Beloved Marlins Star Jose Fernandez Died In A Boat Accident Sunday Morning

Marlins ace Jose Fernandez reportedly died in a boating accident early on Sunday morning, according to multiple reports out of Florida. He was 24 years old.

The terrible news was also confirmed by Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports and by the Marlins in a brief statement.

The Marlins will reportedly hold a press conference on Sunday morning, while today’s game against the Braves is canceled.

Fernandez was also on the verge of becoming a father for the first time. As he posted to his Instagram page five days ago, his girlfriend is pregnant.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BKkAGyzAY68/

This news is beyond tragic. It’s sad whenever a 24-year-old’s life is cut short, especially one so full of promise as Fernandez. For his career, he was an outstanding pitcher, and through injury issues he managed to be a beacon of hope for the Marlins’ franchise. The first Cuban-born Rookie of the Year in the history of the National League, Fernandez racked up a 38-17 record with a 2.58 ERA and an absurd 589 strikeouts in 471.1 innings pitched.

But the reason this is so sad is that Fernandez represented everything good about baseball. No one loved being a baseball player more than Fernandez, whose career was full of moments that oozed joy. Take, for instance, the time he got “arrested” by the Philly Phanatic, or the time he discussed wanting to give up a home run to David Ortiz in the All-Star Game because he thought it would be cool, or the time he caught a Troy Tulowitzki line drive and smiled like he won the lottery:

There are so many of these moments with Fernandez. He would bust the chops of opposing players in a lighthearted way, because to him, baseball was a fun thing and he wanted everyone else to have as much fun as he did. This was because to Fernandez, baseball was an escape, the way that he came to the United States from Cuba. He tried to defect from Cuba three times, and on the night that ended up being his fourth and final attempt, this happened:

https://twitter.com/jareddiamond/status/780033235984277504

He got to the United States with his mother and ended up becoming one of baseball’s most tantalizing prospects out of a high school in Tampa. Fernandez was selected in the 2011 MLB Draft by the Marlins, and in 2013, he finally made it to the Majors, where he won the Rookie of the Year and finished third in Cy Young voting. However, all of this was missing something to Fernandez: his grandmother, who taught him how to play baseball and he considered the love of his life.

That’s when Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria arranged the greatest surprise of Fernandez’s life. You can watch the moment he became reunited with his grandmother right here, but be warned, you very well could end up sobbing.

Fernandez’s 2014 and 2015 campaigns were shortened due to injuries, but in 2016, he looked like he was 100 percent. He made the All-Star Game, led the league in Fielding Independent Pitching, and looked like someone who was going to be the ace of Miami’s staff for at least a decade.

But tragically, all of that got cut short on Sunday morning. We’ll unfortunately never know if Fernandez will continue on the Hall of Fame trajectory he was on, but we will all remember the pure joy with which he pitched. And that breaking ball. Good Lord, did that guy have a breaking ball.

Rest in peace, Jose. You were the best.