A six-pack of Marlins notes on a Thursday: ▪ New Dolphins general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan was mentioning this week that former Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson taught him to try to squirrel away as many draft picks as he can in order to have “more swings at the bat.”
Marlins president/baseball operations Peter Bendix follows a similar approach when trading for prospects. Yes, he’s seeking quality foremost. But the way he views it, the more players with upside that you acquire, the greater the odds of hitting on one.
It’s no coincidence that the Marlins asked for — and received — four prospects from the Yankees in the Ryan Weathers, with high-end outfielder Dillon Lewis headlining that haul.
And even in the seemingly less-significant Jesus Sanchez deal last July, the Marlins made sure they received three players back. While Sanchez struggled badly for Houston, left in free agency and signed with Toronto, the Marlins have three players who could amount to something from that deal.
Ryan Gusto struggled with the Marlins in three late-season starts (9.77 ERA) and wasn’t good Thursday against Toronto (three runs allowed in 1 1/3 innings). But he flashed enough with the Astros last season (7-4, 4.92 in 24 games) to suggest he could become a decent big-league arm, as a starter or reliever.
Shortstop prospect Chase Jaworsky, a 20-year-old former fifth-round pick, got his first hit in his first at-bat on Tuesday and went 1 for 1 Thursday with a triple and three RBI. He and has 59 steals in 69 attempts and .346 on base average in 157 minor league games.
Nineteen-year-old outfielder Esmil Valencia has 191 steals, 39 extra base hits and a .337 on-base average in two minor-league seasons.
Will any of the three help the Marlins? Impossible to say. But the Marlins never viewed Sanchez as a long-term starter when they’re ready to win big, and so the thinking was: Why not turn him into multiple players who have a chance?
Sanchez, for his part, is trying to revive his career in Toronto after hitting .199 with four homers in 48 games for Houston. This week, a Blue Jays hitting coach blamed the Astros for messing up his swing.
▪ Left-hander Braxton Garrett, pitching in a game for the first time since December 2024 elbow surgery, started in Dunedin and allowed two hits, two walks and two runs (while striking out one) in one inning against Toronto on Thursday.
Garrett said he “wasn’t happy” about the results — “I felt I was moving a little too fast; need to clean up the command — and said he “felt a little nervous” pitching after a long layoff but was very “excited” to be pitching again. He said he has tinkered with his arsenal.
“You have to have perspective,” McCullough said. “This day to me was Braxton back on a major-league mound again and appreciating all the days leading up to it.”
▪ Top prospect Thomas White, MLB’s No. 17 overall prospect, allowed two hits and two earned runs in his one inning Thursday. “He looked calm out there,” McCullough said,... Owen Caissie, the top outfield prospect acquired from the Cubs, is 0 for 6 with five strikeouts so far this spring... Miami is 3-3 after Thursday’s 8-7 win against the Blue Jays.
▪ The Marlins are intrigued by Tyler Phillips, who had a 2.78 ERA and four saves in 54 games after being acquired for cash from Philadelphia last April. (Add Phillips to the growing list of Bendix’s getting something-for-practically nothing deals.)
What’s so great about him is his efficiency. He can do anything and everything. He’s got that type of repertoire to start. He can handle right-handed hitters, can handle left-handers. Guys who can provide multiple innings is incredibly advantageous.
In Phillips, Gusto and Janson Junk, the Marlins have three veterans who can pitch three to six innings if a starter is chased (or injured) early. Junk, recovering from an ankle injury, still has a shot at a rotation spot.
The Marlins also got something for absolutely nothing with Lake Bachar, who was claimed off waivers from the Reds in September 2024, and is coming off an 8-2 season with a 3.93 ERA and three saves and 71 strikeouts in 75 innings for the Marlins last season.
“Lake is really good,” McCullough said this week. “You look at his fastball and sweeper and split. He gets a lot of swing and miss and can get punch. He can go through a tough part of a lineup in leverage spot and also can go multiple innings.”
▪ Marlins No. 3 starter Chris Paddack, who gave up the most earned runs in the American League last season (94), has been “incredibly open-minded” about working with Marlins coaches to try to get him back to previous levels, McCullough said.
“He’s going to fill up the zone,” McCullough said. “Guys are helping him get some better weapons to put guys away, to generate more miss. We’re trying to put into practice into game setting some of the things we’ve been working on, with the shape of his breaking ball. Now’s a good time for trail and error with different pitches.”
▪ The Marlins will continue calling pitches from the dugout, something they began last September. But McCullough said pitchers still have the authority to shake off the call.