3 ways Marlins can improve in 2027 to reach postseason

MIAMI -- The World Series started Friday between two organizations with a foundation of annual winning that Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix has tried to build since taking over in 2024.

When Bendix addressed the media shortly after Miami’s season ended with an 80-82 record and eight games out of the final National League Wild Card spot, he expressed disappointment in falling short.

“That said, I'm also very proud of our team, our organization,” Bendix said. “I think there was tremendous progress that was shown on the field [and] off the field. We'll get into more of those details, but I think we continue to really build on this foundation, take a meaningful step forward in a lot of ways, and at the same time, we're angry, we're disappointed, we're not satisfied with where we are. So both of those things are true at the same time.”

This past month has been about the organization figuring out what must be done to get the club from contention to the postseason in 2027.

“There are always things that we can do better,” Bendix said. “I think that we have shown a lot of progress and a lot of improvement, but that isn't the final goal, right? The final goal is to really get over that next hump to make the playoffs, to win the division, to go deep into October and then to repeat that every year.”

Since Bendix didn't provide specifics at the time, here are three ways Miami can improve by taking pages out of the Rays’ and Brewers’ playbooks:

Improve team defense
Javier Sanoja, who won an NL Gold Glove Award at the utility position in 2025, is the club’s only finalist this year -- this time, at third base.

The Marlins ranked 14th in fielding run value (nine) in 2026. Among the 13 teams in front of them, nine reached the postseason. Miami tied for 13th with Cleveland in Outs Above Average (10), and nine of those clubs ahead of them made the playoffs.

Sensing a theme?

Bendix and the organization have talked so much in the past about run prevention being a way to counteract scoring fewer runs as a lineup. That includes what the fielders do behind the pitcher.

The easiest way to go about that is to be strong up the middle. Shortstop Otto Lopez posted 14 OAA, which was fourth best, and center fielder Jakob Marsee had nine OAA. Rookie catcher Joe Mack made a strong case to be an NL Gold Glove finalist. Oddly enough, second baseman Xavier Edwards went from the third-best OAA (nine) in 2025 to one of the worst (-2 OAA) in '26.

Two positions where the Marlins could significantly improve are at first base (-5 OAA) and right field (-8 OAA). The hope is that, with this year's experience and an offseason's worth of work, players like Kyle Stowers and Griffin Conine will improve. In right field, seven players combined for -8 OAA. Owen Caissie, who was a rookie this season, showed marginal gains.

Cut down on baserunning mental errors
With seven baserunning runs, the Marlins tied with the Pirates for fifth most. The metric accounts for everything from extra bases taken to stolen bases. Six of the teams in the Top 10 with the Marlins had a better record than them.

Despite those overall numbers, coaches and fans alike would like to see fewer pickoffs and outs on the bases -- an MLB-high 20 and 66, respectively -- that killed rallies and led to frustration.

Improve team approach at the plate
Milwaukee's offensive approach stood out during the NL Championship Series. Despite facing a vaunted Dodgers rotation of Tarik Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow, the Brewers made the starters work, resulting in elevated pitch counts and early bullpen use.

The Brewers tied the Orioles for the most pitches per plate appearance (3.97) and posted the highest on-base percentage (.341) and walk rate (10.6%). That relentlessness, in turn, offset their lack of power.

Although Milwaukee finished the regular season tied with the Angels for the second-fewest home runs in MLB (154), the lineup tied for the 10th-highest slugging percentage (.403). Miami hit 168 homers but ranked tied for 16th in SLG (.400) with the Tigers and Giants.

That’s not to say that how Milwaukee goes about scoring runs is the correct formula for every team. Tampa Bay saw the second-fewest pitches per plate appearance (3.75), even fewer than Miami (3.80), and the Rays had a nearly identical slugging percentage (.402) and an identical batting average (.258).

Available personnel plays a big role in a team’s strategy. Speaking of which, Conine, who homered 19 times in 94 games, also boasted a .353 OBP -- second highest on the team behind Edwards. His bat checks a lot of boxes.