MIAMI -- Chris Paddack waited 11 years to make his Marlins debut.
When it didn’t go as planned -- a franchise-record eight earned runs allowed in a club debut -- Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara reassured him inside the dugout during Monday night’s 9-4 loss to the White Sox at loanDepot park.
“He said, ‘Hey man, you're here for a reason. We believe in you. I believe in you,’” Paddack recalled.
Paddack, the Marlins’ eighth-round selection in the 2015 MLB Draft, thought he would call the Little Havana ballpark home during his big league career. Instead, Miami dealt him to San Diego for All-Star closer Fernando Rodney in June 2016 after just 17 outings (13 starts) in the lower levels of the Minor Leagues.
Until Monday night’s start, 3,565 days had passed since Paddack’s last appearance for the Marlins’ organization. In between, he tallied 118 games (110 starts) for the Padres, Twins and Tigers from 2019-25.
“Not how I envisioned my Marlins debut by any means, but I've been here before,” Paddack said. “It's not an ideal situation to be in to start the year. Especially coming off a really good spring, having some confidence going into the season. But I'm going to go back to my family tonight, and come to the field tomorrow with a good attitude, being a good teammate, and be back on the saddle. If I get the opportunity, I'm going to have 31 more starts, and that's a long journey ahead. I wish it would have went a little different tonight. The loss is on me.”
When Paddack signed a one-year Major League deal this January to return to Miami, he became the latest free-agent signing the Marlins had brought in to help round out a young rotation. Right-handers Cal Quantrill (2025, 5.50 ERA) and Johnny Cueto (2023, 6.02 ERA) didn’t pan out. It’s only one start for Paddack, whom the Marlins will depend upon this season.
“Results aside, we'll get a lot better days out of Chris than today,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “He's a pro. He'll flip the page. He'll just go right back to looking through this one with [pitching coach Daniel Moskos] and company, and just kind of look where we can get things in line and ready to go for his next one. He'll be ready to go, and [I] expect him to go out and throw a good game.”
Paddack’s Marlins debut checked many boxes of his previous seven big league seasons.
“The Sheriff” arrived at the ballpark in his typical start day getup: felt cowboy hat, long-sleeved shirt, starched jeans, a paisley jacket and matching striped tie with boots. Paddack threw a bunch of strikes, but fell victim to the long ball.
After being perfect through two innings, Paddack coughed up four runs in both the third and fourth.
The White Sox benefited from a pair of softly hit two-out singles before Austin Hays lined a 95 mph four-seamer at the top of the zone over the right-field wall for a three-run shot. In the fourth, Paddack loaded the bases on two singles and a hit-by-pitch before Miguel Vargas put the nail in the coffin by crushing a middle-middle changeup for a grand slam.
Only three Major League pitchers surrendered more homers than Paddack (31) last season.
“Start of the game, we did a really good job of getting the pitches that are supposed to be up, up in the zone, and the ones down, down in the zone,” said catcher Liam Hicks, who went deep for the second time this season. “And then I think in the middle couple of innings, they just kind of blended a little bit.”
McCullough isn’t concerned about his 30-year-old pitcher, and it was clear from both of their postgame comments.
Over time, Paddack has learned to take away positives from outings like Monday’s. He writes all his negative thoughts in a journal, then rips the paper up and throws it in the trash. Paddack has quite literally turned the page to his next start on Sunday at Yankee Stadium.
“You’ve got to get back on the saddle,” Paddack said. “You have to be able to approach that next start. … Get all that negative out and be able to get back on that mound and be ready to go and compete at a high level, because it's expected from the fans, and it's also expected from the 25 other guys in that clubhouse.”