Marlins’ rotation has the chance to ‘do something special.’ But can it stay healthy?
Edward Cabrera looked around the Miami Marlins’ clubhouse while taking stock of the team’s starting pitchers.
He, like the Marlins, knows there is a lot of inexperience. But Cabrera also knows the group has talent. It’s just a matter of finding ways to keep the group healthy and on the field.
If that can happen ...
“I think we’re going to do something special,” Cabrera said. “We’ve got to continue working really hard, do our best, go out there and compete.”
All eyes at Marlins spring training, understandably, are going to be on ace Sandy Alcantara as he returns from Tommy John surgery. He was the main attraction Wednesday, the team’s first workout for pitchers and catchers on the back fields of Jupiter’s Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium complex, as he threw 21 total pitches with hitters in the batter’s box.
But the production and health of the pitchers behind him in the rotation will be just as paramount to any hopes the Marlins have of success in 2025.
The Marlins learned that quickly last season when the rotation was decimated by injuries and the team had to put together a makeshift starting staff.
The results suffered, with Miami going 62-100 — the third-worst record in MLB in 2024 — one year after making the playoffs. Marlins starting pitchers had the second-worst ERA (5.24, up from 4.09 — eighth best in MLB — in 2023) and pitched the fourth-fewest innings (785, down from 818 — 20th in MLB — in 2023).
What went wrong?
In addition to not having Alcantara and Eury Perez for all of 2024, every other starting pitcher expected to have a substantial role for the team spent significant time on the injured list.
▪ Jesus Luzardo, Miami’s Opening Day starter in 2024 who is now with the Philadelphia Phillies, only made 12 starts after dealing with a pair of injuries — first left elbow tightness and then a season-ending lumbar stress reaction.
▪ Braxton Garrett last pitched in mid-June before being sidelined with a left forearm flexor strain that ultimately required a UCL revision over the offseason and has him knocked out for all of 2025 season.
▪ Ryan Weathers had a fluky left index finger injury in June that sidelined him until mid-September.
▪ Max Meyer missed the final month of the season with right shoulder bursitis.
▪ Cabrera dealt with a pair of right shoulder impingements that took out three months of his season.
That led to the team using 18 different starting pitchers on their way to using an MLB-record 70 players throughout the season.
“Hopefully,” catcher Nick Fortes said, “we won’t have that use that many players this year. Hopefully, we can have a nice group that stays healthy and performs well throughout the year. That’s the goal.”
Cal Quantrill adds to depth
While the Marlins will be without Garrett for the season, dealt Luzardo and have to wait until midseason for Perez, help is on the way.
The Marlins signed veteran right-handed pitcher Cal Quantrill to a one-year, $3.5 million deal on Wednesday, giving the team another veteran alongside Alcantara who has successfully dealt with the grind of an MLB season.
Quantrill, who turned 30 on Monday, has thrown 719 innings over 161 games (123 starts) in his six-year MLB career that includes stints with San Diego, Cleveland and Colorado. He has a career 4.07 ERA with 537 strikeouts against 234 walks and has tossed four career complete games.
He threw a career-high 186 1/3 innings with Cleveland in 2022 and has thrown at least 149 2/3 innings in three of his past four seasons.
“He’s demonstrated that he can do that,” Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix said Wednesday. “He can throw 180 innings in a season. That’s a rare skill. It’s hard to find, especially these days, and it’s something that’s going to be really helpful for us.”
Especially consider that Miami’s rotation, while boasting talent, is still relatively inexperienced.
Outside of Alcantara, none of the Marlins’ other projected starters — Weathers, Cabrera and Meyer — has thrown more than 100 innings in an MLB season.
“He brings a lot of just proven ability to go out there and pitch every fifth day and get good results,” Bendix said. “He’s been very successful in his career, and he’s somebody that we think is going to really slot well into our rotation.”
Quantrill is scheduled to report to Jupiter and join the team on Thursday.
Rotation’s expectations
As for the starting pitchers returning, while being on the field and available every five days is the priority, executing on their start days is equally as important.
“Everybody’s got a lot of work to do,” said Meyer, who made 11 starts for Miami last season in addition to a pair of stints in Triple A Jacksonville as the team monitored his innings. “It’s never fun to just be there. I always want to be there and making an impact, so being able to know what I need to do, know what pitches I need to train to get my velocity up and all that stuff, it was perfect for the offseason.”
In terms of work, Meyer added a sinker and a sweeper to his pitch arsenal that already featured a four-seam fastball, slider and changeup. Weathers fine-tuned his fastballs to complement his secondary pitches that were very successful in 2024. Cabrera prioritized his body, putting on muscle and cutting fat.
“The name of the game this year is how many of us can get deep into games,” Weathers said. “It’s gonna take a couple of us to kind of fill that role and the only way we can fill that role is be healthy and start games and get deep into ball games. That’s our job as starters.”
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