Why The Miami Marlins Could Be Better In 2025

To say expectations are low for the Miami Marlins in 2025 would be putting it mildly.

No signings have been made. More MLB ready players have been subtracted from the roster than added to it. The Marlins finished last in the NL in runs, and kicked off the offseason by trading last season's home run leader in Jake Burger. That leaves Jesus Sanchez as the reigning offensive juggernaut, at a rather paltry 18 HR and 64 RBI. Not exactly the stuff dreams are made of when it comes to things like season ticket sales, or moving the needle on on fan hopes that the 2025 version of the Marlins might actually improve on last year's 62-100 finish.

Still, there is a lot....well, okay, a lot might be overstating it. Certainly though, there are a few things that fans should be excited about heading into Opening Day. None of these are necessarily going to be enough to vault the team back into postseason contention this year, but they all would make for a more fun to watch and competitive Miami Marlins team in 2025.

If The Miami Marlins Get Healthy Starting Pitching

For the Miami Marlins, as always, it all starts with starting pitching.

Even after the recent losses of Jesus Luzardo and Braxton Garrett, the starting pitching should be much stronger this season. Largely this is due to the return of staff ace Sandy Alcantara, who projects to take the ball for his franchise record fifth Opening Day start. It should come as no surprise that the 2022 NL Cy Young winner was sorely missed last year. With Sandy leading the way, even if he does have an innings limit coming back from Tommy John, his presence will be huge on and off the field.

Speaking of Tommy John recoveries, it's not just Alcantara returning to the Marlins fold in 2025. Eury Perez will return at some point this season as well, likely around the All-Star Break. So that's at least 35 more starts worth of All-Star caliber pitching at Miami's disposal than they were able to take advantage of last season. The benefit of such a talent infusion in those games is obvious, but just as important is the stabilizing effect that can have on the rest of the rotation. Whether it's by virtue of leading by example, or just the benefit of having a couple "set it and forget it" spots in the rotation to build around, the Miami Marlins pitching rotation should be much more consistent this time around.

Welcome news for a club whose pitchers combined for a worse ERA than the woeful White Sox last season.

There is also a lot to like about the rest of those pitchers filling out the rotation. Ryan Weathers is back and looking to build on his 2024 breakout. Plenty of Marlins fans are very likely done being excited about Edward Cabrera, but don't count his new manager among those throwing in the towel. Max Meyer returns as well, joined by newcomers Adam Mazur and Robby Snelling. All of that before the addition of some cheap veteran over the next month. The law of averages alone dictates that the Marlins are due for one of those signings to work out, not to mention a little bit of injury luck.

If nothing else, the losses should be a lot closer. Especially...

If The Miami Marlins Are All On The Same Page

It's safe to say there were a lot of mixed messages from the Miami Marlins last season.

The Miami Marlins made the playoffs- great! Time to swap out general manager Kim Ng for Peter Bendix. Skip Schumaker won Manager of the Year- super! Probably should let that guy walk after this season. Are they trying to compete? Are they rebuilding? Just what is the plan for the franchise, assuming of course there is one beyond saving money Rays style?

Matters were muddled for Miami before the first pitches and catchers even reported. Spring training brought more questions, more injuries, the wrong kind of trade rumors, and way too much time spent pondering one really weird Jazz Chisholm Jr. Pivot interview. And then the team started 0-9.

The writing on the wall got much clearer after that 0-9 start, allowing the clubhouse to settle into the comfortable routine of not knowing how many of your teammates would be there the next day. Trade dominoes started falling, leading to a complete culling by the trade deadline.

Things are much clearer now. This is a rebuilding club, with a brand new coaching staff hired by a brand new front office. The majority of the everyday lineup projects to feature players that shiny new front office invested in. That coaching staff is led by first time manager looking to make his mark, and much more importantly, one who's family won't be living at the other end of the country.

Schumaker was an excellent manager, but it always felt as if one foot was permanently out the door due to that reality. Clayton McCullough lives in Jupiter. Now that might just mean the man will never have grounds to complain about the commute to spring training, but it seems fair to conclude players can count on him and much of the coaching staff being here for multiple years.

The same goes for the bulk of the clubhouse. For better or worse, this is the core of what is going to follow. No illusions exist. Sure, a couple more trades are likely coming, but just about everything of value has been sold off at this point. Say what you want about purgatory, but at least there's some stability. The peace of mind that comes from that could easily translate to a few more wins.

Particularly...

If The Miami Marlins Get A Boost From The Kids

Finally, there is the always the possibility that some of these new Miami Marlins actually hit the ground running.

What if Xavier Edwards avoids a sophomore slump (his 30 games in 2023 don't count), and turns in the same level of production over 140 plus games this season that he did in 70 last year? What if Connor Norby really is capable of flirting with 20 HRs and double digit steals? What if Griffin Conine becomes the next Cody Ross? Maybe Otto Lopez keeps up the solid defense, and becomes a more consistent hitter. Maybe Jesus Sanchez starts to focus.

All that before getting to the mystery box of new faces like Augustin Ramirez and Deyvison De Los Santos. If that duo makes the club and starts cranking home runs like they did in the minors, the offense suddenly goes from pretty horrible to pretty decent.

Long story short, the potential ceiling of this collection of players is much higher than the team the Marlins ran out there for the bulk of last season. Are the odds of everyone hitting that ceiling particularly high? Probably not.

However, Marlins fans have seen surprise breakthrough seasons before. It happened in 2006. It happened in 2014. Plenty of other clubs in similar spots have seen similar surges. It might not be likely to happen, but it certainly could happen. As the old saying goes, "that's why they play the game".

At the end of the day, the Miami Marlins are not going to be a winner in 2025. But could they win more than they did in 2024, enough to make you believe the future will arrive sooner than later?

Without question.