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The Marlins optioned Ekness to Triple-A Jacksonville on Thursday.
Ekness held his own in his first stint in the big leagues, allowing one run with a 5:5 K:BB in 5.1 innings. The hard-throwing righty could eventually settle into a high-leverage relief role for Miami, but he'll head back to Jacksonville for now to accommodate the arrival of Braxton Garrett.
Marlins' Josh Ekness: Earns first career save Sunday
Rotowire
Ekness retired the only batter he faced to earn a one-out save in Sunday's 5-2 win over the Nationals.
The Marlins have been playing matchups in the ninth inning during Pete Fairbanks' (hand) absence, and Sunday was Ekness' turn. He entered to face righty Curtis Mead with two outs and a runner on first base and earned his first career save on just three pitches. The 24-year-old made his major-league debut May 3, and he's now held opponents scoreless in three of four appearances while posting a 2:1 K:BB across 3.1 innings with Miami.
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Marlins' Josh Ekness: Contract selected
Rotowire
The Marlins selected Ekness's contract from Triple-A Jacksonville on Saturday, Craig Mish of FanDuel Sports Network Florida reports.
Although he's logged an impressive 21:6 K:BB, Ekness has struggled to limit runs in Triple-A this year, turning in a 5.68 ERA and 1.56 WHIP across 12.2 innings. He'll now join the major-league bullpen despite his difficulties and will be making his MLB debut whenever he gets into a game.
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Marlins' Josh Ekness: Thriving in relief role
Rotowire
Ekness has a 1.48 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, 34:8 K:BB and zero homers allowed through 24.1 innings for Double-A Pensacola this season.
Selected in the 12th round of the 2023 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Houston, Ekness could be a future high-leverage bullpen arm for the Marlins as he features a fastball that can touch triple digits and a potentially plus slider that he's still learning to command. After posting an 11.1 percent walk rate at High-A Beloit in 2024, Ekness has cut that mark to 7.6 percent with Pensacola this year, and the 23-year-old right-hander seems likely to get a promotion to Triple-A over the summer.
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