Taking stock of Marlins' starting pitchers

This story was excerpted from Christina De Nicola's Marlins Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

The Marlins have been built around strong starting pitching for much of the franchise’s history. The club’s success is largely dependent on both the health and performance of the pitching staff.

The 2024 season was a perfect example.

Before Opening Day, Miami had lost right-handers Sandy Alcantara, Edward Cabrera and Eury Pérez, as well as southpaw Braxton Garrett to injury. Left-handers Jesús Luzardo and Ryan Weathers also went on to miss significant time. As a result, the Marlins fell one shy of tying the Major League record for pitchers used in season (Mariners with 42 in 2019) and finished with the second-highest starter’s ERA (5.24) in MLB during a 100-loss campaign.

So what’s the biggest question the Marlins have to answer? It’s fairly simple: How will the rotation look, and hold up, in 2025?

As of today, we know the following about the pitchers who ended the season on the injured list:

• Alcantara is expected to return from Tommy John surgery to start against the Pirates on Opening Day against 2024 National League Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes.

• Luzardo was dealt to the Phillies on Sunday for a pair of prospects.

• Pérez is expected back from Tommy John surgery around the All-Star break.

• At the beginning of the offseason, Garrett received a second opinion on his arm and was diagnosed with a left elbow impingement. He had been proceeding with a throwing progression at the Marlins' complex in Jupiter, Fla., with the expectation that he would be ready for the start of Spring Training if all went well with the program. President of baseball operations Peter Bendix recently said he was "hopeful and optimistic” but didn’t have an update beyond that.

• Right-hander Max Meyer, who underwent Tommy John surgery in August 2022, made his return on April 1 and threw 115 innings between the Majors and Triple-A Jacksonville. He ended the season on the injured list with right shoulder bursitis but had begun his throwing program in September.

Weathers and Cabrera closed out the season strong in the rotation, though the latter exited his final start as a precaution when he felt tightness in his right arm.

Injuries have been an issue with Cabrera dating back to his Minor League days. Since Clayton McCullough took over as manager, however, he hasn’t been shy about expressing his belief in Cabrera as a breakout star.

“[I] had the chance for the last few years, a few opportunities where you're competing against him, and guys in those hitter's meetings, they weren't fans of having to go up there and take that at-bat,” McCullough said at the MLB Winter Meetings earlier this month.

“Again, it's young, great stuff. There's so much more in the tank there, so I think he's a really exciting one for me, just because the upside is so big. Not everybody's path to success is linear, right? But it's real ability that can win Major League games.”

With Luzardo’s departure, here are the other starting-pitching options on the 40-man roster, joining the aforementioned arms: right-handers Valente Bellozo (124 ERA+), Xzavion Curry (3.00 ERA with Miami) and Adam Mazur (Miami’s No. 12 prospect in the MLB Pipeline rankings), and lefty Dax Fulton (No. 28 prospect).

Fulton is returning from a second Tommy John surgery and hasn’t pitched above the Double-A level. While not on the 40-man roster, No. 6 prospect Robby Snelling is on the rise.

This pitching talent will be under the guidance of new faces: director of pitching Bill Hezel, Major League pitching coach Daniel Moskos and assistant pitching coach Alon Leichman. This trio, along with the other pitching coaches in the organization, will look to not only keep the starters healthy but also maximize their potential.

“I’ve got to tell you, normally when you step into these types of positions, you're in a rebuild or an overhaul, and you're signing up for some years of maybe not having as much talent as you'd like, and you're going to have to try to piece it together,” Moskos told MLB.com before the Luzardo trade. “But that is absolutely not the case with Miami. From an arm-talent perspective, it feels like we're loaded. It's really, really exciting.

“We've got some uniqueness. We've got some high octane. We've got a lot of things to like. You can certainly do a lot worse stepping into a pitching coach position and taking over this staff.”