Can Clayton McCullough Turn the Marlins Into a 90-Win Contender?
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The NL East division is highly competitive. The Miami Marlins have to deal with the Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, and New York Mets. Marlins skipper Clayton McCullough will be entering his second season running the team.
McCollugh did a solid job as a first-year manager. Despite hearing all the noise about contract negotiations some of his players are dealing with this off-season, he can only control what he can control, and that’s turning a negative into a positive and turning distractions into victories.
Can McCollough Lead the Marlins to 90 Wins?
It is possible that Clayton can jump from 79 to 90 wins if his players stay healthy and produce on the field. The Marlins have a great group of talented players who need an opportunity to showcase what they’re capable of.
In the past, we have seen managers lead their ballclub to 90 or more wins in their second season as manager. A great example is their own division rival, the Mets. Davey Johnson led the Mets in 1985 with 98 wins in his second year.
Mike Shildt is another manager who comes to mind, having led the San Diego Padres to 91 wins in the 2021 season.
The Marlins would need to outplay their division rivals during the regular season to achieve their goal for McCullough. The Braves, Phillies, and Mets are outstanding teams, and yes, things can change during the course of the off-season with who will stay and who will leave, but if you’re the Marlins owner, you might want to open up the wallet and extend some of the players on the roster.
It’s no secret that small-market teams can’t outbid big-market teams. But the Marlins will need to decide whether they want to go all out and make a run for the playoffs with the roster, or enter rebuild mode by trading away some of their prospects.
The Marlins can surprise many baseball fans and writers this upcoming season by impressing with their team's success. Kyle Stowers is one of the young rising stars on this team. Stowers is poised for a much stronger season in 2026. He only gave us a taste of what’s to come.
McCullough could join the list with Joe Girardi (2006) and Skip Schumaker (2023) as the only managers in Marlins history to win Manager of the Year. Wouldn’t that be a fantastic story for a guy who’s at the beginning stages of his managerial career?
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After graduating from City College of New York in 2014, Miguel created his own blog. Since 2021, he has written for FanSided, where he covered the Toronto Blue Jays, College Football and Utah Mammoth hockey team. He also wrote for Miami Heat on SI and Cleveland Sports Talk. Miguel is the creator and host of his podcast, Baseball Heat Podcast with Mike.