Josh Simpson’s long trip from Stafford has reached a major league mound.
Simpson, 27, a lefty pitcher who features a curve ball and is especially tough on lefthanded hitters, was called up to the Marlins on Saturday and pitched the final two innings in a 7-0 loss to the Braves, allowing three hits and four runs.
In 2023, the Marlins called Simpson to the majors in late September, but he never got into a game, and he missed all of 2024 with an elbow injury. Now, his name is permanently in the books.
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Simpson played in Stafford from Little League on up. At Stafford High, he pitched and played the outfield, and as a senior in 2015, he hit .562 and went 9-0 with an 0.73 ERA on the mound, making the Courant’s “Fab 15” that season.
From there, Simpson went to Columbia, where he pitched in 29 games, going 10-10 with a 4.20 ERA and 127 strikeouts in 161 innings. The Marlins chose him in the 32nd round of the 2019 MLB Draft. He worked through their minor league system for six years, losing the 2020 season to the pandemic, but made a reputation as a reliever.
This season, Simpson was 3-0 with a 3.41 ERA in 27 appearances for Triple-A Jacksonville.
The first MLB batter he faced, the Braves’ Drake Baldwin, singled and eventually scored on an RBI single by Eli White, who was used as a pinch-hitter for lefty-hitting Alex Verdugo. Baldwin hit a two-out, three-run homer off Simpson in the ninth inning. Nick Allen was Simpson’s first strikeout in the majors, taking a called third strike in the eighth.
Having pitched two innings, Simpson could go back to the minors to give the Marlins a fresh arm for their game against the Braves Sunday.
Originally Published: June 22, 2025 at 10:23 AM EDT