Miami's rotation sees Sandy Alcantara lead, with rising stars Perez and Ryan Weathers poised for impact. Discover who else rounds out their pitching staff.
The Miami Marlins have a deep starting rotation, and that depth made them comfortable trading their best starter from last year, Edward Cabrera.
It might even be deep enough to where the Marlins would be comfortable trading another starting pitcher, with MLB Insiders Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic reporting that the Marlins would consider trading another rotation piece if the return is appropriate .
Additionally, the team could pursue another veteran starter, according to Kevin Barral of Fish on First.
The takeaway from all of this should be that we’re not even in the middle of January yet, which is early enough for Marlins president Peter Bendix to still be open for anything.
Still, it’s never too early to do projections, and this is where the Marlins’ rotation currently sits, according to FanGraphs.
Sandy Alcantra
With Cabrera gone, Sandy Alcantara is the clear No. 1 in Miami’s rotation. Yes, the past three seasons haven’t been great, and Alcantra’s 2025 (5.36 ERA) was the worst campaign of his career.
But Alcantra has a Cy Young Award to his name, and at 30, he’s too young to write off just yet.
Eury Perez
Perez was fantastic for the Marlins as a rookie in 2023, ending the season with a 3.15 ERA over 19 starts as a 20-year-old.
Perez then underwent Tommy John surgery in April 2024, causing him to miss that entire season.
He made his return in June 2025, and, all things considered, wasn’t too bad for the Marlins. Perez ended the year with a 7-6 record and 4.25 ERA and his Fielding Independent Pitching was 3.67, lower than his rookie season (4.11).
If Alcantra can look more like his Cy Young self and Perez — who won’t be 23 until April — can continue to progress, the Marlins could have a formidable 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation even without Cabrera.
Ryan Weathers
The Marlins acquired Weathers from the San Diego Padres in 2023. The next year, he started 16 games, and ended up being a bright spot on a 100-loss team. Weathers ended the year with a 3.63 ERA, and, according to Baseball Reference, led all starters with a 2.1 Wins Above Replacement.
Injuries limited Weathers to eight starts in 2025, where he posted an ERA just below four.
Until top prospects Thomas White and Robby Snelling are ready — which might not be far away — Weathers is the top lefty starter on Miami’s big-league roster, so it’s expected he has a spot in the rotation come Opening Day.
Max Meyer
Meyer is a guy who just hasn’t put it together yet.
In 2020, the Marlins took him with the No. 3 overall pick in the draft. In 2022, he made his MLB debut. Since then, he’s made 25 starts, and his career ERA is 5.29.
Meyer will be 27 come Opening Day, so although he’s still young, he’s not a spring chicken. If he can’t perform well in 2026, it might be time for the Marlins to move on.
Braxton Garrett
Another first-round pick, Braxton Garrett, hasn’t put it together. The soon-to-be 29-year-old has shown flashes of the guy the Marlins thought they’d be getting with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2016. In 2023, he went 9-7 with a 3.66 ERA over 30 starts, helping Miami make the playoffs.
In December 2024, Garrett had UCL surgery, which caused him to miss all of 2025.
Whether Garrett still has a spot in the rotation depends on 1) what else the Marlins do this offseason; and 2) how far along he is in his recovery.
The Other Guys
As of now, the projected first man out of the Marlins rotation is Jansen Junk, who posted a 4.17 ERA and above average ERA+ (106, with the league average being 100) in 21 games (16 starts) last season.
The Marlins also have White, who is the No. 22 prospect in baseball, according to MLB.com, and Snelling, the No. 51 prospect, waiting in the wings.
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