Needless to say, the Miami Marlins cannot afford another week like last week, or else their already-minuscule 2025 playoff odds could flatline. Even if they respond well during the rest of this road trip, they would appreciate some outside help.
Here are the results that would benefit the Marlins most during the week of August 11 with respect to contending for the third wild-card spot in the National League:
Root for the Atlanta Braves over the New York Mets (mid-week), then the Seattle Mariners over the Mets (weekend)
Root for the Philadelphia Phillies over the Cincinnati Reds, then the Milwaukee Brewers over the Reds
Root for the Colorado Rockies over the St. Louis Cardinals, then the New York Yankees over the Cardinals
Root for the San Diego Padres over the San Francisco Giants, then the Tampa Bay Rays over the Giants
Root for the Texas Rangers over the Arizona Diamondbacks, then the Rockies over the Diamondbacks
Down on the farm, DSL Marlins won, 8-1, and clinched the DSL Southeast division. José Paulino and Albert Polanco recorded six strikeouts apiece. They rank fourth and fifth, respectively, among all Dominican Summer League pitchers in strikeouts this season. DSL Miami won, 5-1. They’re a couple victories away from clinching a postseason berth of their own (as a wild card team). Joey Wiemer was named International League Player of the Week in his very first week with the Marlins organization. Wiemer went 8-for-17 with two home runs and a 307 wRC+ to propel Triple-A Jacksonville to a six-game road sweep of the Nashville Sounds.
More Marlins news and content below:
🔷 Anthony Bender is due back from the paternity list prior to tonight’s game. George Soriano has already been optioned to Jacksonville as the corresponding roster move.
🔷 We already know that the Marlins are going to protect Joe Mack in advance of this winter’s MLB Rule 5 Draft. I highlighted seven other prospects who will also be Rule 5-eligible and potentially under consideration for roster spots.
🔷 On this day in 2015, the Marlins tied a then-franchise record by scoring 10 runs in the sixth inning vs. Boston.
🔷 The Top 100 prospect lists from Baseball America and MLB Pipeline were updated. Both lists now feature four Marlins—Thomas White (BA #21/MLB #21), Aiva Arquette (BA #32/MLB #39), Joe Mack (BA #45/MLB #76) and Robby Snelling (BA #42/MLB #80).
🔷 The Marlins are accepting applications for a new position: director of baseball data. “This role will be responsible for designing and implementing scalable, high-performance data pipelines that support analytics, player evaluation, and decision-making across Baseball Operations,” the position summary reads. “The ideal candidate will have deep expertise in data engineering, cloud computing, and database technologies, along with strong leadership and project management skills.”
🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, Tampa Bay Rays left-hander Shane McClanahan underwent season-ending surgery for a nerve issue in his arm. Due to injuries, McClanahan has not pitched in the majors since August 2, 2023. The Texas Rangers rallied from a 6-1 deficit to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks on a Jake Burger extra-inning walk-off hit. The ageless Kenley Jansen has made 21 consecutive appearances without allowing an earned run.
🔷 Today’s MLB game: the Marlins begin a three-game set against the Cleveland Guardians (probable starters RHP Janson Junk and LHP Logan Allen). The Guardians have won nine of their last 11 games. Watch out for Kyle Manzardo in particular, who has a 1.140 OPS since the All-Star break. The Marlins have a 42.5% chance to win, per FanGraphs. First pitch at 6:40 p.m. ET.
🔷 Prior to the series opener, Fish On First LIVE will preview it all beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET. FOF LIVE is presented by About The Fans. Check out our new merchandise collection (coupon code fof10 for 10% off).
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