Marlins Catcher Focused on Breakout in 2026 After Reflecting on Rookie 2025 Season
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Miami Marlins catcher Liam Hicks enters his second big league season with the team.
Hicks joined the Marlins Hot Stove Show to elaborate on how he evaluated his 2025 season, where his head is at, and other interesting things happening in his life.
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Hicks Feels Comfortable and Satisfied with 2025 Season Results
The 2025 season was Hicks’ first season with the Marlins. Miami selected him from the Detroit Tigers in the Rule 5 draft.
The 26-year-old hit his first career home run on April 19th against the Philadelphia Phillies. He finished the season with six home runs and 45 RBIs in 332 at-bats.
“I didn’t know what my expectations were,” Hicks said. “Obviously, having not played in Triple-A, I'm getting this opportunity to play in the big leagues. Overall, looking back at the end of the season, I was happy with how I did. I think if I really look at it, there are a lot of ups and downs. Started kind of slow and then got really hot, and then finished kind of not how I wanted. I think I got better every day, and I improved a ton from the first day of spring training to the end of the season. So that’s something I’m pleased with and really looking forward to showing next year coming in.”
There are good days and bad days in baseball. Hicks feels lucky to have good teammates who encourage him not get discouraged. He’s slowly growing as a player and as a person by learning the lessons he’s experienced.
“Don’t carry your over into the next day,” Hicks said. “Flush it at the field. Try to be a good person off the field. Go home to the fiance and try to make sure I’m not carrying those at-bats or those bad days behind the plate back home.”
Hicks recently got engaged, and he didn’t shy away from giving the details on how everything went about it and how he felt about the moments leading up to the proposal.
“I was nervous for sure,” Hicks said. “I was hiding earlier that day, and it was tough. It was tough to pay attention, tough to lock in. I’m down in Jupiter. So we went out to West Palm Beach. I told her that we were going to get drinks with the Simpsons, Josh, and his wife, Katie. They’re down here, so we’ll hang out with them. So told her we were meeting up with them on the beach on New Year’s Eve also. We went down to the beach, and then luckily, I had an excellent photographer help me out. So she set up some white roses on the beach and had some glasses there. It was great. Got it all on video.”
Hicks can’t wait for the season to get started. His primary focus coming into the new season is to swing the bat harder and throw the ball harder. In addition, improve at swinging the bat faster. Those are his main takeaways.
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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.