Will Marlins' recent hot streak affect their Deadline plans?

This story was excerpted from Christina De Nicola's Marlins Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

“I think we're going to win a lot of games, a lot more games than you think we're going to win this year. I'm excited about it.”

Those were the words of Marlins chairman and principal owner Bruce Sherman before Spring Training’s first full-squad workout on Feb. 17, when asked how the club could possibly compete in 2025 with MLB’s least experienced roster.

Five months later, the Marlins (50-53) entered Sunday having won 20 of their past 28 to move within five games of the third National League Wild Card spot. Since June 13, Miami is 25-12 -- tied for the second-best record in MLB over that span with the Blue Jays, who hold MLB’s best overall record. Only this weekend’s opponent, the Brewers (23-10), are better during that span.

Of the eight teams ahead of the Marlins in the WC standings, here is how Miami has fared against them in head-to-head matchups since this hot stretch began:

3-0 vs. Arizona
3-0 vs. San Francisco
2-2 vs. Cincinnati
2-1 vs. San Diego
1-3 vs. Philadelphia
3-2 vs. Milwaukee
The club hasn’t faced New York, Chicago or St. Louis in that span.

But Miami was tied for the seventh-hardest strength of schedule remaining (.505) among NL clubs entering Saturday. The club has three games each vs. the division-leading Astros (home), Blue Jays (home) and Tigers (home); seven vs. the NL East-leading Mets; six vs. the postseason-hopeful Phillies; and three vs. the postseason-hopeful Yankees (home), Rangers (road), Red Sox (road) and Guardians (road).

So where does this leave the Marlins ahead of Thursday’s 6 p.m. ET Trade Deadline?

With the club seemingly ahead of schedule, might the organization reward the staff and players for their effort? President of baseball operations Peter Bendix has not spoken publicly to local media about the Marlins’ strategy leading up to the Deadline.

Prior to Monday’s game against the Padres, which opened a stretch of three consecutive series against opponents ahead of the Marlins in the NL standings, manager Clayton McCullough was asked whether the club could make the front office’s decision more difficult.

“I think we're going to continue to try to win as many games as we can, and that'd be right now and that'd be moving through the course of the season,” McCullough said. “With the group here, we have to keep getting better and we have to keep getting better organizationally. We have a lot of room to grow, to put ourselves in what we believe are going to be, year after year, a position to be able to compete and contend.”

The Marlins’ recent play hasn’t stopped trade rumors from circulating, especially after the most recent starts from right-handers Sandy Alcantara and Edward Cabrera. Other names that have been brought up include outfielder Jesús Sánchez and reliever Anthony Bender. Righty Cal Quantrill, who signed a free-agent contract when Spring Training began, is the only expiring contract on Miami’s roster.

The market continues to be murky as clubs decide whether to buy or sell -- or do both. Perhaps the latter route is the one the Marlins take to acknowledge 2025’s surprising success without mortgaging their long-term plan. If Miami sells from an area of depth, the return could be for a position that lacks it, especially at the upper levels of the Minors. Don’t forget that center fielder Jakob Marsee (Miami’s No. 10 prospect), corner infielder Deyvison De Los Santos (No. 13) and right-hander Adam Mazur (No. 14) are knocking on the door.

All-Star outfielder Kyle Stowers knows all too well about handling this time of year. He and injured third baseman Connor Norby were shipped to Miami for lefty Trevor Rogers last July when Baltimore was a buyer.

“You just keep your head down, control what you can control,” Stowers said coming back from the All-Star break. “Obviously, it's a part of the business. I think it can be more exhausting to try to play the hypotheticals. I did it last year thinking about what could happen. And at the end of the day, what's going to happen will happen. And so, the more that you can, just focus on what you can control.”