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The Miami Marlins season may almost be over, but Fish Stripes will continue to have all your latest Marlins news, analysis and highlights. For the time being, we review the leading storylines from the past week!
Marlins Game Recaps
The Marlins finished a series with the Philadelphia Phillies with a win before the Cincinnati Reds came into town taking three of four games from the Marlins. The Marlins then lost the first two games of the series with the Washington Nationals. For the week, they are 2-5, and for the season, 48-87.
August 25—Marlins 3, Phillies 2; Elieser Hernandez got the ball against the Phillies, going six innings allowing two runs on three hits with no walks and five strikeouts. The Marlins scored their three runs on a Jon Berti RBI single and a Starlin Castro two-run double.
August 26—Reds 6, Marlins 3; Pablo López had his first start back from the IL, showing both rust and potential. He pitched five innings allowing four runs on five hits with one walk and three strikeouts. The Marlins scored their three runs on a two-run HR by Neil Walker and a solo HR from Jorge Alfaro.
August 27—Reds 8, Marlins 5; Caleb Smith disappointed on the mound against the Reds, throwing 4 2⁄3 innings with five runs allowed on five hits while issuing three walks and five strikeouts. The Marlins had 10 hits and 5 runs with Isan Díaz and Alfaro driving home two runs apiece (Alfaro’s via another homer).
August 28—Reds 5, Marlins 0; Sandy Alcantara worked six innings, allowing four runs on six hits with one walk and eight strikeouts. The Marlins were shutout and only scratched four hits across. Garrett Cooper was the only Miami player to get an extra-base hit.
August 29—Marlins 4, Reds 3; Robert Dugger made his second big league start, dominating through seven innings allowing two runs (0 ER) on three hits with one walk and seven strikeouts. The Marlins generated their offense on four solo home runs with the final HR being the biggest, courtesy of Harold Ramirez in the bottom of the 12th to get the win.
August 30—Nationals 7, Marlins 6; Elieser Hernandez overcame an early Nats rally to grind through innings, allowing four runs on six hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Ramirez and Starlin Castro had big performances, each recording three hits with a HR.
August 31—Nationals 7, Marlins 0; Pablo López was shredded in his three innings, allowing six runs on six hits and one strikeout. Shut out for the 20th time this season, the Marlins offense scratched across only two hits (Castro and Ramirez).
Roster Moves
The Marlins lost both Jordan Yamamoto and Austin Brice to right forearm strains, replacing them on the active roster with Robert Dugger and Kyle Keller, respectively.
There is currently one available spot on the 40-man roster. The Marlins can create several more by transferring anybody with season-ending injuries from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL.
September Call-ups
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On Sunday, the Marlins will announce several new active players as major league rosters expand from 25 to 40. Earlier this week, Fish Stripes’ own Ely Sussman provided a rundown of every call-up candidate, highlighting the most likely ones such as veterans returning from injury and valuable role players who have produced with Triple-A New Orleans.
Don’t get too excited for electric top prospects, though. Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reports on why Jorge Guzman and Sixto Sánchez won’t be coming to Miami yet. Both gifted right-handers have surpassed their career innings and the front office does not want to push them any farther.
Mesa Looking to Turn Things Around in the AFL
Victor Victor Mesa, a key international free agent signing last year, has not had a good first season in the Marlins organization. He was held without a home run in his 116 games combined between High-A Jupiter and Double-A Jacksonville, with a .235/.274/.263 slash line and 18 stolen bases.
The Arizona Fall League is the perfect place for Mesa to make adjustments and get more time to play baseball after literally years away from regular competition. This article breaks down how the experience can really turn things around, and why the Fish won’t regret the signing regardless.
Víctor Víctor Mesa sticks out like a sore thumb in the Arizona Fall League, surrounded by many of baseball’s most productive prospects. For the $5.25 million man, the hope is more reps and adjustments can wash out the taste of an awful 2019 regular season. https://t.co/EGNLlsuCD7
— Fish Stripes (@fishstripes) August 30, 2019
Home Attendance Hits Rock Bottom
It is a known fact that the Marlins have had trouble attracting fans to the park this season for a number of reasons. A recent weekday game against the non-contending Cincinnati Reds had even less intrigue than usual, as the crowd in attendance was 5,297, the smallest reported in any MLB stadium this season. Wells Dusenbury of the Sun Sentinel has a broader look at the attendance lows in the article that can be read here.
Podcast Episodes
The Fish Stripes podcast is home to Miami Marlins shows Fish Bites, Earning Their Stripes and A-Ball with Erik Oas. All new episodes are posted to FishStripes.com/podcasts. You can also find them on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Megaphone or wherever you normally get your pods.
Special guests this week include 2018 Marlins draft pick Davis Bradshaw and highly regarded pitching prospect Nick Neidert.
The Marlins have a month left in the regular season to have the rookies and other players show what they can do to contribute to winning long term. Whether it is next week, month or year, you can always count on Fish Stripes to keep you up to date on all your Miami Marlins news, highlights and analysis!