A month ago, the Miami Marlins looked like a team that might force its way into the playoff conversation. Right now, they look stuck in a spiral that keeps getting worse by the day.
Saturday’s 7-2 loss to the San Diego Padres pushed Miami to 11 straight defeats, matching the longest losing streak in franchise history. The Marlins were 10 games over .500 on July 9. Since then, the whole thing has come apart with the trade deadline looming.
What makes this stretch so brutal is that it’s not being driven by one obvious flaw. The hits that showed up in June have vanished.
The bullpen has stopped holding the line. The role players have gone quiet.
Even when the starting pitching does its job, Miami still finds a way to lose.
Eury Pérez was strong enough to win most nights. He gave up three runs over seven innings and threw a season-high 104 pitches.
The 23-year-old has now strung together four straight quality starts and carries a 1.58 ERA across his last seven outings, with just seven earned runs allowed in 40 innings. And yet only four of those seven starts have ended with a Marlins win.
That’s the story of the collapse in one snapshot: the rotation gives the club a chance, and something else tears it away.
Saturday followed the same script. Dax Fulton came on in the eighth and allowed three runs, turning a manageable game into another comfortable Padres win.
Miami managed only five hits and scored below its season average of 4.4 runs for the eighth time during the losing streak. Otto Lopez and Kyle Stowers drove in the team’s only runs.
Manager Clayton McCullough said there isn’t one player who can pull the Marlins out of this on his own.
“All parts will have to be involved for us to turn this around,” McCullough said. “One person isn’t going to stop it.
Ultimately, it’s what does our team need to do break it. It’s going to be a collective effort.”
The offensive numbers are ugly enough to explain the frustration. During the skid, Miami has posted MLB’s lowest on-base percentage at .273 and the second-lowest batting average at .214. Lopez, Xavier Edwards and Liam Hicks have kept producing, but the rest of the lineup has not held up its end.
The bullpen has gone from strength to liability just as quickly. Miami’s relievers were one of baseball’s five best groups in June. Since the losing streak began, that unit has dropped into the bottom 10 in ERA.
That’s why every game feels so tight for the Marlins now. The starters have to be close to perfect because the offense isn’t scoring enough, and any lead feels shaky once the game reaches the late innings. McCullough still believes the slide will end, even if the timing is impossible to pin down.
“The seas that we’re navigating, they’ll end,” McCullough said. “I wish I had a crystal ball to know when. But still a ton of confidence that we’ll get this thing turned in a different direction.”
Miami still entered Sunday three games out of a National League Wild Card spot, so the season is not dead. But after watching a promising summer turn into a historic free fall, that may be hard for anyone around the club to feel in the moment.
The Marlins will try to avoid a franchise-record 12th straight loss in Sunday’s series finale against San Diego. Janson Junk is set to face Walker Buehler at 1:40 p.m. ET at loanDepot Park.
At this point, even one win would feel like a rescue.
In Other News...
Joe Mack May Be Giving Marlins Fans The Answer They Needed
Joe Mack has spent his first full season giving the Marlins something they have not had much of lately: a young catcher who looks like he belongs. The 23-year-old rookie has become a meaningful part of Miamis lineup during a season that has otherwise been defined by losses, and the organizations belief in him goes back to when it used a competitive balance pick on him in 2021. What has made the difference lately is not just the promise, but the production, with Mack showing real improvement at the plate since June 1.
For a club still sorting through its future, that matters. Macks recent stretch has helped reinforce the idea that he is more than just a developmental piece, and it has only strengthened the sense that he fits into Miamis long-term plans. The Marlins still have plenty to sort out, but at catcher they may already have one answer in place, and the way Mack has handled himself over the past few weeks has made that answer look a lot more convincing. [Read more 🡒]
Braxton Garrett Suddenly Feels Like The Marlins' Next Deadline Decision
Braxton Garrett has quietly become one of the more interesting names sitting on Miamis deadline board, even though his path back has been anything but smooth. After injuries stalled his progress over the past couple of seasons, the left-hander has put together a strong run at Triple-A in Jacksonville this year, enough to remind evaluators why he once looked like a meaningful part of the Marlins pitching future.
The problem for Miami is that Garrett does not appear to be pushing his way back into the picture at the major league level, and that has only sharpened the trade buzz around him. With the deadline approaching on Aug. 3, the Marlins are weighing a pitcher who has drawn significant interest and could appeal to clubs looking for a low-cost arm with upside, leaving Miami to decide whether to keep waiting or turn the rebound into something more useful. [Read more 🡒]
Marlins Can't Afford To Get Kyle Stowers Wrong At The Deadline
Kyle Stowers has become one of the more important pieces of Miamis lineup since arriving in a 2024 trade with the Orioles, and the Marlins have already seen enough to know he is not just a short-term fill-in. He was an All-Star last year, and even in a season where the numbers have been more uneven, he still gives the club a left-handed bat with real power and a track record that makes him hard to replace.
At the deadline, that kind of player can become a tempting chip for a team looking to retool, especially when there is no extension in place yet. But Miami also has to weigh what happens if it moves on too quickly from a player it spent real capital to get and has spent the past year building around, because getting Stowers wrong could leave the lineup thinner now and the long-term picture even murkier. [Read more 🡒]