Fish Stripes

Rhona Wise-USA TODAY Sports Yuli Gurriel may have metaphorically forced the Marlins’ hand in the decision for the final roster spot. The first baseman was a non-roster signing during the fourth week of spring training games on March 9, along with shortstop José Iglesias. It is likely only one of them makes the season-opening 26-man roster, and both players can opt out of their contracts if the team doesn’t select them. Saturday’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals was the final one prior to their opt-out opportunity. Gurriel made his seventh start for Miami...

Fish Stripes rewinds to the just-completed World Baseball Classic and how some new Marlins players performed at LoanDepot Park. The World Baseball Classic: what a tournament! New Marlins players were out in full force. Johnny Cueto (Dominican Republic) made his first and only start against Puerto Rico. Cueto utilized his signature shimmy to upset the timing of opposing hitters and held them scoreless entering the third inning. But then, he started missing his spots and paid for it. This gives us good insight into Cueto. When the fastball is there and the funk is working for...

Photo by Jasen Vinlove/Miami Marlins/ What could Pérez potentially look like once he makes his highly anticipated arrival to The Show? RHP Eury Pérez Eury Pérez, 100mph Fastball & 91mph Changeup. pic.twitter.com/WBPCfoILK4— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) February 26, 2023 Signed as an international free agent (July 2019). Made professional debut for Low-A Jupiter (May 2021). Placed on the seven-day injured list with arm fatigue (August 2022) Ranked Major League Baseball’s #7th overall prospect by Baseball America and and #13th overall by MLB Pipeline (2023...

Danis Sosa/Fish Stripes Today’s Marlins news roundup also includes the updated value of the franchise as estimated by Forbes. Marlins Podcast Episodes According to Craig Mish and Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, the Marlins are “leaning toward” an Opening Day roster construction that includes both Bryan De La Cruz and Jesús Sánchez and only one of Yuli Gurriel and José Iglesias. The veteran non-roster invitees can opt out of their minor league contracts on Saturday and become free agents if they’re not selected. Their report adds that Johnny Cueto...

Isaac, Kevin and Ely discuss Yuli Gurriel vs. José Iglesias and combine to come up with 15 bold predictions for the Fish. In what has become an annual tradition, we’re making bold predictions about the upcoming Miami Marlins season. Isaac Azout and Kevin Barral are joined by Ely Sussman to explain the following takes: Huascar Brazoban records 25 saves (Isaac) Jazz Chisholm Jr. hits for the cycle (Ely) Skip Schumaker is NL Manager of the Year finalist (Kevin) Jesús Sânchez hits 40 home runs (Isaac) Peyton Burdick hits 15 MLB home runs (Ely) Jesús Luzardo...

Rich Storry-USA TODAY Sports Rogers looked confident on the mound against a half-strength Cardinals lineup. It has been a theme throughout Spring Training: the Marlins offense stays silent no matter who they’re facing. Wednesday’s opponent was the Cardinals and left-handed starter Jordan Montgomery. The results were more of the same. #Marlins lineup: - Arráez leads off - Avi in Left - Sanchie in Right - DLC in CF - Trevor Rogers is your starting pitcher pic.twitter.com/El6Jgzt2To— Kevin Barral (@kevin_barral) March 22, 2023 Trev shuts down the...

Danis Sosa/Fish Stripes The Marlins were solidly represented this year, but which of their other players could be competing at the next WBC? The World Baseball Classic isn’t for everybody, but the just-completed fifth iteration of the tournament was the biggest one yet. We have arrived at a point that fans and participating athletes care more deeply about the outcome than ever before, and the audience size, atmosphere and quality of play reflected that. Major League Baseball teams are understandably protective of their players. As long as the WBC continues to be held...

Danis Sosa/Fish Stripes Today’s Marlins news roundup also includes various injury updates. Marlins Game Coverage Marlins Podcast Episodes Samurai Japan won their third World Baseball Classic title, beating Team USA, 3-2. The championship game had a storybook ending as Shohei Ohtani struck out Angels teammate Mike Trout to clinch it. Ohtani was named MVP of the tournament. Rob Manfred confirmed that the WBC will return in 2026. Among numerous other compelling storylines, I look forward to seeing Jazz Chisholm Jr. starring for Great Britain. After longtime...

Rich Storry-USA TODAY Sports The bullpen’s clean sheet wasn’t enough in today’s game. After a bad offensive performance yesterday, the Marlins were back at it on Tuesday in West Palm Beach against the Astros. It was more of the same, unfortunately. Jesús Luzardo took the mound for the first time since his World Baseball Classic appearance against Team Israel. Luzardo had a solid outing, striking out five and only allowing two runs. The Astros got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third inning due to a Chas McCormick double that drove in...

Photo by Mary DeCicco/WBCI/MLB Photos via After battling with Mexico, Japan must now deal with the US in tonight’s WBC championship game. In the second semifinal game of the WBC, Japan hosted Mexico in Miami. These two great teams battled until the final pitch for the right to face the United States in the championship. That’s Fast Roki Sasaki, a 21-year-old well-known amongst Japanese fans for throwing very fast with little effort, started the game with a 101 MPH fastball to Arozarena. Ok, so that’s fast. Surely he won’t throw anything faster, right? Next...

Danis Sosa/Fish Stripes Five Cardinals pitchers combined to hold the Fish scoreless. The final week of Spring Training has arrived. Usually, this is when we begin to see lots of veteran major leaguers in the lineup, and team performance is a little bit more indicative of what we might see during the regular season. For the Marlins on Monday, Dan Castano got the start, and for the Cardinals, Jake Woodford was the man on the mound. #Marlins lineup: - Basically the opening day lineup - Dan Castano on the mound - Austin Allen is catching instead of Jacob Stallings -...

Photo by Gene Wang/ The deep USA lineup was firing on all cylinders Sunday night, scoring 14 times in seven separate innings. In a matchup riddled with political and social implications, Team USA hosted Team Cuba in the World Baseball Classic semifinals in front of a sellout crowd that was about 60/40 USA. With Adam Wainwright on the mound, they looked to punch their ticket to the final and a showdown with the winner of Monday’s game between Mexico and Japan. And boy, did they punch it! A little shaky early The game started rough for Waino as Cuba loaded the bases on...

Danis Sosa/Fish Stripes Today’s Marlins news roundup also includes recent minor league transactions. Marlins Game Coverage Victor Mesa Jr. called game!!!! pic.twitter.com/7xlOloxv8k— Fish Stripes (@fishstripes) March 19, 2023 Marlins Podcast Episodes The United States defeated Cuba on Sunday, 14-2, to advance to the World Baseball Classic finals. Fittingly, Jeff Conine and Liván Hernández threw out the ceremonial first pitches. Prior to the game, hundreds of protesters gathered outside LoanDepot Park in opposition to Cuba’s oppressive government....

Photo by Eric Espada/ The seven active Marlins players who represented their countries at the WBC had their fair share of big moments. New podcast channel name, same insightful and entertaining Miami Marlins coverage from the Fish Stripes staff! Now that they’ve all been eliminated from the tournament and returned to Marlins Spring Training camp, Ely Sussman recaps the WBC performances of Sandy Alcantara (Dominican Republic), Johnny Cueto (Dominican Republic), Jean Segura (Dominican Republic), Luis Arraez (Venezuela), Jesús Luzardo (Venezuela), Enmanuel De Jesús...

Photo by Megan Briggs/ Edward Cabrera and Victor Mesa Jr. power Marlins to second straight win. Making his first true spring start since March 7, Edward Cabrera looked like he was in midseason form early. Retiring the Astros in order through the first three innings, Cabrera would allow just 1 run over the remaining 1 2⁄3 innings, facing the Houston order twice before departing in a 5-4 Marlins victory. The soon-to-be 25-year-old struck out 3 and walked 2 in his 4 2⁄3 innings pitched, throwing 67 in what was scheduled to be an outing of no more than 75 pitches. In 3...