King designated for assignment; Ralston recalled from Triple-A

MIAMI -- The Marlins designated for assignment veteran lefty John King and recalled righty Jack Ralston from Triple-A Jacksonville ahead of Sunday’s series finale against the Nationals.

Known as a ground-ball specialist, King signed a $1.5 million contract ahead of Spring Training as a reclamation project after posting a 4.66 ERA in 51 outings with the Cardinals in 2025 following a 2.85 ERA in his ‘24 campaign.

The 31-year-old King got off to a strong start with his new team, compiling a 1.95 ERA in his first 38 games. But his ERA ballooned to 9.95 ERA over the next 12 appearances, which overlapped with time on the 15-day injured list due to a left lateral ankle sprain.

"This was a very difficult one," manager Clayton McCullough said. "I've got John King probably on my Mount Rushmore of teammates. What a pro. John pitched a lot and [I] asked him to pitch even some times when it probably wasn't the most advantageous for John, and it was about the team, and John always just took the ball and had no ego. This decision for me just came down to looking at where we are now in this season, and the group we have down in the 'pen, and who I would choose to go to in games that feel like we have a chance to win and we're going to go for it. ... It gives our team what I think is the best chance to try to win as many games as we can here over the next month-plus."

Overall, King still put together a career-high 6.0 K/9, a 100 ERA+ and a 1.007 WHIP in 50 appearances. His offspeed run value (four) ranked in the 88th percentile.

With King’s departure, Cade Gibson is the only southpaw remaining in Miami’s bullpen. McCullough said the club will rely on him and some of the righty relievers to get left-handed bats out.

"I think everything kind of held very much the same," McCullough said. "Most days, it felt like getting John on as many left-handed hitters as he could would be the ticket. But you see now with how lineups are spread out and then at times certain parts of lineups where the pinch-hit becomes much more in play, that was just more difficult to find an advantageous spot for him. ... So I think it was just more of a matter of how our other guys have performed, potentially some other guys that could come up and impact us, and that some guys were at this point in the season for me ahead of him."

Ralston, whom the Marlins added to the 40-man roster on Aug. 3, has yet to make his Major League debut.

A seventh-round pick of the Cardinals in the 2019 MLB Draft, the 29-year-old Ralston spent the first six seasons of his professional career in St. Louis' organization. Miami signed Ralston as a Minor League free agent last December, and he has gone on to have his best season with a 1.66 ERA and a 1.039 WHIP in 39 outings for Triple-A Jacksonville. He credited the Marlins for tweaking his pitch usage and shapes to go along with his unconventional high arm slot.

"Someone who wants to go out there and compete every day, and I throw funny and I use it to my advantage," Ralston said.