A decade ago, the Miami Marlins let Chris Paddack go. Now, he's back, ready for a full-circle moment that feels both surreal and like a second chance at a dream!
It's a feeling Chris Paddack never quite expected. Imagine this: nearly ten years ago, the very team that first believed in you as a budding talent, the Miami Marlins, traded you away. That's exactly what happened to Paddack, who was drafted by the Marlins in the eighth round of the 2015 MLB Draft and then sent to the San Diego Padres in 2016 as part of a trade for Fernando Rodney. Back then, he was just a promising prospect in their system.
Fast forward, and Paddack has built a solid seven-year career in Major League Baseball, primarily as a starting right-handed pitcher, with stints in San Diego, Minnesota, and Detroit. But now, he's returning to where his professional journey began. He's officially signed a one-year deal with the Marlins worth $4 million, a move that became official on Thursday night.
He's eager to make an impact for the franchise that gave him his initial shot at pursuing his baseball dreams, even if he's been living them out elsewhere for years. "It is a full-circle moment for me. Man, it’s really cool," Paddack shared on Friday. He reflected on his drive up from Texas, thinking, "Man, this is a cool opportunity — the team that gave me that first chance as a young kid. The fact that I get to put a Marlins jersey on and just show the city of Miami who I once was back in 2015, why they drafted me, is a pretty surreal moment."
Paddack's arrival comes after a busy offseason for the Marlins, who traded away two of their starting pitchers, Edward Cabrera and Ryan Weathers. Their aim? To bring in a host of promising hitting prospects, including Owen Caissie, who is a strong candidate for Opening Day right fielder.
"You can never have too much pitching," stated Marlins president of baseball operations, Peter Bendix. "And I still feel really good about our depth. We weren’t looking to bring in just anybody. We think Chris is somebody that we can really help get a lot better."
Paddack, who recently celebrated his 30th birthday, boasts a career record of 32-36 with an 4.64 ERA across 118 appearances ( 110 starts). He's accumulated 529 strikeouts against 126 walks over 581 2/3 innings.
However, his most recent season, 2025, saw his ERA climb to 5.35 over a career-high 158 innings, split between the Twins and Tigers. But here's where it gets interesting: while Paddack excels at limiting walks (a mere 5.5% in 2025) and enticing hitters to chase pitches outside the strike zone ( 31.7% last season, 30.4% career), he struggled to generate swings and misses last year. Opponents only swung and missed at 20.7% of his pitches, the lowest rate of his career by a significant margin.
"Sometimes I overly compete in the zone," Paddack admitted. "And it costs me some base hits with two strikes. Or with runners on second and third, I’m not able to slow the game down and get out of that jam, and the next thing I know, it’s a crooked number that happens very fast."
And this is the part most people miss: Paddack believes the Marlins' unique approach to calling pitches from the dugout could be a game-changer for him. Miami experimented with this strategy at the MLB level late last season, after successfully implementing it throughout their minor league system. For Paddack, who throws a diverse arsenal of six pitches (four-seam fastball, changeup, curveball, slider, cutter, and sinker), the hope is that this system will allow him to pitch with more freedom.
"Sometimes we overthink out there," Paddack mused. "Sometimes, we give the hitters too much credit. You know, this game is very hard, and sometimes we overcomplicate things."
Marlins manager Clayton McCullough echoed this sentiment, stating, "We think we can really help Chris. We think we can get a lot of his arsenal back into a place where he can perform more like he’s capable of than maybe how last season went. He’s a premium strike-thrower. He certainly has started a lot of games in the major leagues. He gives us another stable arm we believe that can fit right into our rotation and also with we believe the upside to help him perform very well in ‘26."
With Paddack's signing, the Marlins' rotation is looking considerably deeper. The team has a dozen players in camp who they believe are realistic contenders for starting pitching roles at the beginning of the season. This group is anchored by Sandy Alcantara, whom the Marlins have named as their Opening Day starter, and Eury Perez. Beyond these two and Paddack, the competition for the remaining rotation spots (and potentially a long relief/swingman role in the bullpen) includes Max Meyer, Braxton Garrett, Janson Junk, Adam Mazur, Ryan Gusto, Robby Snelling, Thomas White, Bradley Blalock, and Dax Fulton.
"It’s a good thing to have a long list of guys that are certainly very capable," McCullough added. "Throughout this camp, there will be chances to go out there and pitch and compete with 30-some-odd spring training games. The dust will settle at the end of camp, knowing that we’re going to need a lot of guys to be able to come up and take down starts for us."
Now, over to you: Do you think Paddack's return to Miami is a smart move for the Marlins, or is his past performance a sign of things to come? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below! Do you agree that a team calling pitches from the dugout is the future, or does it take away from the pitcher's autonomy? We'd love to hear your perspective!
