Offishial news, 6/16/22: Thin pitching staff; small ball and small social following

Marlins Game Coverage

Marlins Podcast Episodes

• Wednesday’s minor league scores: Triple-A Jacksonville lost, 6-5 (F/10); Double-A Pensacola won, 5-4 (F/11); High-A Beloit won, 4-2; Low-A Jupiter won, 5-4; DSL Miami lost, 7-2. Friend of the podcast Sean Reynolds (Beloit) converted his sixth save of the season, tied for the highest total in the Marlins organization. Colton Hock (Pensacola) worked three perfect innings of relief, even stranding the runners automatically placed on second base in extra innings. Three hits for Troy Johnston (Pensacola) bumped up his batting average to .317, which ranks third in the Double-A Southern League. In Jordan Holloway’s first rehab start with the FCL team, he struck out five of six batters faced.
• J.D. Orr (Pensacola) swiped two more bags. He’s now 23-for-25 on base-stealing attempts this season—he has only started 35 games! I made an Orr highlight reel for those who are unfamiliar with his eccentric yet effective playing style.

• A thin Marlins pitching staff got a lot thinner with Edward Cabrera (right elbow tendinitis) and Cole Sulser (right lat strain) both being placed on the 15-day injured list. Cabrera’s injury is believed to be less serious than Sulser’s. Transferred to the 60-day IL, Jesús Luzardo (left forearm strain) is eligible to return on July 10, though he’ll likely need more time than that to be fully stretched out as a starter.
• This is your daily reminder to cast your votes for Marlins players during the first phase of MLB All-Star balloting. Kevin Barral believes Garrett Cooper should in the NL DH mix.
• Listen to Kevin’s appearance with Jeremiah Geiger on the Marlins IX podcast.
• Dave Shaw joined Locked On Marlins with Peter Pratt to react to the stunning ending of the Marlins-Phillies series.
• Shoutout to Fish Stripes’ own Noah Berger for providing credentialed coverage of the entire series from Citizens Bank Park.
• Following today’s off day, the Fish are scheduled to play 30 games over the next 31 days. I predict that they’ll have a 41-50 record at the end of that stretch.
• Jim Bowden of The Athletic predicts the Marlins to be sellers at the trade deadline. He points to Jesús Aguilar and Miguel Rojas as the “veterans most likely to be dealt.”
• The latest MLB Draft Profile from Hector Rodriguez focuses on LSU’s Jacob Berry.
• On this day 10 years ago, the Marlins won what was—at the time—the longest game in Citrus Series history, 4-3 over the Rays in 15 innings.
• You can bid on special edition, game-used Jupiter Hammerheads jerseys from the team’s recent Space Night promotion.
• According to Bookmakers.com, the Marlins have the fewest total Twitter/Instagram/TikTok/Facebook followers among MLB teams (approximately 237,000 behind the Diamondbacks). Their following is smaller than all of the NFL and NBA teams and the majority of NHL teams, too.
• In honor of Father’s Day, Anthony Bass described the fulfillment that parenting brings him, via Christina De Nicola’s MLB.com Marlins Beat newsletter:

To be a dad is a big responsibility. I now have two little people that look up to me. Everything that I do, everything that I say, how I act, how I treat other people—even though they’re very small and young right now, they’re still absorbing a lot of information. I know I am probably one of the largest role models in their lives, so it’s important for me to be a really good example to my daughters.

It’s not easy. It’s not a traditional 9-to-5 job, and then I get to come home and tuck them in at nighttime. It’s challenging, but obviously it’s very rewarding to be able to do what I do, so I find the balance. I make sure that when I am home, I give my daughters all my attention and my time. When I come home after the game, if they’re awake still, I bathe them, I put them down, say our prayers, to make sure that they see me, they hear me before they go to sleep.

I have two things by Brooklyn taped to my locker in the clubhouse. I think Blaire might’ve colored on the rainbow. It looks like a rainbow with stickers on it. Just a young Picasso at work. “I wear blue shirts.” “I love my dad because he loves everybody.” Just the innocence, right? I put that in my bag for the season just as a good reminder.

When they come to watch games, it makes playing baseball—in my eyes—easier, because it brings a lot of perspective to what’s truly important in my life. I know baseball provides a lot of opportunities for me and allows me and my family to do things, but I also know that they’re my priority. When I see them cheering me on, it just makes me happy, fills my heart. It really helps me cope with the game, the highs and lows, and having my two girls cheering me on.