Podcast: A key Marlins road trip and a recap of the first week of minor-league baseball

Regardless of what a certain Miami Marlins shortstop suggested last week (jokingly, we presume?), the Miami Herald’s baseball beat writer was not on vacation for the past three weeks — although two consecutive days off during a homestand sometimes can feel like three weeks.

The Marlins can’t afford to take any vacation time right now as their second three-city road trip of the season gets underway. The Marlins make stops in Phoenix for four games with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angeles for three games with the Dodgers and Philadelphia for three more against the Phillies.

They entered the week three games under .500 and just three games out of first place in a tightly contested National League East after going 4-2 during a week at loanDepot park sandwiched between separate 11-day road trips.

In the latest episode of Fish Bytes, Andre C. Fernandez joins the Miami Herald’s Marlins beat writer Jordan McPherson to recap the homestand, address the Marlins’ starting pitching (kudos to Marlins manager Don Mattingly for listening to our episode before it launched and going with our suggestion to start Jordan Holloway on Monday against the Diamondbacks even if the results weren’t outstanding) and take a look at the highlights from the first week of the minor-league baseball season.