Miami Marlins get best start they had right to hope for in Rockies sweep

Three games into the 2026 MLB season, the Miami Marlins haven't lost a game.

Not to get carried away, but every other time that has happened? Winning season for the Fish. The last time was 2009. The other? That'd be 1997, and all that team did was win the franchise's first World Series title.

Adding another championship probably isn't in the cards, but an exciting team and a winning season?That certainly feels in reach Monday morning for the 2026 Miami Marlins, as the image of the team erupting over the dugout fence in response to rookie Owen Caissie's game winning homer still lingers in the wake of this season-opening sweep of the Colorado Rockies.

Obviously, any sample size involving the Rockies needs to be taken with an extra grain of salt- they are more 4A team than MLB squad. Yet if the 2026 Miami Marlins were going to beat their projections and breakthrough as a winning team pushing for a Wild Card spot? It would probably look a lot like what fans saw this weekend.

Dominant performances from starting pitchers Sandy Alcantara and Eury Perez. Two effortless saves from newly acquired closer Pete Fairbanks. Caissie looking every bit like a hitter deserving of that MLB Top 50 prospect status. The entire lineup showing that patience at the plate they helped them so much in 2025, and also continuing to be aggressive on the bases. Sure, one of these victories over a bottom-feeder club having been a home-run filled blowout would have been nice. But that's really the only quibble. Check, check, check.

On the field, Miami has been hamstrung repeatedly by slow starts over the years. Winning this first series was a near must, as is coming away from this first homestand with a winning record. That mission is almost accomplished. So that's another big box nearly checked.

Off the field but still in the stadium, the situation was as good as the Marlins front office had any right to expect. Opening Day was almost a sellout. Saturday's crowd of less than 11,000 was, well it was as bad as it looked on television. On the plus side, Sunday's crowd of just over 17,000 felt much louder than that late in the game when it mattered the most. Yours truly was right there to witness the whole series, by the way, and is actually visible in the cover photo if you're a fan of Where's Waldo.

Plenty of critics poked fun at these numbers online over the weekend. Partly, the numbers can be handwaved away by the unappealing opponent and the fact this first series overlapped the Miami Open, Miami Ultra, and spring break for local schools. Plenty of would be customers were either at these other events or had just straight up left town because of them. Even the casual, good natured sports fan had the distraction of NCAA tournament games pulling them to their couches instead of onto those always fun expressway drives to loanDepot Park.

However, the biggest issue is the remaining perception that owner Bruce Sherman could, and should, spend more on payroll. You won't hear a word against Marlins GM Peter Bendix these days, unless it's to affectionately pan him for cliche answers that reveal nothing of the club's inner workings during media sessions. The trust there is real in the ability of Miami's front office to get the most they can out what they are allowed to obtain. Unfortunately for the Marlins, the frustration remains real with how much Sherman puts into the roster.

Had the Marlins signed a free-agent first baseman that had made it to an All-Star game without buying their own ticket this offseason, those attendance numbers would have been much bigger for those Saturday and Sunday games. The extent to which ownership cares about winning remains in doubt, and until that changes, attendance numbers will only climb so high.

Right now though? It's hard to imagine the Marlins having gotten off to a better start.