Miami on Monday hooked Chris Paddack, a right-hander picked by the Marlins 10 years ago.
It was starting to look like the Miami Marlins wouldn’t be adding to their starting rotation.
Then, the day before Miami’s pitchers and catchers report to spring training, Miami signed a veteran starter to the mix.
The Marlins signed Chris Paddack to a one-year, $4 million deal, which features incentives that would push it up to $4.5 million.
Paddack is familiar with the Marlins since they drafted him in the eighth round in 2015.
He didn’t stay in the organization long. The next June, Miami traded Paddack to the San Diego Padres in a deal that brought Fernando Rodney to Miami.
Initially, it looked like a terrible trade for the Fish. Rodney only pitched for the Marlins for three months.
After three years of minor-league seasoning -- and 2017 lost to Tommy John, Paddack made his major-league debut in 2019. He had a great rookie season, going 9-7 with a 3.33 ERA and 126 ERA+, which was 26 points above the league average.
Paddack has since had a star-crossed career, and the Marlins are banking on his luck changing.
He’s the latest subject of “Getting to Know the Fish,” a Marlins Roundtable series profiling each Miami player.
Height: 6-foot-5
Weight: 217 pounds
Pitches: Right
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Minor Leagues: Rookie-level Gulf Coast League (2015); Single-A Greensboro/Fort Wayne (2016); High-A Lake Elsinore and Double-A San Antonio (2018).
Background: Paddack debuted with the Padres in 2019 as a 23-year-old and showed a lot of promise.
In 2020, Paddack made 12 starts due to the Covid-shortened 60-game season, and his ERA was 4.73 over that stretch.
The next season, Paddack spent time on the injured list in May (oblique) and was shutdown in mid-September with inflammation in his right elbow.
When Paddack was healthy enough to pitch, he was ineffective, ending the year with a 5.35 ERA. In April 2022, the Padres traded him to the Twins.
His first season in Minnesota ended after five starts, as Paddack underwent his second Tommy John surgery since the first in 2016. The second surgery caused Paddack to miss most of the 2023 season, where he made two relief appearances.
Paddack had a bigger workload in 2024, but arm fatigue and an injured back led to him being shut down on July after 17 starts.
He ended that season with a 4.95 ERA.
In 2025, Paddack made 33 combined appearances with the Twins (21) and the Tigers (12), and posted a 4.95 ERA for Minnesota and 6.32 ERA for Detroit.
The Tigers moved him to the bullpen in early September.
Outlook: So far, 2019 has been Paddack's peak. There’s no guarantee he will be in Miami’s starting rotation.
With a career ERA above 4.6, it’s hard to believe Paddack would go into spring training with a spot locked up.
But what this deal does do is give the Marlins insurance, which is something the staff needed after trading Edward Cabrera (Chicago Cubs) and Ryan Weathers (New York Yankees).
Miami made a similar signing last season with Cal Quantrill, with a one-year, $3.5 million contract.
Quantrill ended up starting 24 games, so it’s possible Paddack will have a similar role.
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