Miami Marlins having a week of MLB debuts to remember. A big one is coming Friday
The Miami Marlins threw Dax Fulton straight into the fire Wednesday — and he wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
The left-handed pitcher, once a top-10 prospect in Miami’s farm system before undergoing Tommy John surgery for the second time in his career a few years back, made his MLB debut with Miami in a jam: Two runners on, no outs in the sixth inning, the Marlins down two runs to the Baltimore Orioles.
Fulton got out of that jam unscathed, striking out the first two batters he faced and forcing a ground out to strand the two inherited runners.
“I got thrown right into it,” Fulton said. “And I was kind of happy because it made me compete and made me go up there and know my back’s against the wall.”
Fulton finished the game, ultimately tossing four innings and giving up two runs in Miami’s 7-4 loss to the Orioles — the Marlins’ fourth consecutive defeat that has them 1-5 so far on this 10-game homestand.
But in Fulton, the Marlins got the latest glimpse during the past few days of what the organization has in his prospect pool.
Fulton was the fourth Miami prospect to make his MLB debut in as many days. It started with reliever Josh Ekness, the team’s 30th-ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline, on Sunday. It continued Monday with catcher Joe Mack (Miami’s third-ranked prospect and No. 52 overall in MLB) on Monday and reliever Will Kempner on Tuesday before Fulton got his turn Wednesday.
A fifth is set to make his debut on Friday when Robby Snelling, the team’s second-ranked prospect and the No. 32 overall prospect in MLB, starts Miami’s series opener against the Washington Nationals.
With Mack, the move came as a chance to bolster their defense behind the plate following the decision to option Agustin Ramirez to Triple A Jacksonville.
With Snelling, the spot opened up after the team designated veteran Chris Paddack for assignment following a brutal first seven appearances.
For the other three pitchers, the moves were more out of necessity with Miami needing fresh arms out of the bullpen as it maneuvers through a run of 10 consecutive games and a stretch of 26 games in 27 days overall.
“Every team is going to talk the necessity for depth to get through a season,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said, “and we’re just in one of those stretches right now.”
That said, this stretch is bordering on historic for the Marlins
Four consecutive games with MLB debuts is the second-longest such stretch in franchise history. Miami had nine players make debuts over an eight-game stretch from July 25-Aug. 8, 2020, during the COVID-19-impacted season.
The group of players who made debuts in that stretch: Pitchers Alex Vesia and Nick Neidert on July 25, pitcher Jordan Holloway on July 26, outfielder Monte Harrison on Aug. 4 (the Marlins’ first game back after being temporarily sidelined by a COVID-19 outbreak), infielder Eddy Alvarez in the first game of an Aug. 5 doubleheader, pitcher Sterling Sharp in Game 2 of that Aug. 5 doubleheader, pitcher Jorge Guzman on Aug. 6, pitcher Humberto Mejia on Aug. 7 and pitcher Daniel Castano on Aug. 8.
The majority of those moves in that 2020 season were necessitated by the team seeing nearly one-third of its roster ravaged and only having so many options to fill spots.
This year, the moves are being made with the understanding and the hope that top prospects are able to make an impact now and beyond.
Miami has touted its organization depth, especially in the upper half of the minor leagues. The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, the Marlins’ Triple A affiliate, won the Triple A national championship last season.
“We know there’s a ton of talent on that team,” Fulton said. “Extremely excited that they all got their opportunities. I’m really grateful that I’m getting my opportunity. It was one of those things where it’s expected with all the guys that are getting called up. There’s gonna be more to come as well.”
Snelling is the next in line.
The 22-year-old lefty, acquired in a 2024 trade with the San Diego Padres as part of a package for high-leverage reliever Tanner Scott, was one of the final roster cuts during spring training and has impressed thus far in Jacksconville. Snelling posted a 1.86 ERA with 44 strikeouts against 15 walks, a .116 batting average against and 0.90 walks and hits per inning pitched mark over 29 innings through his first six starts at the Triple A level.
“Robby just pitched that way,” McCullough said. “He was on a roll at the end of last year, really pitched well this spring again. We saw the stuff was there, and he threw the ball well in spring, and he’s done nothing but enhance that with how he’s gone out and thrown the ball and performed to this point in Jacksonville. It’s lined up well, and it’s more than it lining up on the calendar. Robby has earned this chance now that it’s open to come up and take that spot.”
The hope is Snelling can ease into the big leagues like his fellow teammates coming in from Jacksonville did.
Fulton threw those four innings in his debut. Ekness has tossed a pair of scoreless outings. Kempner tossed a scoreless inning on Tuesday before being sent back to Jacksonville. And Mack is getting steady time behind the plate.
“We see them not only as having the ability to come up and serve our purpose right now,” McCullough said, “but I think also we’re going to see and believe that a number of them are going to be important pieces for us as we can continue to move forward. So a big credit to our group and player development as well to have this many individuals that are known talents, but they continue to get better, and when their opportunity has been presented to them, they’ve come up and really stepped in nicely and seemed comfortable here.”
Roster moves
The Marlins made another wave of roster moves on Thursday.
Fulton has been optioned to Triple A Jacksonville and replaced by right-handed pitcher Stephen Jones to ensure a fully available bullpen. Jones has not yet made his MLB debut, so the team’s streak of consecutive debuts could extend to five if he pitches on Thursday and then six when Snelling starts on Friday.
Additionally, infielder Graham Pauley was optioned to Triple A Jacksonville and outfielder Heriberto Hernandez was recalled.
This story was originally published May 7, 2026 at 10:44 AM.
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