Miami Marlins starting pitching dilemma

The Miami Marlins have a deep pitching rotation with a lot of good options. The question is who will be in the top five and who will have to go to long relief, be traded, or sent down to the Minors. Assuming The Fish don’t go with a six-man pitching rotation this is the situation that we’re facing….

The Miami Marlins have some tough starting pitching decisions to make.

Lets start with the Miami Marlins ace… Sandy Alcantara is a lock to stay in the rotation, especially after signing a team-friendly extension last year. Pablo López will almost certainly gets traded instead of being extended long-term now.

Trevor Rogers is the first question mark. A disappointing season surely doesn’t endear him to the fans, or give a good reason to keep him in the rotation. Rogers pitched like a Cy Young contender last season and could be headed for a bounce back, so I doubt that the Miami Marlins will pull him from the rotation. I personally think that he should be given at least a couple of starts next season before giving up on him.

The Miami Marlins have three other options… first there’s Edward Cabrera, the top prospect has elite stuff and has impressed so far this season. Unfortunately he also has a problem with walks and an FIP that is significantly worse than his ERA. Cabrera was too good in 2022 however and is obviously a lock for our rotation next season.

The Miami Marlins also have Über prospect Max Meyer, who debuted this season, but his role may be in the bullpen going forward. Meyer was both impressive and shaky during his first outing, but he’s now lost to Tommy John surgery until late next season.

Jesús Luzardo is next on this list and is turning into a top of the rotation pitcher. He will be back in the rotation next season, though there’s been talk of trading him for hitting. I hope that he stays as his upside is very high.

Finally there’s options such as Braxton Garrett, who may quietly be earning a rotation spot. He quietly had a strong year and deserves a chance at the rotation, though he will most likely end up as depth barring a Pablo trade. We also have top prospect Eury Pérez on the way and a returning Sixto Sánchez (though who knows how that situation will go.)

The Miami Marlins have a great problem and the question is how will we resolve it? My guess is that It will entirely depend on trades and who we will end up moving for hitting in the off-season.