Offishial news, 4/18/23: Soler the savior; Pablo López extension; Tickets for a Cause

Monday’s Game

Marlins Podcast Episodes

• Jacob Miller (Jupiter) earned Florida State League Pitcher of the Week honors. Miller was nearly perfect in his start against St. Lucie on Saturday (6.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K).
• Jorge Soler’s pinch-hit, game-winning home run was his 11th extra-base hit, tying him with Matt Olson for the National League lead.
• The Marlins are a perfect 5-0 this season in games decided by one run. They’re the first major league team in more than a century to have a winning record through 17 games despite a minus-25 run differential.
• Expect Steven Okert (left abductor strain) to make rehab appearances with Triple-A Jacksonville today and Wednesday, then rejoin the Marlins active roster on Friday in Atlanta. JT Chargois (right oblique strain) still isn’t throwing.
• Elsewhere around the majors, Pablo López and the Twins are finalizing a four-year, $73.5 million contract extension (covering the 2024-2027 seasons). López has pitched well in each of his first four starts for Minnesota and leads MLB with 33 strikeouts. Jacob deGrom was removed from his outing after four no-hit innings due to right wrist soreness. Another hitless game dropped Juan Soto’s batting average to .164, third-worst among all qualified outfielder.
• Check out the full replay of Monday’s Fish Stripes LIVE. We reacted to the López extension in addition to the usual Marlins trending topics.

• The Marlins have a 47.5% chance to win their next game against the Giants, per FanGraphs. Triple-A Jacksonville (7:05 p.m. ET), Double-A Pensacola (7:05 p.m. ET) and High-A Beloit (7:35 p.m. ET) are all at home, while Low-A Jupiter (7:00 p.m. ET) is on the road.

• Hector Rodriguez added Ole Miss shortstop Jacob Gonzalez to his series of 2023 MLB Draft profiles.
• The Marlins have launched the Tickets for a Cause program to benefit South Florida nonprofits through select single-game ticket sales. For the rest of April, proceeds from these tickets will go to Parkinson’s Disease Research and 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project.
• Former Marlins president David Samson weighed in on the “shameful” Bartman Appreciation Weekend marketing campaign and the process that teams use to approve those ideas in the first place.
• Tanner McGrath of Action Network did a breakdown of Luis Arraez, who “combines his contact-heavy approach with supernatural control of the strike zone.”
• Happy birthday to Marlins insider Craig Mish! He’s the one who broke the news of López’s pending extension. Find Mish every weekday on SportsGrid and regularly contributing to the Miami Herald.