Marlins gamble on bounce-back years from three pickups. And news, injury updates
The Marlins have done something this offseason that low-payroll teams historically do, and the Marlins have done before through multiple regimes: Sign players coming off down years, hoping they rebound to past levels and become good value signings in the process.
They did that with first baseman Chris Morel, who hit .242 with 26 homers, 70 RBI for the Cubs in 2023 but just .219 (11 homers, 33 RBI) in 105 games for Tampa Bay last season.
They did that with Chris Paddack, whose 6.32 ERA last season in 12 appearances for the Tigers (after his July trade from Minnesota) was well above his career 4.64 ERA.
They did that will reliever John King, whose 4.66 ERA for the Cardinals last season was much worse than his 2.85 ERA the previous year.
Closer Peter Fairbanks — who was given $13 million after saving 27 of 32 chances for Tampa Bay last season — was the exception. But even Fairbanks saw a drop in his strikeout rate the past two years, though he was still quite effective (2.83 ERA).
King had a career-low 12.6% strikeout rate in 48 1/3 innings last season, but as mlbtraderumors.com noted, “what King lacks in strikeouts, he at least partially makes up for in ground balls. Opposing batters have an extremely difficult time elevating against the lefty’s arsenal. He sports a massive 61.5% ground-ball rate in his career” and allows just 0.9 homers per nine innings.
Though he has held left-handers to a .251 average (.291 on base) in his career, right-handed hitters have performed well against him (.302, .353 on base).
The Marlins believe they can get Paddack back on track. But there are concerns after a season in which he allowed the most earned runs of any American League pitcher and closed with a 5.35 ERA in 33 appearances.
As mlbtraderumors.com noted, “Paddack had an ERA pushing 5.00 over 21 starts when the Twins traded him to the Tigers at the deadline. He was hit hard in three of his first five outings in Detroit and moved to the bullpen in early September. Paddack returned to the rotation for two starts to close the regular season and was scratched from the Tigers’ playoff rosters.”
One issue is that Paddack’s strikeout rate dropped last season to the lowest of his career (112 K’s in 158 innings), and batters swung and missed at fewer of his pitches than ever before.
And, as mlbtraderumors noted, “the bigger issue is that opponents teed off on the changeup — a .263 average and .491 slugging mark — that had been his best pitch. Paddack has never had a good breaking ball or an overpowering heater, so he’ll need the changeup to be much more effective if he’s to recapture mid-rotation form.”
Fairbanks is different from the three other free agent signings because he was still excellent last season. But his strikeout percentage has dipped from 37% in 2023 to 24% each of the past two seasons. Batters hit the ball harder against him last season (90.2 mph, compared with 85.7 two years ago).
But “the fact that the current version of Fairbanks has better-than-average strikeout and walk rates with 90th-percentile fastball velocity means that he is still an effective reliever,” mlbtraderumors noted.
Injury news
Graham Pauley, a gifted defender who entered camp as a strong contender for the starting third base job, has been shut down from all baseball activity because of forearm tightness. If Pauley can’t return soon, then Connor Norby would become the front-runner for the third base job. Pauley hasn’t appeared in any of the Marlins’ first three games.
▪ The Marlins hope right-hander Janson Junk, who has an ankle injury, is back on the mound later this week (though not yet in games). He’s out of his walking boot.
▪ Left-hander Andrew Nardi, who missed all of last season with a back injury, is now dealing with a blood blister on his left pointer finger that popped up while working out. He has thrown twice off a mound in the past week. “He’ll keep it covered, just to ensure we can keep the area as protected as we can,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “The back continues to feel good, so that’s the big one.”
▪ Right-hander Max Meyer, who didn’t pitch after June 2 last season because of a labrum tear in his left hip, made his spring debut Monday and had two strikeouts in one inning against St. Louis.
“It’s nice not being on the injured list and being an actual player again,” he told MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola and Fish on First’s Kevin Barral afterward.
Meyer, who has a good chance to earn a rotation spot, went 3-5 with a 4.73 ERA in 12 starts last season.
▪ Right-handed reliever Anthony Bender, who missed the final six weeks last season with a stress fracture in his right tibia, has thrown this spring but hasn’t yet faced hitters.
“I was warming up in the offseason, getting all prepped up and still felt a little bit so kind of took another course action,” he said. “The shin’s feeling really good. I’m maybe a hair delayed, but once we get fired up and should be ready to rock for opening day.”
McCullough said: “I wouldn’t really say it’s a setback..... We’re just going to have to manage it.”
Bender made 51 appearances for Miami last season, finishing with a 3-5 record and 2.16 ERA with 42 strikeouts over 50 innings.
Three-game report
A couple of notes through three Marlins spring training games:
▪ Center fielder Jakob Marsee is off to a good start; he got on base five times in his first eight plate appearances and homered against St. Louis during Monday’s 5-4 loss to St. Louis.
▪ As expected, Morel — who has never played first base before — is getting first crack at the position. He started the opener and third game, with Deyvison De Los Santos starting the second game. Morel went 1 for 5 in those games, including an RBI double.
▪ De Los Santos, whose power diminished greatly last season at Triple A, opened spring with singles in his first two at-bats. The Marlins hope he can take a significant step at Triple A early in the season. (The chances he makes the big-league team out of camp are slim, though McCullough hasn’t ruled it out.)
De Los Santos hit .240 (.313 on base) with 12 home runs and 54 RBI in Triple A in 2025 after smacking 40 homers in 2024. He hit five homers with 28 RBI in Dominican Winter League.
▪ The two most-ballyhooed hitting prospects acquired by the Marlins this winter — outfielder Owen Caissie and Dillon Lewis — both struck out in their first two at-bats this spring.
▪ Sandy Alcantara gave up three earned runs in his one inning work against Washington on Sunday but said he was working on his new sweeper, which Brady House smacked for a three-run homer.
▪ Outfielder Ethan O’Donnell, acquired from the Reds for Dane Myers, hit a grand slam Sunday. O’Donnell hit .236, with seven homers and 56 RBI in 125 games at Double A last season.
FYI: The Reds scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth (off Colby Martin and Peyton Forsher) to win Monday’s game 5-4. Miami is now 1-2 heading into Tuesday afternoon’s 1 p.m. game against Philadelphia in Jupiter.
This story was originally published February 23, 2026 at 3:55 PM.
