The Miami Marlins\u2019 injury issues in the starting rotation were exactly what Tyler Phillips needed to work his way into the mix during the first half of the season.<\/p>\n
Heading into Sunday\u2019s game with a career-high eight starts and a 3.28 ERA already under his belt, the 28-year-old is approaching the All-Star break having made the most of his opportunity.<\/p>\n
But with limited rest after throwing a five-inning shutout against the Seattle Mariners Wednesday, the right-hander struggled in what was already expected to be a bullpen game, allowing two runs in one inning before being replaced by Calvin Faucher in the second.<\/p>\n
Miami ultimately fell to the Cleveland Guardians 5-2, allowing double-digit hits for the second straight night.<\/p>\n
After Phillips exited, Cleveland continued to add on, with Brayan Rocchio hitting a two-run homer and Chase DeLauter adding a solo shot in the ninth<\/p>\n
Only five players recorded hits, with Xavier Edwards notching a multi-hit game and driving in Miami\u2019s first run with an RBI single to left field, while Griffin Conine homered to right field in the bottom of the 9th.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe weren\u2019t able to adjust and put pressure on them,\u201d said Marlins manager Clayton McCullough. \u201cThey pitched really well, lot\u2019s of change-ups and pitches with spin. Offensively, not one of our better series\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miami\u2019s top hitter, Otto L\u00f3pez, had an uncharacteristically rough weekend, going 0-for-11 to finish with his first hitless series of the season.<\/p>\n
Can Phillips stick in the rotation?<\/p>\n
A two-run first inning was hardly encouraging, but in what was always expected to be a bullpen start on just three full days\u2019 rest, Phillips deserves some benefit of the doubt.<\/p>\n
After all, opponents had hit just .255 against him over 149 at-bats in his eight starts entering Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a lot of fungible pieces, and he\u2019s one of them,\u201d McCullough said. \u201cHe\u2019s really been helpful for us, coming in to start when we need him. He\u2019s playing well and I\u2019m really happy for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Originally entering the season as a relief pitcher, Phillips hadn\u2019t thrown more than three consecutive innings until May 30.<\/p>\n
As injuries to starters such as Eury P\u00e9rez and Janson Junk created a need for bullpen games and spot starts, Phillips, one of Miami\u2019s few relievers with significant starting experience, was a natural fit.<\/p>\n
Phillips took over as the Philadelphia Phillies\u2019 No. 5 starter during his rookie season in 2024 and tossed a complete-game shutout against the Guardians. But after a promising start, a string of rough outings eventually sent him back to Triple-A.<\/p>\n
He may not be heading into the All-Star break on the right foot, but he remains a valuable piece of Miami\u2019s pitching staff as someone who\u2019s shown he can contribute as both a starter and reliever.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s next<\/p>\n
The Marlins head into the All-Star break before returning Friday at 7:40 p.m. for the opener of a three-game road series against the Milwaukee Brewers. Otto L\u00f3pez will represent Miami in Tuesday\u2019s All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, while fellow first-time selection Max Meyer will not pitch.<\/p>\n
This story was originally published July 12, 2026 at 7:02 PM.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Miami Marlins\u2019 injury issues in the starting rotation were exactly what Tyler Phillips needed to work his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":338080,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-338079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/338080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}