The Marlins enter September with long odds and a schedule that refuses to make life easy. That’s the twist.
Miami is 70-69 and three games behind the Padres for the third and final National League Wild Card spot, but 18 of its last 23 games come against teams sitting ahead of it in the standings. In other words: the path is narrow, but the opponents are right there in front of them.
Manager Clayton McCullough likes that setup.
“It's a great thing,” McCullough said. “You'd rather have it that way, that the people that are next up are those that you can control your own destiny a little bit, say within a series.
So, I'd rather have it that way. Competition is great.
There's not an easy series in this league, and certainly we're going to need to get hot here and start winning some games, and you'd hope that type of sprint for a month would set you up well if you're able to get in.”
Miami’s situation is a lot cleaner than it was at this point last year. Around this time in 2025, the Marlins were 65-74 and 10 games back with seven teams ahead of them in the Wild Card standings. They still ended up hanging around until the second-to-last series, powered by an 11-1 stretch.
This month’s road map starts in Kansas City, where the Marlins play Wednesday and Thursday against a Royals club that is 62-77 but suddenly scorching hot. Kansas City has won 12 of 15, and a big part of that surge has been University of Florida product Jac Caglianone, who hit .411 with six home runs and 26 RBIs in August.
From there, Miami heads home for a Friday-Sunday set with the Cubs, its first meeting with Chicago this season. The Cubs are 78-61, one game behind the Phillies for the top NL Wild Card spot and also chasing the Brewers in the NL Central. Pete Crow-Armstrong has become the centerpiece of that push, while former Marlin Edward Cabrera and Dansby Swanson are working back from injuries.
The next homestand brings the Mets to Miami from Sept. 7-9, and that series carries a different kind of weight. It’s the Marlins’ final matchup against a team not in the postseason picture.
Miami took three of four from New York in Queens before the Trade Deadline, and the Mets were last in the NL East then as well. Even so, they could arrive with Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto healthy, along with a promising young outfield.
The Marlins are 6-4 against the Mets this season, but this could easily become New York’s chance to spoil things after Miami did the same to others last year.
Then comes a heavyweight stretch. The Dodgers visit from Sept. 11-13, with Los Angeles sitting in control of the NL West and still fighting Milwaukee and Atlanta for first-round byes.
The available roster will be a moving target. Ohtani hasn’t resumed pitching, while closer Edwin Díaz, Roki Sasaki and Andy Pages, among others, are targeting September returns.
Miami already took two of three from the Dodgers in April at Chavez Ravine.
After that, the Marlins leave town for a three-city, nine-game trip that could decide everything. First up is Arizona from Sept. 14-16, and if Miami falls short, the road record will be one of the first things people point to.
The Marlins are 28-42 away from home compared with a 42-27 mark at loanDepot park. Still, this is also where the head-to-head math matters: Miami swept the D-backs in June, so the tiebreaker is very much within reach.
Arizona is expected to have Corbin Burnes and Zac Gallen back by then.
The trip finishes in San Diego from Sept. 18-20, and that series has direct Wild Card implications too. The Padres and D-backs keep leapfrogging each other, and Miami’s last meeting with San Diego was ugly - a home sweep during a franchise-worst 12-game skid.
The Marlins need a sweep just to break even on the head-to-head tiebreaker, though two of the three losses came by two runs. San Diego also looks likely to get pitching help back in Nick Pivetta, Joe Musgrove and Jason Adam.
Miami then closes the road schedule with three games at Chicago from Sept. 22-24, including two night games. By then, the questions are obvious: will the Cubs still be locked in a race with the Phillies, will they be protecting a division lead, or will they be able to line up their pitching and rest players?
The regular season ends Sept. 25-27 at home against the Braves, and those same questions could apply there too. Atlanta may have already wrapped up the NL East, and the seeds for the division winners could already be set.
The Marlins are 2-8 against the Braves and were swept in Atlanta after the Trade Deadline. But there’s also a reminder of how quickly this can flip: when Miami made the postseason in 2023, it swept Atlanta at home in mid-September under similar circumstances.
In Other News...
Brayden Taylor Now Faces One Big Marlins Question
The Marlins kept themselves in the National League wild card chase after the trade deadline, but they also stayed true to the long view by making a move for infielder Brayden Taylor from the Rays in the Liam Hicks deal. Taylor is working at Triple-A Jacksonville for now, yet he already fits the kind of player Miami has been stockpiling during its rebuild: someone with power, speed and enough upside to matter beyond the immediate standings race.
For the Marlins, the real question is not whether Taylor belongs in the organization, but when he becomes part of the big picture. The expectation is that he is headed toward the major league roster in 2027, which gives Miami time to let the bat and legs keep developing while the current club tries to stay afloat in the playoff picture. In a season where the front office has had to balance present ambition with future planning, Taylor is one of the clearest reminders of where this roster is supposed to be headed. [Read more 🡒]
Marlins Man Is At The Center Of A Bizarre StubHub Fight
Laurence Leavy, better known around baseball as Marlins Man, has found himself in the middle of a strange ticket dispute that has spilled beyond the ballpark and onto social media. Leavy says StubHub sold him seats with numbers that do not exist, a claim that turned into a tense back-and-forth with the company over what should have been a straightforward guarantee.
Leavy says he spent about an hour arguing with a StubHub supervisor, and the disagreement has only grown louder as he has publicly pressed the issue online. He has even raised the possibility of legal action, though there is still no confirmation that StubHub broke its policies, leaving the fight to sit in an awkward gray area for now. [Read more 🡒]
Marlins September Callups Could Force Tougher Roster Decisions Soon
The Marlins September roster moves brought a familiar kind of late-season juggling, with infielder Graham Pauley and right-hander Bradley Blalock joining the active group as Miami looks to cover innings and keep the infield steady. Pauleys addition gives the club another option after Xavier Edwards was hurt, while Blalock arrives after spending the year as a steady presence in the Triple-A Jacksonville rotation.
What makes both callups more than simple depth moves is the long view attached to each player. Pauley and Blalock are both out of minor league options after the 2026 season, which means every decision Miami makes now carries a little extra weight beyond September, especially if either player shows enough to complicate the roster picture going into next year. [Read more 🡒]