MIAMI—Janson Junk has capitalized on every opportunity that has been presented to him in his short time as a Marlin.

Signed as a minor league free agent with an invite to spring training in early February, Junk showed feel for every pitch in his arsenal in Jupiter. He spent the first two months of the regular season in Triple-A prior to having his contract selected in late May. The call-up came under unglamorous circumstances as Clayton McCullough needed a long relief arm to tail his starting arms.

Junk, the 29-year-old right-hander, was everything Miami’s newest skipper could’ve asked for and more. In five outings across a handful of weeks, he boasted a 2.78 ERA, going a minimum of four innings in each appearance.

With Ryan Weathers and Max Meyer both suffering injuries that would sideline them for a substantial amount of time, the biggest opportunity was presented to Junk on Friday night from Miami. Fresh off a sweep of the Mets, division rival Atlanta entered town to kick off a weekend set, and McCullough gave the much-deserved rotational promotion to Junk, lining him up for his first start on a big league mound since April 12, 2023.

Sticking to the status quo, Junk once again showed why he was more than deserving of the nod.

Just as he did in the bullpen, Junk was masterful with his command, throwing an absurd 61 of his 79 pitches for strikes in addition to 80% of his first offerings. Junk forfeited just one run across his five innings of work against an all-world Braves offense, setting the tone for an excellent 6-2 all-around victory for the Fish.

“It was fun,” Junk said. “Throwing my offspeeds for strikes early and then playing the fastball off that. I think that’s the biggest thing. I mean, I’m just trying to be aggressive in the zone no matter who it is, not really caring about who it is, but just getting that strike one, as it’s way better throwing a lot of strikes, not walking guys. So that’s my goal every single time going out there.”

Junk’s ERA now sits at 2.60, and with more moments on the horizon, the former 27th-round pick can continue his momentum in his new role.

“We saw the same today as what he has shown in the other roles he had been used in up to this point—was quality stuff, the ability to mix pitches, get misses, pound the strike zone,” said his manager. “We expected he would be equally as prepared and would be able to go out there and throw like he has.”

Miami’s bats provided Junk with a cushion in the third after Agustín Ramírez tattooed a fastball from new 20-year-old Didier Fuentes, the youngest major leaguer to start a game on the mound since Julio Urías did it in Dodger blue almost nine years ago. Ramírez, additionally, was good for another RBI in the seventh, matching a career-high with four.

Miami saw the youngster well all night, stinging ten hard-hit balls in Fuentes’ first five innings in MLB.

Junk received additional help from his defense. Otto Lopez and Dane Myers delivered two of the most impressive plays from Marlins defenders all year, even with the high bar they’ve set as a group.

Lopez was first, leaving his feet and making a throw from the ground to nab the speedy Michael Harris II at first.

”I was expecting that to be in the hole, but see him come up with it, make the throw from the knees on the line, or one hop, that was very impressive from him,” said Junk.

Myers followed with a home run robbery of Marcell Ozuna in center. He was unable to secure the catch, but forced Ozuna to settle for a double on a ball that would have landed in the shrub-filled batter’s eye. The inning ended with Ozuna left stranded in scoring position.

The Marlins and Braves are back in action for game two of three on Saturday afternoon at 4:10. Eury Pérez, making his third start of the season after recovering from Tommy John surgery, toes the slab opposite Grant Holmes. Pérez conceded a lone run in four innings of work in his previous start a Sunday ago in D.C., but was unable to strike a batter out for the second time in his big league career.