Ten Marlins news items on a Monday, about midway through spring training:
▪ Max Meyer and Braxton Garrett, the heavy favorites for the No. 4 and 5 spots in the Marlins rotation, both delivered encouraging performances in recent days.
Meyer threw three scoreless innings against the Mets on Friday, striking out four and allowing two hits.
“We’re counting on big things from Max this year,” manager Clayton McCullough said over the weekend.
Garrett pitched well against St. Louis on Sunday, permitting one hit, one walk and one run in his three-inning start.
▪ Meanwhile, Janson Junk — who had missed a couple of weeks with a sprained ankle — struck out two in a scoreless inning on Saturday against Houston.
“Junk looked terrific,” McCullough said. “He can roll out of bed and throw strikes. His velocity was real good which is a good sign with the stability with the ankle. We’ll keep building him up.
He’s not that far behind some of the other guys in camp.”
Junk likely will open the season as the Marlins’ long man and could step into the rotation if there’s an injury. He’s out of minor-league options.
▪ Christopher Morel hasn’t hit well since 2023 and is batting .190 (4 for 21) this spring. But the Marlins appear determined to make it work with Morel at first base. He has walked only once this spring and has one extra base hit (a triple).
Griffin Conine has played mostly in the outfield while also playing 2 ½ games at first base. McCullough had Morel and Conine switch positions midway through Sunday’s game in a predesigned move.
Conine remains an option at first base and could play a lot there if Morel doesn’t start hitting well enough fairly early in the season.
Defensively, Conine “is moving around well over there” at first, McCullough said. “He made a really nice play backhand. It’s nice he’s getting some chances. Ones in the air I’m not worried about. He looks fairly comfortable considering he’s still new to the position.”
Conine is hitting .278 (5 for 18) with a home run this spring.
▪ Chris Paddack, the Marlins’ No. 3 starter, has looked good this spring, pitching six scoreless innings with six strikeouts.
“Throwing strikes is something Chris has always done,” McCullough said. “The sweeper is a pitch for him that’s new.”
▪ Right-handed pitcher Adam Mazur, who was expected to begin the season in Triple A, experienced elbow discomfort in recent days and will be examined by specialist James Meister this week.
▪ Graham Pauley isn’t ready to play in the field because of forearm tightness, but he has hit well as a designated hitter. He’s at .364 for the spring. Once he’s healthy enough to play in the field, he will resume his battle with Connor Norby for the third base job.
▪ Right-hander Carson Milbrandt looked very good this spring before being re-assigned to minor league camp late last week.
“He has a nice little hard cutter,” McCullough said. “His fastball plays well off of that. He has a little bit of funk to the delivery. For hitters, it’s tough to pick things up. He’s had an impressive camp.”
▪ In recent days, the Marlins — as expected — also assigned several other players to minor-league camp.
Sent to Jacksonville were pitchers Dax Fulton, William Kempner and Josh White; first baseman Deyvison De Los Santos and middle infielder Jared Serna.
Outfielder Dillon Lewis — the top prospect acquired in the Ryan Weathers trade with the Yankees — was sent to minor-league camp and “came as advertised,” McCullough said.
“It jumped out the first time I saw him how big a man he is and the way he can run. The defensive acumen we heard about, we saw that. He can stay in center, play at a high rate in a premium spot. The quality of contact he’s capable of, we saw it. We’re really high on Dillon as a guy who can impact on both sides of the ball.”
▪ Relievers Anthony Bender and Andrew Nardi, who have both battled injuries this spring, are scheduled to pitch Tuesday.
Both of their velocities are “in a good spot,” McCullough said.
▪ Outfielder Kyle Stowers remains out with a hamstring injury.
“He continues to feel fine hitting,” McCullough said. “He’s doing running progression, getting built up with that. Until he’s able to clear the running threshold, we’re looking at another week potentially until he’s in games. It’s us wanting to be cautionary to make sure it’s nothing that lingers.”
This story was originally published March 9, 2026 at 12:47 PM.
Miami Herald
Barry Jackson has written for the Miami Herald since 1986 and has written the Florida Sports Buzz column since 2002.