The Miami Marlins promoted No. 25 ranked prospect Maximo Acosta from Triple A Jacksonville on August 17, according to Daniel Álvarez of El Extra Base, ahead of their three game home series against the St. Louis Cardinals.
MLB Pipeline ranks Acosta No. 25 on the Marlins Top 30 prospects list. See profile here MLBPipeline.com. The call up carried mixed emotions. Acosta lost his father in recent months, and he spoke about the difficulty of balancing joy with grief as he finally reached the big leagues.
"The most beautiful part is that he taught me everything about this game."#Marlins No. 25 prospect Maximo Acosta — just called up for his MLB debut — credits his late father for his love for baseball: https://t.co/qTCtqSzvvk pic.twitter.com/9HH9WMXRQI
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 18, 2025
Debut night in Miami
Acosta made his Major League debut on August 18 at loanDepot Park, starting at second base and batting eighth in the lineup for Miami.
First Major League At Bat
Acosta stepped to the plate in the bottom of the second inning for his first MLB at-bat in front of the home crowd. He struck out on a called third strike, frozen by a 76.9 mph curveball from left-hander Matthew Liberatore.
Struggles in the fifth inning
The top of the fifth inning quickly turned into trouble for Miami. With one out, Pedro Pagés walked, and Nathan Church chopped a ball that forced Acosta into a rushed play at second. Credited with a fielding error, his second of the season, the play was also a product of Church’s quick speed and Acosta’s inexperience at second base. The mistake extended the inning, and the Cardinals piled on with wild pitches, walks, and RBI hits from Lars Nootbaar, Alec Burleson, and Willson Contreras to flip a 2–0 Miami lead into a 3–2 St. Louis advantage.
Acosta came back up in the bottom half of the inning and grounded out to third.
More growing pains at the plate
By the seventh, the rookie’s struggles continued. After Javier Sanoja lined out, Acosta struck out swinging for the second time of the night, leaving him hitless through his first two Major League games at bats.
Marlins collapse late
St. Louis kept pressing, taking a 4–3 lead on Alec Burleson’s RBI single in the seventh and stretching the margin in the eighth and ninth. A Pedro Pagés RBI knock in the eighth made it 5–3, and in the ninth a passed ball and a two-run homer from Nolan Gorman blew the game open. The Cardinals went on to defeat Miami 8–3.
Acosta was due up next when Javier Sanoja struck out to end the game in the bottom of the ninth, leaving him on deck as the Marlins closed a sloppy night with their rookie still searching for his first big league hit.
Game two at loanDepot Park
Acosta was back in the starting lineup on August 19, this time shifting across the diamond to third base and batting eighth. Still looking for his first Major League hit, he went 0-for-4 in the Marlins’ 7–4 loss to St. Louis.
Early chances in the field
Acosta was tested quickly in the second inning, charging and throwing on the run to record a putout on Pedro Pagés. He followed it up in the third by starting a crisp 5–4–3 double play on Masyn Winn. In the eighth, he stayed busy at third, recording three outs in the frame with a pop out in fair territory, a pop up in foul ground, and a routine ground ball.
