The Secret to the Marlins' Resurgence and How It Made History
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When the Miami Marlins hired Clayton McCullough to become the 15th full-time manager in franchise history, a lot was unknown. He had never managed a major league team before, and was finishing a four-season stint as the Los Angeles Dodgers first base coach.
He was joining a franchise that had struggled to find consistent success, and hadn't had an above .500 manager throughout his entire tenure since Jack McKeon, whose last season was 2011. He took over a struggling team that owned a .441 winning percentage since 2015, but none of that mattered.
In his first season as the manager, he guided a second-half rally which saw Miami go 35-32, and finish just four games out of the final wild card spot. That was a good start, but not the end goal.
"I think with where we feel like the strides we made last year and that this year is going to be more difficult and from day one of spring training, having a real sense of urgency to try to win every day and not look too far ahead into the calendar is going to be important, but that we know that while we’re very proud of a lot of the work that was done last year," McCullough said this past offseason.
Clayton McCullough’s Leadership Has Been Just What the Marlins Needed These Past Two Seasons
This season got off to a different start, but he has led the Marlins to a league-best 16-5 record in June, and roared back to three games above .500 entering play on Wednesday night.
With a 42-39 record at the mid-way point in the season, the Marlins have tied the third-best record in franchise history through 81 games into a season. The two times it was bested were in 1997 and 2023.
2023 saw the Marlins finish six games above .500, and just back into the playoffs before a quick exit at the hands of the Phillies. In 1997, Miami, of course, won its first World Series.
It's easy to say McCullough is doing well when the team is performing at its peak, but he's been making the hard yet necessary decisions, taking risks, and putting his players in the best position to win. Perfect examples of this were the demotion of Agustine Ramirez, DFA'ing Chris Paddack, and truly trusting in Otto Lopez despite his struggling sophomore slump.
McCullough has been the secret to the recent success, and if the team continues to thrive, he won't be going anywhere anytime soon.
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Jeffrey is a sports writer located in Louisville, Kentucky, with a passion for sports, writing, and storytelling. He has hundreds of published articles across various platforms, including Kentucky Today, The Baptist Courier, FanSided, and more. Jeffrey is a senior at Indiana University Southeast pursuing a B.S. in Journalism/Media with a Minor in Writing. He has a beautiful wife, dog, and firstborn child on the way.