MIAMI — With 14 games remaining in the regular season, Marlins manager Clayton McCullough is turning the final stretch into a proving ground for three younger players — pitcher Ryan Gusto, catcher-designated hitter Agustin Ramírez and left-handed reliever Dax Fulton — each of whom factored into the series opener against the Dodgers.
“They wouldn’t be here if we didn’t believe they couldn’t help us win games right now, so you just go out there and play your part, and in some ways just do your job,” McCullough said pregame.
Gusto, who has posted a 2.97 ERA over his last eight starts, was allowed to face the heart of the Dodgers’ order for the third time in a 1-0 game in the sixth inning. Kyle Tucker tripled when Esteury Ruiz misplayed a carom off the right-field wall and scored on Will Smith’s softly hit single. Gusto will vie for a 2027 rotation spot against Sandy Alcantara, Eury Pérez, Max Meyer, Tyler Phillips and Janson Junk, with Adam Mazur and Robby Snelling expected to return from elbow surgery and top prospect Thomas White knocking on the door.
“I definitely want to establish myself as a starter,” Gusto said. “You want to be in the rotation. You want them to have confidence in you, and you want to bring competitiveness and doing your job to the table and let them know that you can do that. So it’s really cool for me to have had a good stretch of starts here, to have been doing well and seizing that opportunity. I think that we just have to keep capitalizing on the opportunities that I get.”
Ramírez, since his recall, is 15-for-72 (.208) with four doubles, one homer, five RBIs, 11 walks and 22 strikeouts in 28 games. He has gone hitless in 10 of his starts. His workload has shifted — just three starts at catcher, with his first since Aug. 13 coming Friday, and another 16 at designated hitter. He went 1-for-2 on ABS challenges and threw out Josue De Paula in his first Major League steal attempt to end the third. In the sixth, Ramírez capped a 10-pitch at-bat against righty Evan Phillips with an RBI double to the right-center gap after Javier Sanoja singled and stole second to chase lefty Blake Snell.
“I thought Gus did a really nice job,” McCullough said. “He hadn’t had very many starts here, especially recently behind the plate since he’s been called back up, but he and [catching coach Craig Driver] have been out there working really hard on all parts of his catching game.”
With rookie Joe Mack cementing himself as the club’s primary catcher, Ramírez could back him up a couple times a week while serving as the DH if his bat regains its 2025 form, when he hit 21 homers as a rookie. “I just want to show that I can play at this level,” Ramírez said via interpreter Luis Dorante. “That’s what I want.”
Fullton entered after newcomer Victor Vodnik loaded the bases and lefty Cade Gibson surrendered a grand slam to Tucker with two outs in the seventh. The 2020 second-round pick tossed two scoreless frames, allowing just a ground-ball single while striking out two. Earlier in the week, Fulton kept the Mets scoreless over three innings, striking out four and walking just one in a 42-pitch outing. He carries a 3.04 ERA in 12 Major League relief outings. With veteran Andrew Nardi having undergone elbow surgery, Gibson, Fulton and Patrick Monteverde are the only southpaw relievers on the 40-man roster.
“That’s kind of how I’m taking it is like an audition for next year with the opportunities I’m given,” Fulton said pregame. “Trying to put my best product out there on the field, try to give myself more of a chance next year to make the team at a camp and just kind of go from there.”