Esteury Ruiz remains on the bench on Wednesday

Ruiz is only playing about half of the time against righties at the moment, but he still rates as a sneaky play in shallow leagues next week, what with the Marlins playing seven games in Colorado and Sacramento. He’s hitting .273/.374/.545 with 16 steals in 92 plate appearances.

It would be easy to say that it’s because the Rangers are starting a left-handed pitcher, but Tyler Alexander is just the opener for Kumar Rocker. Caissie has hit .171/.265/.439 in 15 games in Juene with three home runs and 11 RBI, but a 30.6 percent strikeout rate. With Griffin Conine returning on Sunday, the Marlins DH spot is full, so Caissie, Jakob Marsee, Heriberto Hernandez, and Esteury Ruiz will have to split time between the three outfield spots. Hernandez has a 160 wRC+ in June, and Ruiz has a 242 wRC+ in just 39 plate appearances, but has earned more time. That may mean more days off for Caissie.

Hernández drew a walk in the first inning, then highlighted a four-run fourth inning with a two-run homer off Matt Gage. The 26-year-old outfielder is hitting .233/.302/.404 with seven homers, 15 runs scored, and 28 RBI across 162 plate appearances. Hernández is getting more regular playing time, starting in seven of the team’s last eight games.

Caissie has now homered in back-to-back games for the Marlins and has three homers in the month of June. The lefty got the best of Giants starter Landen Roupp in the first inning to put the Marlins up 1-0, and later doubled off Roupp in the fifth inning to drive in Javier Sanoja to put the Marlins up 2-1, and would come up big again in the seventh inning when his sacrifice fly again drove in Sanoja to put the Marlins up 4-3. For a player who entered the day slashing .091/.189/.303 in the month of June, Friday’s 3-for-3 should serve as a bit of a confidence booster for Caissie. While it’s an encouraging sign, there’s still a lot for Caissie to figure out and the Marlins decision to limit him against lefties puts a hard cap on his fantasy upside.

The rookie’s homer gave Miami a 3-2 lead in the second that they wouldn’t surrender, one of two they hit off Andrew Painter in the matinee. The former Cub was acquired in last offseason’s Edward Cabrera trade, but he has struggled with a strikeout rate over 40%. The Marlins are even limiting his opportunities against lefties as he has started against only two so far in 2026. There’s long-term power upside in his bat, but he isn’t ready to be a reliable fantasy contributor regardless of league size.

Ruiz took Phillies starter Jesús Luzardo deep in the seventh inning to break up a potential shutout and supply Miami’s only runs of the one-sided affair. It was his fourth long ball of the season. The 27-year-old speedster has been on a roll lately, hitting .368 (7-for-19) with two homers and four steals since the start of June.

The 26-year-old outfielder opened the scoring in the ballgame with a 403-foot (104.4-mph EV) solo shot off of Paul Skenes to open the second inning. That would be his lone hit in four at-bats on the afternoon. For the season, Hernández is now hitting .237/.308/.397 with six homers, 26 RBI and five stolen bases across 146 plate appearances.

The Marlins have struggled to find a consistent first base option this year, but this could be a boost to their lineup if Stowers is able to stick there defensively. On Thursday, Esteury Ruiz will play left field and bat ninth, but this would also open up extra bats for Heriberto Hernandez.

Hernández’ two home runs give him five this year. He hit a solo shot off Miles Mikolas in the fifth inning and a two-run shot off Mitchell Parker in the ninth inning. Hernández moved into the leadoff spot Tuesday after homering in Monday’s game, giving him three home runs already this week. The Marlins might want to stick with him at the top of the order for now.

Hernández gets a look atop Miami’s lineup after homering during Monday’s series opener. The 26-year-old has homered twice in his last seven games and has three round-trippers and five steals through 36 games this season. It’ll be interesting to see if the Marlins continue to give him opportunities near the top of the order. Liam Hicks, who has typically hit first or second recently, is batting sixth with Washington utilizing lefty opener Richard Lovelady ahead of veteran righty Miles Mikolas on Tuesday night.