Miami entered the season expecting to contend for a postseason spot, but a 24-33 second half ultimately ended those hopes.

Following their sweep over the weekend by the San Diego Padres, the Marlins now sport a 76-80 record with just six games over two series remaining. They will complete their 2026 road schedule next with a three-game series in Windy City against the Chicago Cubs. They will return home for their final three games of the year, concluding the season against the Atlanta Braves.

The Cubs will be playing for the top Wild Card slot (to fend off the red-hot Padres) and home-field advantage in the early stages of the postseason. So, they will be coming out full force against the Fish. And the Braves are cruising to another NL East division title as one of the best team's in the game right now.

For the Marlins, who need to go 5-1 in those games to finish with a .500 mark by year's end, that doesn't bode well. Marlins manager Clayton McCullough isn't worried about that; he just wants his team to play well and hit the finish line on a positive note.

“That's a lot to process here right now," McCullough stated earlier this week, after his team had been officially eliminated from the postseason. "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.”

The playoff goal may have been denied, but the second-year skipper wants to “play this thing all the way out.” 

“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 [remaining 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.”

With a 20-6 record in June, McCullough's team was riding high, and looking like they would be in the kind of position San Diego now fonds themselves. However, a 12-game losing streak in July and an anemic August helped steam the Fish in the late Summer months.

One of the biggest issues that sank the Fish down the stretch was the injuries and inconsistencies in the bullpen. It's clear there will be a major overhaul there, and the odds are that they will have a new closer by the time they break camp next Spring. However, they aren't really auditioning that potential replacement right now.

With Pete Fairbanks being scheduled for surgery this week and ruled out for the rest of the season, McCullough said Miami will use the final games to evaluate its bullpen rather than simply trying to replace Fairbanks with one closer:

“We’re not going to designate someone to finish games. We just look at using the best people we can to get to that point and then whoever’s left will get that opportunity.”