The Marlins closed out 2026 the right way, using pitching, power and a little late-game theater to knock off the NL East champion Braves, 5-3, and finish their season on a win.
Janson Junk set the tone early and gave Miami exactly the kind of outing it needed on the final day. The right-hander worked 4 ⅔ innings, struck out five and kept Atlanta in check aside from one mistake: a Mauricio Dubón solo homer in the third. Junk finishes his 2026 campaign with career highs in innings pitched at 123 ⅔ and strikeouts at 89, and he allowed two or fewer runs in 18 of his 25 starts while posting a 4.22 ERA.
Miami answered Dubón’s shot with a pair of solo homers of its own. Heriberto Hernández, who entered the day with 24 long balls, tied the game in his second plate appearance with No.
- Since coming back to the majors on May 7, Hernández led the club with those 25 home runs.
Then Griffin Conine delivered the swing that pushed the Marlins back in front in the seventh. In his final plate appearance of the season, Conine unloaded for a homer that fit the moment perfectly, especially with longtime play-by-play voice Rich Waltz making a surprise appearance in the TV booth alongside Tommy Hutton, who was working the final game of his career. Hutton has been part of Marlins broadcasts across two separate stretches since 1997, and he paired with Waltz in 2005, when Jeff Conine - Griffin’s father - was on the roster.
The finish belonged to Sandy Alcantara.
Manager Clayton McCullough turned to Alcantara for the ninth, and the move had been foreshadowed before the game when McCullough said, "we hope things line up that way."
Alcantara, who led the majors with 213 innings pitched, was looking for his third save of the season. He got it on just 10 pitches, and his final offering - a 92 mph changeup - produced a swinging strikeout of Dashawn Keirsey Jr. The two previous saves also came on the Marlins’ last road trip.
That combination of workload and save total is rare territory. The last player to finish a season with at least 200 innings and three or more saves was Jerry Reuss in 1980.
For Alcantara, it was a satisfying end after a difficult 2025, when he returned from Tommy John surgery and posted a 5.36 ERA while still piling up 174-plus innings. This year looked much more like the version Miami has leaned on before, as he finished with a 3.87 ERA.
After completing the final season of the five-year extension he signed following 2021, Alcantara said he will "wait on the couch until the team calls" to find out whether Miami picks up his $21M club option for 2027.
"I want to keep myself here with the Marlins. I've been with this club for nine years...I love this organization so much."
Miami’s 80-82 finish leaves the club with plenty to sort through this offseason, but the season ended with a few clear positives. The Marlins’ plus-3 run differential ties the 2008 Florida Marlins for the fifth-best mark in franchise history and represents a 92-run improvement from a year ago. Their 168 home runs are also their most since the team hit 194 in 2017.
"A lot of high moments," McCullough said after his second season as manager. "We certainly had to navigate through quite a bit of adversity."
In Other News...
Marlins Just Made A Hitting Change Fans Will Debate
The Marlins are making a notable change in the dugouts support system, moving on from hitting coach Pedro Guerrero while keeping the rest of their 2026 coaching staff intact. Manager Clayton McCullough will remain in place, as will assistant hitting coaches Chris Hess and Corbin Day, so the organization is clearly choosing continuity in most areas even as it looks for a different direction with the offense.
President of baseball operations Peter Bendix framed the decision as a search for a new voice in the hitting space and a stronger alignment across the department. For a Miami club that has spent plenty of time trying to build a more consistent offensive identity, the move invites the usual debate: whether a fresh perspective can unlock progress, or whether changing one piece of the staff is enough to matter at all. [Read more 🡒]
Marlins Already Face Tough Roster Calls If They Want To Contend
The Marlins are heading into an offseason where the front office will have to balance patience with urgency, and that usually means some difficult decisions on the pitching staff. Miami is expected to look for ways to improve its starting rotation and raise the overall level of the roster, with the organization trying to position itself as a Wild Card contender by 2027.
Janson Junk, Max Meyer and Bradley Blalock all appear to be in the mix as possible trade or release candidates as the club sorts through performance concerns and roster construction. For a small-market team trying to follow the model of other clubs that have stayed competitive, the challenge is not just adding talent but creating room for it, and the Marlins may have to make a few uncomfortable calls before they can take the next step. [Read more 🡒]
Marlins Suddenly Have A Center Field Concern They Cant Ignore
Jakob Marsees first full major league season gave the Marlins a clearer look at what they have in center field, and now it comes with a medical checkup attached. Team president Peter Bendix said Marsee will visit Dr. Keith Meister after dealing with left elbow discomfort late in the 2026 season, a note that lands at an awkward time for a player who was on the field for most of the year and gave Miami steady defense in the middle of the diamond.
The Marlins do have alternatives if the issue lingers, with Esteury Ruiz, Javier Sanoja and prospect Cam Cannarella all in the mix for playing time. But center field looked like one of the few spots Miami could begin to stabilize around Marsee, so any offseason concern there adds a little more uncertainty to a roster still trying to sort out its next step. [Read more 🡒]