The Miami Marlins have hit a wall, and the timing could hardly be worse.
Sunday’s 5-3 loss to the San Diego Padres gave Miami its 12th straight defeat, the longest skid in franchise history. It also completed a weekend sweep and turned a once-promising stretch into a full-blown collapse.
Two weeks ago, the Marlins were still sitting on playoff hopes after ripping off a 20-6 run in June. Now they’re staring at a possible fire sale with the trade deadline looming.
Manager Clayton McCullough didn’t try to dress it up. Speaking Sunday, as reported by The Athletic, he said, "We’re going to meet this head on," McCullough said Sunday, as reported by The Athletic.
"I mean, look, there’s no hiding from it. It’s what it is.
Does anybody feel good? Certainly not.
But to come in here each day and cry about it, make excuses, I don’t know what that’s going to do.
"I think we have a very prideful group that is certainly upset, frustrated, angry about how things are going, but we’re the only ones that can change that."
The losing streak began before the All-Star break, with a 3-2 loss to the Cleveland Guardians at loanDepot park on July 10. Miami entered that game 52-42, 10 games over .500, and then watched the slide drag them to 52-54. They’re now 10.5 games behind the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves and three games off the NL Wild Card pace.
Sunday offered a chance to stop the bleeding, but the Padres took it away. Manny Machado, who is making a strong push for early NL Player of the Month honors, delivered the key blow with a two-run homer as San Diego rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the seventh inning. Machado is hitting .291 with seven homers and 17 RBI in July.
The Marlins now head into a three-game series against the visiting Philadelphia Phillies on Monday with the Aug. 3 MLB trade deadline approaching. Their Triple-A club, the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, is also in the middle of a 12-game losing streak.
Pitchers Max Mayer and Eury Perez, along with catcher Liam Hicks, have been mentioned as possible trade candidates.
In Other News...
Yankees Trade Idea Solves A Bullpen Need Without The Usual Price
A bullpen market that has already been shaped by pricey names could leave one contender looking for a cleaner fit, and the Yankees have been floated as a team that might find it in San Diego. The idea from The Athletics Chris Kirschner and former MLB general manager Jim Bowden centers on reliever Adrin Morejn, a left-handed arm who would give New York another high-leverage option without forcing the club into the kind of deal that usually comes with a late-inning upgrade.
For the Padres, the appeal would be less about the present inning and more about the long view, since the suggested return would bring back two pitching prospects in Cunningham and Rodriguez. Bowdens case is straightforward: if San Diego is willing to listen, it could turn a short-term bullpen piece into future rotation depth, though no official trade has been announced and the conversation remains just that, a proposal for now. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Fans Just Got A Brutal Juan Soto Trade Reminder
The Juan Soto deal still hangs over San Diego because it was supposed to be the kind of swing that changes a franchises ceiling. Instead, the Padres paid a steep price to land Soto and Josh Bell from Washington, then watched the move become part of a longer story about what might have been, especially as the young talent they gave up continued to develop elsewhere.
Now the reminder is even sharper, with James Wood, Soto and CJ Abrams all sitting near the top of the National Leagues on-base production conversation. Sotos time in San Diego was productive but brief, and the Padres never turned that bold push into a World Series trip before eventually moving him again, leaving the original trade to be judged less by the excitement it created than by the questions it still raises. [Read more 🡒]