With the Miami Marlins teetering on the brink of a free fall a month and a half ago, manager Clayton McCullough presented a brief message to his players during a team meeting.When the Marlins arrived in Washington, D.C., on June 1, they were a season-worst eight games below .500, on a season-high five-game losing streak. As McCullough started to field questions about the impact injuries were having on his roster, he sensed the possibility of the talking point creeping into the clubhouse. He did not care for such conversation.Ahead of a series against the Nationals, McCullough told his group to look around the room. He implored them not to worry about who wasn’t there. He assured them they had enough talent to win.“The funny thing about moments like that is,” outfielder Kyle Stowers said, “with hindsight, you can look back at it and go, ‘You know what, maybe it was where things started to shift for us.’”For one of Major League Baseball’s youngest teams (average age: 27.5 years), McCullough’s messaging helped. So, too, did players like Stowers getting hot for a lineup that suddenly looked deeper. The rotation, featuring Sandy Alcántara, Eury Perez and Max Meyer, rounded into form. And the bullpen, with a handful of unknowns and castoffs, became capable. The Marlins, after going 26-11 since McCullough’s meeting, emerged as one of MLB’s best feel-good stories of the first half.“From there,” said Alcántara, the Marlins’ longest-tenured player, “everything just clicked.”Out of the All-Star break, Miami (52-45) holds a one-game lead for the National League’s final wild card. There are four teams behind Miami with at least a .500 record. Making the postseason for the first time since 2023 requires the Marlins to prove that their success is sustainable.“There’s a hunger to win,” Alcántara said.MLB cracks down on using AI in dugoutsOver the offseason, according to people familiar with the club’s dealings who were given anonymity in exchange for their candor, the Marlins treated Alcántara as if he were a true ace, maintaining a high bar in trade talks that mostly went nowhere. Alcántara, in his first season back from Tommy John surgery, posted a 5.36 ERA through 174 2/3 innings last season. In 2026, Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix is reaping benefits from belief in Alcántara.Alcántara leads MLB in innings (130 2/3). His ERA stands at 3.99. The Marlins hold a $21 million club option on Alcántara for 2027. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal last week reported that, barring a collapse, the Marlins intend to keep Alcántara through the Aug. 3 trade deadline. Alcántara, 30, is pitching like the workhorse of a few years ago, when he had back-to-back seasons of 200+ innings.With Alcántara, Perez and Meyer, the Marlins boast a formidable trio. But there are pressing concerns. While they feel like they can count on Perez in the second half after he missed about one month earlier in the season, they need to at least monitor Meyer’s innings.