Marlins links, 9/10/18: Christian Yelich vs. David Samson, Sunday’s rain out, more Jeter firings, Brinson’s adjustments

October baseball, here we come

Yesterday’s game against the Pirates was rained out—It’s 2018...Why doesn’t every stadium have a roof?—and rescheduled for October 1. The Marlins and Pirates will finish their season after every other MLB team (unless they have other postponements to make up).

One year into the Bruce Sherman and Derek Jeter regime, the Marlins will technically be playing a game in October. That’s called progress! Fans have got to #Re2pectTheProcess and soon enough, they’ll go on a legitimate postseason run.

Minor league management rebuild

After several waves of organizational firings earlier in the year, we’re now seeing more changes at the minor league level. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that 13 employees were let go this weekend, with MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro clarifying that the only managerial moves are Jacksonville’s Randy Ready and Triple-A’s Arnie Beyeler.

We’ll have a more detailed “tracker” out tomorrow that sums up what Jeter and Co. have done with their staff since taking control of the franchise.

Tracking Sandy’s progress

Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images

Our own Alex Krutchik compares Sandy Alcántara’s Marlins debut to his most recent, dominant outing against the Phillies. He enjoyed his best outing as a Marlin last time out where he showcased top-of-the-rotation talent. Alcántara’s fastball, sinker, changeup, slider, and curveball were all much better in his second start. If he continues to pitch up to his potential, the Marlins have found their future ace.

Christian Yelich: (Twitter) MVP

Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Christian Yelich is living his best life. He’s having the best season of his career (.316/.381/.557, 28 HR, 86 RBI), he hit for the cycle, his team is most likely bound for the postseason and, most recently, he owned a troll on Twitter.

David Samson was part of the Jeffrey Loria’s circus and shared his penny-pinching, greedy mentality. Now as a sports personality, Samson has made it known a number of times that owners should be able to opt out of contracts based on player performance, PED suspension, and freak injuries. Yelich had enough of Samson and let him know what many others players and fans have been thinking (Samson later made a poor attempt at saving face).

Yelich is dominating across the board this year and he shows no sign of slowing down.

...But at least the Fish have Brinson!

Aside from a sloppy performance on Saturday, rookie outfielder Lewis Brinson has been the best player on the team since his return from the DL. Christian Pupo of Miami Sports Wave describes how he’s been able to adjust, with comments from Brinson and Don Mattingly.

Maintaining this level of play through the end of the month would secure him an everyday job for 2019.

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp broadcaster wins award

Roger Hoover, the director of broadcasting for Miami’s Double-A affiliate, was named 2018 Southern League Radio Broadcaster of the Year. Congrats!

Hoover covered a struggling team this season, but absolutely nailed the play-by-play calls for their best moments. The Jumbo Shrimp shared this highlight reel:

You can find more from him on their YouTube page, including interviews with a handful of top Marlins prospects.

Road trip continues unto New York

Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images

The Marlins begin a four-game series with the Mets tonight and will have Jeff Brigham making his second MLB start. Brigham’s debut was short-lived as he struggled to find the strike zone, but with the first one out of the way, he hopes to bounce back tonight and show the ability that led to so much minor league success.

The Marlins batters will be facing NL Cy Young candidate Jacob deGrom (8-8, 1.68 ERA). Thanks to limited run support, he’s yet to win a start against them this season.

First pitch is at 7:10 p.m.