Marlins get No. 5 seed, head to Philly for Wild Card Series

PITTSBURGH -- With a postseason berth already clinched, where the Marlins begin their quest for a third World Series title became clear despite a 3-0 loss to the Pirates on Sunday afternoon at PNC Park.

After the D-backs (84-78) lost to the Astros, the Marlins (84-77) secured the fifth seed (second National League Wild Card) by remaining a half-game ahead in the standings. Since Miami won the head-to-head tiebreaker against Arizona, taking four of six in the season series, resuming Thursday’s suspended game against the Mets on Monday in Queens won't be necessary.

That means the Marlins will head to Philadelphia to face the fourth-seeded Phillies in a best-of-three NL Wild Card Series, beginning on Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park. It will mark the first time the NL East rivals have squared off in the postseason.

“I think it'll be fun,” Jon Berti said. “I think this is a group that will embrace that type of atmosphere, and it's what you play for. Obviously, you want that kind of crowd at home, but for us to do that, we've got to take care of business [in] this first series. And so I think we just need to embrace the craziness that will be Philly and enjoy it.”

While the Marlins fielded a lineup without Luis Arraez, Jorge Soler, Josh Bell and Jake Burger, the regular-season finale could’ve served as an audition for left-hander Ryan Weathers.

Bell, Burger and reliever David Robertson have made an immediate impact since joining the club ahead of the Aug. 1 Trade Deadline, but Weathers could be an X-factor moving forward. Weathers, the overlooked acquisition, allowed just two hits, walked three and struck out five across six scoreless innings.

“Just another start, a chance to help out the guys,” said Weathers, who was making his second start for the big league club. “I knew innings needed to be eaten today, and [it was] just a chance to go out there to help them out and take the weight off them and give some of these guys an off-day. I've been kind of a fan watching, so it's a blast to be a part of it and get to watch them do their thing.”

Since the NL Wild Card Series is a best-of-three matchup, the Marlins don’t need to field 13 pitchers and 13 position players on their 26-man roster. Should Miami advance to the NL Division Series, however, the club could use additional starting pitching for a best-of-five round. Weathers’ performance puts him in the conversation since Jesús Luzardo, Braxton Garrett, Edward Cabrera and Johnny Cueto are the main starting options with ace Sandy Alcantara and rookie Eury Pérez injured.

“Strike one was big for him, getting ahead,” manager Skip Schumaker said of Weathers. “The changeup was really effective today. Using all four quadrants of the strike zone and changing the eye level I think was really good. Shadows were tough. Shadows were tough for our hitters, probably their hitters as well, what made it challenging. But he was filling up the strike zone and [had] a lot of weak contact, and [he] did a really good job.”

If Weathers doesn’t appear in the postseason, he certainly can figure into the club’s 2024 plans. When Miami added Weathers, whose father David played for the Marlins from 1993-96, the hope was pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. could work his magic like he did with Luzardo.

Once Miami optioned Weathers to Triple-A Jacksonville on Aug. 23, he posted a 2.67 ERA with a .221 average against, with 23 strikeouts to 11 walks in 27 innings. Three of the five starts were scoreless.

Sunday was a stepping stone at the big league level for Weathers after surrendering 11 runs in seven frames in his first two games (one start) with the Marlins.

“It gave me an opportunity to work on some stuff I needed to work on, and I saw it work out today,” Weathers said. “[I] threw a lot more fastballs down. I was actually hitting my spots on fastballs down, and then just giving the chance for my offspeed to work. There's been a lot of swing and miss with both offspeed pitches, but [I] haven't been throwing the ball down enough to get those swings. Just trying to figure out how to get in the box as much as I can.”