liam Hicks when he’s not catching.

Newly added veteran outfielder bats leadoff in Marlins Opening Day win

/4 Comments/in , /by

Veteran outfielder Austin Slater joined the Marlins as a free agent at the end of spring training after the Detroit Tigers released him. He batted leadoff on Opening Day with the strategy of the veteran right fielder matching up against Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Kyle Freeland. 

“Austin has for a number of years put together just really high quality at-bats versus left, been a performer versus left,” said Marlins manager Clayton McCullough, who mentioned pregame that the thought was to “try to bank him as many plate appearances today as we can.”

The strategy didn’t work out, as Slater went 0-for-3 against Freeland. He did however, contribute defensively in a clutch way when he threw Jake McCarthy out at home plate to help the Marlins win 2-1 on Friday 

Typically, Slater has fared better against southpaws over the course of his decade-long career. All five of his home runs last year were against left-handers, he batted .288 against them in 2023. From 2020-22, his prime years, Slater batted .285 against left-handed pitching through a total of 209 games. 

Slater, drawing from his experience with the Chicago White Sox last year, explained to reporters on Wednesday his excitement about being a veteran on a young team like Miami. 

“Being on a young team and being able to help guys out in any way I can, whether it’s tips or just mindset or whatever it might be, I find that really exciting,” Slater said. “And also the opportunity to play and contribute on a big league team.”

In a pregame interview with Tyler Boronski on Friday, Slater said he liked what he saw from the Marlins when he played against them last year as a newly acquired member of the New York Yankees. The Marlins swept the Yankees to reach the .500 mark entering August. 

“I just remember the energy that the guys played with on the other side,” Slater said. “It’s a hard team to beat. The Yankees, when I was with them, we were trying to make a playoff run and we just ran into a brick wall. I think if we can bring that kind of intensity this year to every game, every series, we’re gonna have a lot of success.”

Slater spent the first eight seasons of his big league career with the San Francisco Giants. His best season came in 2021 under then-manager Gabe Kapler, who is now the Marlins general manager. Slater, who hit 12 home runs and stole 15 bases in 129 games for a San Francisco squad that won 107 games, said he has “a lot of trust with him and some friendship over the years.” 

“Gabe’s a great communicator. He’s gonna shoot you straight,” Slater said. “It’s nice to have someone like that not only in your corner but who’s gonna give you honest feedback.”

Signing Slater comes after star outfielder Kyle Stowers entered the 10-day injured list on Sunday due to a hamstring injury. There are no guarantees upon how the Marlins outfield depth will look upon his return. 

Marlins cool Colorado’s bats, win 2-1 on Opening Day

/1 Comment/in , /by

The heroes of the World Baseball Classic came through at the plate to lead the Miami Marlins to a 2-1 win over the Colorado Rockies on Opening Day on Friday.

Owen Caissie drove home the first run of the game in his first plate appearance as a Marlin. Caissie was the prize in a trade with the Chicago Cubs for pitcher Edward Cabrera. He showed off his potential early in the WBC, going 7-for-17 with a home run and five RBIs in five games to lead Canada to its first quarterfinal round.

Caissie then scored on an RBI double by Javier Sanoja in the second inning. Sanoja, who won the WBC for Venezuela, went 3-for-3 to lead the Marlins at the plate.

“We just stayed true to ourselves and grinned out every at-bat, every pitch, and got the job done,” Caissie said after the game.

It turned out to be the only scoring needed for the win. Sandy Alcantara pitched his team-record sixth Opening Day start and went seven innings allowing no earned runs on four hits, two walks, and five strikeouts.

“Sandy was unbelievable,” Marlins first baseman Connor Norby said after the game. “It was vintage Sandy.”

The bullpen of Andrew Nardi, Anthony Bender, and closer Peter Fairbanks combined for three hits and four strikeouts in the final two innings. Marlins manager Clayton McCullough was impressed with how Alcantara, a Cy Young award winner in 2022, went deep with only 73 pitches.

“All in all, this was a great start to the year for Sandy to go that deep in the game, be that efficient, and as well as to be able to execute at the rate he did today,” McCullough said after the game.

Norby originally was slated in the lineup as the designated hitter. He was moved to first base after Christopher Morrell was scratched due to an oblique injury before the start of the game. Norby dubbed himself the “jack of all trades” and went 2-for-3 at the plate, while playing mistake-free defense.

“Do whatever helps the team win,” Norby said. “There are no excuses in this game. Don’t have a ton of experience over there but I felt pretty good over there.”

Hunter Goodman led the Rockies at the plate with a 2-for-4 night. Jordan Beck drove Ezequiel Tovar home in the fourth inning for Colorado’s only run.

Kyle Freeland took the loss after allowing two runs on five hits with two strikeouts in 4.1 innings pitched. The Denver native set a Rockies franchise record in pitching his fifth Opening Day.

The two teams will meet again on Saturday. Eury Perez will start for the Marlins against the Rockies’ new starter, Michael Lorenzen.

Miami Marlins 2026 Season Outlook and Predictions

/3 Comments/in , /by

The Miami Marlins and Clayton McCullough look to build off of their 79-83 2025 campaign. The Marlins got better over the off season and saw a lot of development from their young players last season and into this Spring. While the Marlins projection for wins is still only 72.5 I think that they will clear this number quite easily. Their pitching staff is loaded with high end, proven talent, and their lineup has a lot of emerging, interchangeable pieces. With the few free agent additions, and the overall development of their blossoming stars, the Marlins are well in line to surpass that win total.

So here is the 2026 Miami Marlins outlook.

Total Spending for the Marlins in 2025-26 Free Agency- $21.5M

Pete Fairbanks, $13M

Chris Paddack, $4M

Christopher Morel, $2M

John King, $1.5M

Austin Slater, $1M

Fairbanks had been elite for the Tampa Bay Rays for 5+ seasons recording 90 saves and posting a 3.30 ERA. Fairbanks has been part of winning pitching in 12 playoff games most notably the Rays 2020 World Series run and still has elite advanced metrics. Having a proven closer will be crucial to winning more games in 2026 for the Marlins as it won’t be as much of a revolving door as it has been in years prior.

For Paddack, it’s more of a depth signing. Since his 2019 rookie campaign, things have gone downhill and he has bounced around the majors. The Spring was a great start for Paddack who posted a 0.69 ERA in 13 innings while striking out 12 and only walking 3. Hopefully in a lower leverage role surrounded by elite arms the Marlins can get a glimpse of what Paddack once was.

Morel and Slater bring some much-needed right-handed pop to a lineup –especially an outfield– that features a lot of lefties. King will likely serve a spot role out of the pen for left-on-left situations as he posts a .628 OPS against lefties.

Pitching Staff, One of the League’s Best

It starts with the starters, led by a former Cy Young in Sandy Alcantara the Marlins pitching staff has a chance to be elite yet again. Beyond Sandy we look to three, very promising young starters, Eury Perez who had a great 2025 although the surface level numbers may not agree. Perez has plus-plus stuff and is the future ace of this staff. Then we look to Max Meyer who had an amazing Spring training, working on his most important problem, commanding the strike zone. In 7 inning this spring Meyer had 12 punchies to one walk, a huge sign of what’s to come. Then we look to the back end with Janson Junk and Chris Paddack. Junk has yet to really break out, he has the stuff –especially the breaking ball which ranked in the 91st percentile of run value– he doesn’t walk guys, but he does often get hit around, a trend that continued this spring. He is still a solid 4/5 with room to grow, but a few bad outings and the Marlins could easily look to intriguing young arms like Robby Snelling and Thomas White. And lastly, Chris Paddack, the perfect guy to fill out this rotation.

The Bullpen

The bullpen was not the brightest part of the team last year, but they have some building blocks. Adding Pete Fairbanks to Anthony Bender, Calvin Faucher, Lake Bachar, and Tyler Phillips gives the Marlins bullpen enough stability to finish their starters games.

The Lineup: Stability and Depth

Although Kyle Stowers will start on the IL and Marlins fans will have to wait for Joe Mack to join the big-league team, the lineup is still serviceable, with a lot of interchangeable pieces. Starting in the outfield with Jakob Marsee, Owen Caissie (the MLB’s 42nd ranked prospect received in the Edward Cabrera trade), Heriberto Hernandez, and Griffin Conine. The outfield will have options day to day and will be able to endure the period without their star Kyle Stowers. Moving to the infield, the Marlins have Xavier Edwards, a contact Machine, Otto Lopez a solid infielder, and rounding it out with Connor Norby, Christopher Morel, Graham Pauley, Liam Hicks, and Javier Sanoja.

Beyond Hernandez, Ramirez, and Stowers, the Marlins lineup will rely on getting on base via the walk and the hit and hope for their power bats to drive in runs. Manufacturing runs and winning the low scoring games their elite starting staff keeps them in will be essential to their success.

The lineup isn’t the league’s best, but if they play to their strengths, they can complement their staff just fine.

Final Prediction and Some Bold Predictions

  • 81-81
  • Sandy Alcantara finishes top 5 in CY-Young voting and stays with the team
  • Janson Junk loses his spot to Robby Snelling, potentially moving to the bullpen
  • Agustin Ramirez leads the team in home runs
  • Owen Caissie in the race for rookie of the year

Marlins Open Up the Season at Home Against the Rockies

/1 Comment/in , /by

The Miami Marlins return to the diamond this Friday for their first series of the 2026 season. Fresh off of a 79-83 roller-coaster of a year. From trade rumors, to winning streaks, to All-Star appearances, and to losing streaks, the season had it all.

But this season, the energy surrounding the Marlins isn’t as high as it should be, the team is back, with many of the same, young and improving players, while they also added a high-end reliever, and solid back of the line starter.

Total Spending for the Marlins in 2025-26 Free Agency- $21.5M

Pete Fairbanks, $13M

Chris Paddack, $4M

Christopher Morel, $2M

John King, $1.5M

Austin Slater, $1M

Fairbanks had been elite for the Tampa Bay Rays for 5+ seasons recording 90 saves and posting a 3.30 ERA. Fairbanks has been part of winning pitching in 12 playoff games most notably the Rays 2020 World Series run and still has elite advanced metrics. Having a proven closer will be crucial to winning more games in 2026 for the Marlins as it won’t be as much of a revolving door as it has been in years prior.

For Paddack, its more of a depth signing. Since his 2019 rookie campaign, things have gone downhill and he has bounced around the majors. The Spring was a great start for Paddack who posted a 0.69 ERA in 13 innings while striking out 12 and only walking 3. Hopefully in a lower leverage role surrounded by elite arms the Marlins can get a glimpse of what Paddack once was.

Opening Weekend Preview

So, now to this weekend, the Marlins first series, one against the Colorado Rockies, one of the MLB’s worst teams. They went 43-119 last season and there just isn’t much going right there. This season will be another poor one in Colorado, and it’s the perfect opportunity for Miami to start their season off just right.

Game 1: Kyle Freeland Vs. Sandy Alcantara

The Marlins ace looks to continue his success from the second half of last season– posting a 3.33 ERA with .218 batting average against in his final 13 starts– in his 6th career opening day start. Sandy has had solid success as an opening day starter but sits with a 2-3 record. If Alcantara can be the Sandy everyone knows he is, the Marlins will open the season 1-0.

Freeland will be making his 5th opening day start –which tells you a lot about the Rockies– and is a guy that forces action. He performs better away from home but not by much still posting a career ERA over 4.00 away from Coors Field. Freeland has allowed an OPS over .800 to righties in his career so expect the Marlins to role with Heriberto Hernandez and Agustin Ramirez and get to the bullpen early in the weekend, something that will be crucial to a series victory.

Then maybe Marlins fans will get to see Chase Dollander

Games 2: Eury Perez vs Michael Lorenzen

First year back from injury wasn’t the best for Eury Perez, but he still showed glimpses of that wonderful rookie campaign. Despite the struggles his advanced statistics still stood out from the actual numbers. Perez’s year was actual really good posting a 3.23 expected ERA (83rd percentile), a .203 expected batting average against (88th percentile), and had a pitching run value of 9 (73rd percentile). His numbers didn’t look great, but the production was there and once again the Rockies are a perfect team to get the season started off right.

The Marlins once again have the advantage in game 2 and the lineup can surely take advantage of Lorenzen as he pitches to contact and has low-end stuff.

Game 3 Max Meyer vs Jose Quintana

The goal for the Marlins this weekend should be to sweep, they are the better team, they have the better pitcher in each matchup, they have the better bullpen, and they have the better lineup. Game 3 features Max Meyer, another exciting young starter who has struggled with walks in his past. For Meyer, it will be about attacking the Rockies hitters and bring the great Spring he had to fruition. Meyer struck out 12 in 7 innings of work while only walking one.

Just check out the metrics on his pitches https://x.com/TJStats/status/2031806551921496488?s=20

Qunitana is a career journeyman and vet. He will bring some stability to the Rockies staff and can beat you any given night. But as long as the Marlins handle business early in the weekend, the Marlins righties should have a field day against the 37-year-old.

Clayton McCullough will likely throw a few different lineups out there this weekend as the Marlins have the depth to handle any pitching matchup.

With all that, baseball is back, and this is the opening series preview for the Marlins.

Prediction- Series sweep of the Colorado Rockies