The Miami Marlins have reached the point where the calendar stops being background noise. At 68-66, they’ll begin Friday above .500 and just four games behind the San Diego Padres for the final National League Wild Card spot, with 28 games left to make a run.
That kind of chase demands pitching you can trust, and Miami has two arms that can keep handing them chances: Sandy Alcantara and Eury Perez.
Alcantara, the former Cy Young winner, is 13-8 with a 3.38 ERA and 1.18 WHIP over 183 2/3 innings. The bigger story, though, is what he’s done lately.
Over his last seven starts, he has posted a 1.91 ERA and 1.04 WHIP in 47 innings. Stretch that out to his last 15 outings and he still looks sharp, carrying a 2.40 ERA and 1.08 WHIP across 101 1/3 innings.
For a pitcher who had some bumps after returning from Tommy John surgery in 2025, the timing could hardly be better for Miami.
Perez has been just as important. The 23-year-old is 7-9 with a 3.17 ERA and 1.11 WHIP in 127 2/3 innings, with 137 strikeouts and a .199 opponent batting average. He’s already shown this season that the Marlins can lean on him, and he’ll get another chance to prove it in the upcoming series against the Washington Nationals.
Friday’s opener will feature Perez against Washington left-hander Jackson Kent, while Saturday brings Alcantara against Cade Cavalli. It comes after Miami just swept the Nationals in their last meeting a few days ago, with Perez taking the win in the second game after throwing five innings.
Clayton McCullough is lining up his top two starters on back-to-back nights, and that’s no accident. The Marlins don’t need Alcantara and Perez to carry everything by themselves, but they do need them to set the table for series wins. That’s the cleanest route left for Miami to erase a four-game gap.
The rest of the roster has done its part too. Kyle Stowers is back from the injured list.
Otto Lopez is hitting .308. Griffin Conine has produced an .847 OPS.
Heriberto Hernandez leads the team with 20 home runs.
This is a club that has already outpaced the expectations set for it on Opening Day, when a full-circle rebuild looked like it was still at least another year away. Instead, the Marlins are here, in striking distance of October, with enough pitching and enough production to make the Wild Card race a lot more interesting.
In Other News...
Tommy Hutton Opens Up As A Marlins Era Nears Its End
Tommy Hutton is heading into the final month of a broadcasting run that has become part of the fabric of Marlins baseball. After 28 seasons as the clubs television analyst and a presence on Marlins broadcasts since 1996, Hutton has seen nearly every chapter of the franchise unfold from the booth, bringing the perspective of a former major leaguer who spent 12 seasons in the game himself.
Recently honored on Thank You Tommy Day at loanDepot park, Hutton took time to reflect on the career thats now winding down and on what he knows he will miss most about it. For Marlins fans, the moment carried a little extra weight because it marked not just a salute to a familiar voice, but the start of a final stretch that will close a long and steady era in the broadcast booth. [Read more 🡒]
Javier Sanoja Just Gave Marlins Fans A Real Reason To Believe
Javier Sanoja keeps giving the Marlins something tangible to point to during a season that has often asked for patience. The young infielder turned in a standout game against the Red Sox, piling up three hits and three stolen bases while helping Miami to a 4-0 victory. It was the kind of all-around impact that does not just show up in a box score, but reminds a team searching for momentum that some of its core pieces are starting to look more and more dependable.
Sanojas rise has been steady enough to matter, too. He has pushed his batting average to .280 with six home runs and 51 RBIs, production that suggests this is more than a hot stretch or a one-night spike. The bigger question for the Marlins is how far that growth can carry them, and whether performances like this are the start of a larger breakthrough or just another promising step along the way. [Read more 🡒]
Eury Prez Is Giving The Marlins Rotation Real Hope Again
Eury Prez is starting to look like the kind of arm the Marlins have been waiting to build around again. His pitch mix has shifted noticeably from one season to the next, with a sinker emerging as a real part of the equation while his four-seam fastball has become more effective, giving Miami a more complete look from a pitcher still early in his career.
The encouraging part for the Marlins is that the stuff is playing in more ways than one. His sweeper has been harder to square up, with a lower slugging percentage against it, and the in-zone whiff rate is sitting near 25 percent, which points to bats missing even when he comes into the strike zone. The walks are still a concern, even if they are trending better, but with Prez now lined up as the No. 2 starter behind Sandy Alcantara, the rotation suddenly has a little more hope baked into it. [Read more 🡒]