As of this writing, the MLB trade deadline is only 13 days and 12 hours away. I maintain the belief that Sandy Alcantara will remain with the Miami Marlins after the deadline passes, but the possibility of a departure cannot be entirely ruled out—this front office is always having conversations. If a strong enough package of young talent is offered to them, Alcantara’s eight-year Marlins tenure could abruptly come to a close.
Alcantara will take the mound at loanDepot park tonight and he’s very likely to do so again next Wednesday. After that, the Marlins don’t play again in Miami until August 1, when their roster will inevitably look different.
Understandably considering his poor performance, fans haven’t been buying tickets specifically to see Alcantara lately. If it’s feasible for you to make it to the one of these home games, maybe make an exception, just in case the former ace becomes a former Fish at the deadline.
Down on the farm, Luis Arana, Diwarys Encarnación and Almen Tolentino were named Dominican Summer League All-Stars. All three have put up terrific offensive numbers, but Arana has been particularly impressive, making the majority of his appearances at shortstop and striking out only 4.5% of the time. Also, it’s his first minor league season, whereas Encarnación and Tolentino are repeating the level. DSL Marlins won, 3-0. Outfielder David Shirley went 0-for-2 with two walks and a stolen base in his MiLB debut. DSL Miami won, 3-2. Kevin Defrank (4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K) made his third consecutive scoreless start. His fastball velocity topped out at 100.4 mph. This video from Josh Norris of Baseball America includes swinging strikes on his changeup and slider, too.
More Marlins news and content below:
🔷 The Marlins will be without Connor Norby for most of the second half following left hamate bone surgery. “If you truly know me, you know how hard I’ll work to beat timelines and how hard I have and will continue to work to learn from this season and be better for it,” he tweeted on Thursday. Graham Pauley should be the club’s primary third baseman in the meantime.
🔷 Michael Petersen is back in the Marlins organization after being claimed off waivers from the Atlanta Braves. The right-handed reliever pitched out of Miami’s bullpen last September. He’ll report to Jacksonville this weekend. Jesús Tinoco was transferred to the 60-day injured list in a corresponding roster move. Tinoco has been on the IL for 45 days already. The Marlins are optimistic that he could be ready for reinstatement as soon as he’s eligible on August 2.
🔷 In partnership with About The Fans, we made a Gus Bus t-shirt! It’s available in black and heather deep teal (as pictured below). Use coupon code fof10 at checkout for 10% off your order.
🔷 On this day in 1995, the Marlins topped the Giants in 14 innings in large part thanks to Greg Colbrunn’s 7 RBI.
🔷 More than 60% of Fish On First Twitter followers voted that, aside from Kyle Stowers, Eury Pérez is the likeliest player on the team to be selected as an All-Star in 2026.
🔷 Aram Leighton of Just Baseball delves into the significant progress that the Marlins have made this year and urges Bruce Sherman to provide the resources that his front office will need to continue piecing together a legitimate contender.
🔷 Per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, the Marlins internally view Otto Lopez and Xavier Edwards as their starting middle infielders moving forward. The prospects most impacted by that are Maximo Acosta and Jared Serna, both of whom have been used exclusively at shortstop and second base in 2025 and are already on the 40-man roster. Also on the prospect front, Jackson describes the Marlins as “inclined” to have Robby Snelling spend the rest of this season in the minors, “though that’s subject to change.”
🔷 Emilio Barreras and his family were overcome with emotion after Barreras was drafted by the Marlins in the eighth round.
🔷 A pair of 2024 draftees, Grant Shepardson and Nate Payne, were ranked among Baseball America’s top 25 Florida Complex League prospects. Shepardson is 14th and Payne is 21st. They’re scheduled to make one more start each before the FCL season ends.
🔷 Chad Jennings and Tim Britton of The Athletic observe that corner outfield bats are in short supply on the trade market this year, which could boost Jesús Sánchez’s value.
🔷 Congratulations to Matt Mervis and Sydney Leonard on their engagement.
🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, 13-year MLB veteran Kyle Gibson announced his retirement.
🔷 Today’s MLB game: the Marlins host the Kansas City Royals in the opener of a three-game series. Following Alcantara, Cal Quantrill is lined up to start on Saturday and Janson Junk on Sunday. Bobby Witt Jr. was among the hottest hitters in baseball entering the break, slashing .369/.400/.631 during a 16-game on-base streak. Full organizational schedule below.
🔷 Prior to the game, Fish On First LIVE will preview the Royals series beginning at 6:00 ET.
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