Marlins explain decision on Paddack. And more on future of his rotation spot
Though nothing is official, the Marlins rotation is lining up in a way that would allow left-hander Robby Snelling to replace Chris Paddack after Paddack was designated for assignment on Tuesday.
Snelling was scheduled to start for Triple A Jacksonville on Friday and would now be positioned instead to start for the Marlins at home against Washington that night.
Left-hander Braxton Garrett, who was the other top candidate to replace Paddack, will make his scheduled start for Jacksonville on Tuesday night, the Jumbo Shrimp’s media relations director said three hours before game time. That seemingly would eliminate Garrett from consideration for Friday’s start.
MLB.com ranks Snelling the 33rd best prospect in baseball, and the fifth-best left-handed pitching prospect, behind only the Marlins’ Thomas White (13th), Boston’s Payton Tolle (14th), Seattle’s Kade Anderson (16) and St. Louis’ Liam Doyle (28).
Acquired in the 2024 Tanner Scott trade with the Padres, Snelling has been superb this season, posting a 1.86 ERA in six starts, with 44 strikeouts in 29 innings. He has allowed 11 hits and 15 walks in 29 innings, and batters are hitting .116 against him. He had a 2.51 ERA in 26 starts at Double A and Triple A last season.
The Marlins internally discussed whether to give Paddack a seventh start but decided against it on Monday, a day after he was torched for seven runs in 2 ⅔ innings against Philadelphia. Paddack, who is due $4 million from the Marlins, finished 0-5 with a 7.63 ERA in six starts and one relief appearance.
The Marlins have five days to trade or release Paddack, who was drafted by the team in the eighth round in 2015.
“It came down to a performance thing,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “We have a number of individuals that have been throwing the ball very well in Jacksonville. Looking at Chris’ body of work as a whole, while there were some things under the hood that weren’t as bad as the numbers were showing, I think performance becomes the driving factor. We had others that could come up and give us a better chance to win.”
The Marlins hoped they could extract more from Paddack after he allowed the most runs of any American League pitcher last season. But the Marlins have made dubious decisions in selecting free agent inning-eaters in recent years, with Johnny Cueto, Cal Quantrill and now Paddack all performing below expectation.
“Chris’ time here was incredibly open minded,” McCullough said. “Around spring training, he was very open to a lot of initiatives we have going on here. We felt this would be a good partnership and we could get more out of Chris and give us some stability out of the rotation.”
McCullough, who did not name a starter for Friday’s game, was asked if there’s a benefit to players being on high alert after the team designated Paddack and replaced catcher Agustin Ramirez with Joe Mack over the past two days.
“Maybe a benefit,” he said. “But you don’t want players to play with both hands on the wheel looking over the shoulder all the time. This does become about results. We feel when guys are struggling and you sense they’re feeling that, you sit down and say, ‘What’s the worst thing that could happen? You get optioned to Triple A, your career is not over. I’s happened to players before.’ Sometimes the elephant in the room is what it is.
“Organizationally, we feel we have a lot of really talented players. Not all of them are here right now. That shows the health of our organization.”
For now, right-handed reliever Will Kempner will fill Paddack’s spot on the roster. A 2022 San Francisco Giants third-round pick out of Gonzaga, Kempner was 0-3 with a 6.46 ERA at Triple A but had 34 strikeouts in 15 ⅓ innings.
He has “big stuff,” McCullough said. “He’s got movement going both directions. Very good breaking ball. Ultimately, his ability to fill up the strike zone with enough regularity will be the determining factor…. He threw well in spring training.”
Like Mack, Kempner is making his big-league debut.
The Marlins hope closer Peter Fairbanks can return soon after being placed on the 10-day injured list last week with nerve irritation in his right hand and thumb. He will throw 10 to 12 pitches off a mound on Wednesday.
More on Snelling
Here’s the MLB.com scouting report on Snelling:
Snelling attracted recruiters as both a pitcher and a linebacker before setting a Nevada high school record with 146 strikeouts in 62 1/3 innings in 2022 and signing with the Padres for a well-over-slot $3 million as a supplemental first-rounder.
“He dominated while reaching Double-A at age 19 in his 2023 pro debut, but then his stuff regressed and he got hammered at that level in the first four months of the following season. Shipped to the Marlins in a July 2024 trade for Tanner Scott and Bryan Hoeing, he rebounded almost immediately before ranking fourth in the Minors in strikeouts (166 in 136 innings) and strikeout minus walk rate (23.2 percent), and fifth in ERA (2.51) last year.
“After dipping into the low 90s for much of 2024, Snelling worked at 93-96 mph and touched 100 last season, with his fastball standing out more with its carry and command than its life. He throws two versions of an 82-85 mph slider, with his sweeper a solid offering that’s much more effective than his gyro. His changeup can fool hitters with fade at times and tumble at others, but it’s too firm in the upper 80s and can get mashed when he doesn’t locate it well.
“Snelling exudes a football mentality on the mound with a strong 6-foot-3 frame and an aggressive mindset. With his stuff and confidence restored in 2025, he resumed pounding the strike zone. He lacks an overwhelming arsenal but comes with a high floor and can become a mid-rotation starter if he continues to command his pitches well.”
This story was originally published May 5, 2026 at 5:26 PM.
