CHICAGO -- A little more than 24 hours before his season debut, Marlins left-hander Ryan Weathers said just being back on the mound would make it a successful return -- regardless of the result.
No need to set such low expectations.
Weathers went five solid innings and picked up the win in Wednesday night’s 3-1 victory over the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Four relievers followed Weathers to shut down the Cubs, while Kyle Stowers recorded his third career multihomer game and Agustín Ramírez also went deep to end a six-game trip to Chicago’s South and North Sides.
The 25-year-old Weathers, who had been sidelined with a left flexor muscle strain, struck out five and walked one in a 76-pitch outing. He permitted just two hits, including a leadoff homer to Seiya Suzuki on a center-cut changeup in the fourth for his lone blemish.
“He was exceptional,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “To come in first one and get through five with the number of pitches that he had available tonight, the velocity was terrific, some good changeups, and the breaking ball, it was just efficient, quality plus stuff, to go through a good lineup there. So really, really good first one for Ryan.
“As we were watching him all spring and stuff, this was what he had shown, so it was good for him to get out on a big league mound for the first time this year, and be able to go out there and compete. And he threw great.”
In the first inning, Weathers worked around a one-out walk to Kyle Tucker. In the third, he retired the next three batters in order after Justin Turner’s leadoff single. That was it from the Majors’ second-highest-scoring lineup.
How did Weathers do it?
For one, Weathers showcased his improved velocity, maxing out at 99 mph for the fastest pitch thrown in his Major League career. Overall, his average fastball (97.2 mph) was 1.3 mph faster than it was in 2024 (95.9 mph).
“I feel like right now, since I've been in pro baseball, my delivery’s in the best spot,” Weathers said. “I'm using the slope better. I'm using my back leg better. My landing is a lot more forceful. Just a lot of stuff that I think goes into making a good delivery. And tonight, we were clicking on all three cylinders with that, so just got to continue to do that.”
Then there’s the upgraded arsenal. Weathers tallied strikeouts on four different pitches per Baseball Savant: the changeup (two), four-seamer (one), sweeper (one) and slider (one). The latter is a pitch he is growing more confident in. His fastball usage was up, but that was more a product of having a good heater on a foggy evening.
“It's 98 [mph] from the left side, with a left-on-left changeup,” said Stowers, who faced Weathers at the Triple-A level in 2023. “Spins it well, can sink it, can throw four-seams. He can kind of do it all as a pitcher.”
There were high hopes for Weathers entering 2025 after he posted a career-best 3.63 ERA in ‘24 and reshaped his body over the offseason. During Spring Training, Weathers looked better than ever in terms of stuff, velocity and results (11 1/3 IP, ER). But he reported discomfort after his fourth Grapefruit League start and didn’t throw for 10 days.
The Marlins’ bats fed off Weathers’ efficiency. Stowers hit solo homers in the second and fourth; Ramírez added his own in the fourth to give the club a 3-0 lead at the time.
Miami entered the series finale having dropped 13 of its last 16 contests, compiling a 7.47 starter’s ERA during this span. Weathers became the first starter to win a game since veteran right-hander Cal Quantrill on April 25 in Seattle.
“Obviously, some games haven't gone the way we want to,” Weathers said. “I think it was just about going out there, establishing the zone, be on the attack from pitch one. I want defenders to play behind me. So the more you can be in the zone and be in the strike zone and get the ball on the ground and get them involved, it just feeds into their hitting. They get in a more comfortable rhythm. So I think the key of the game was like, I just want to get these guys in the dugout as quick as possible and let them swing the stick. And we were able to do that tonight.”