'We're disappointed': Marlins high hopes for postseason berth flatline in San Diego

SAN DIEGO -- Seven months ago when front-office members and players alike stood in front of the newly renovated Marlins Jupiter Academy ahead of their first full-squad workout, there was a unified expectation: Win.

Every club says that when hope springs eternal and starts undefeated, but it felt different in Jupiter, Fla. The Marlins fully intended to ride the momentum of improving by 17 games and avoiding elimination until the final Thursday of the 2025 regular season.

Miami signed proven closer Pete Fairbanks to a franchise-record deal to shore up the bullpen. Veterans Chris Paddack and John King inked deals to round out the rotation and bullpen, respectively. Top 100 prospect Owen Caissie joined the organization as a power threat.

Despite a soaring 20-6 record in June that carried over into early July to put Miami in early position for a coveted postseason spot, an equally dubious 12-game skid later that month proved too much to overcome in 2026.

So were injuries to Fairbanks and setup man Anthony Bender, both of whom will soon undergo surgery, and All-Star Max Meyer. Offseason acquisitions Paddack, King, Christopher Morel and Austin Slater have been long gone. Caissie, like Fairbanks, Bender and Meyer, will end the season on the injured list.

The final nail in the coffin came in Friday night’s 8-2 loss to the Padres at Petco Park, where the Marlins were officially eliminated from playoff contention.

“That's a lot to process here right now,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “Certainly, hearing that, knowing what we were up against here these last 10 days or so, we're disappointed. We came into this season wanting to, expecting to be one of the six National League teams that would play beyond the regular season, and we're not going to be able to do that.”

Right-hander Tyler Phillips tossed 3 2/3 scoreless innings before his night came to an end at 50 pitches, as McCullough turned to the bullpen with lefty Jackson Merrill due up a second time.

Phillips, who began the season in the bullpen but joined the rotation in late May out of necessity and stayed there due to performance, has surpassed his single-season career-high for innings (77 2/3) by a large margin (122 2/3).

After the move paid off in the fourth, the Padres’ decisive rally came in the fifth with six runs on six hits against lefty Cade Gibson and righty Tyler Zuber -- neither of whom made the Opening Day roster.

“We've had some tough injuries this year that have hurt us, but guys have stepped up and did their jobs when they needed to,” Phillips said. “Overall, it's just some tough luck. I think it's some experience. I think it's some injury. But, end of the day, I'm proud of how the guys handled their year with a lot of guys who have been put into different spots and different scenarios. Young guys, guys with less tenure than others, I think I've seen a lot of growth out of some guys.”

Offensively, the Marlins made righty Nick Pivetta work but only had Agustín Ramírez’s solo homer to show for it. Miami added a run in the eighth on Javier Sanoja’s RBI single.

During a 52-45 first half, Miami averaged 4.53 runs per game and surrendered 4.28. In a 24-33 second half, those figures are 4.28 and 4.67, respectively. The Marlins have scored three or fewer runs in 27 games (47%) following the All-Star break.

“I don't think we won enough games, to be honest,” said Jakob Marsee, who has turned a .614 first-half OPS into a .875 second-half OPS. “I don't know. I think we didn't play good team baseball down the stretch, really. It's either pitching was dominant and we weren't producing on offense, or vice versa. Not really one area you can point at. It's not an effort thing or anything. I think it's just [we] didn't play clean baseball together, rather than pitching carried us some days, and vice versa.”

With eight games remaining, Miami (76-78) will need to win three more times to match last season’s total, and do so against the contending Padres, Cubs and Braves.

“As far as trying to look at this season right now, I'm not there yet,” McCullough said. “I'm going to continue to think more about tomorrow. We have eight games left in the regular season, and try to go win as many of those eight games as we can, and in some ways, finish a different journey that we started, and that's to play this thing all the way out. Right now, just disappointed that we're officially eliminated. But I know better days for all of us ahead.”