Imagine this: you are getting ready to go to the park and you learn that your teammate has died. This was a man you spent more time with during the summer than your family. Someone who brought so much life to your team. One of the best young pitchers who brought a small franchise playoff hope.

That’s what happened this weekend to the Miami Marlins. Ace pitcher Jose Fernandez was tragically killed in a boating accident early Sunday morning at the age of 24. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission spokesperson Lorenzo Veloz, Fernandez died from trauma after his boat hit a rock jetty off Miami Beach. No further details have been released because the accident is still under investigation.

The death of Fernandez was a tough loss not only for the Marlins, but for the baseball community as a whole. Marlins pitcher, Tom Koehler, told ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, “I think everybody is doing the best they can. This hit everybody.”

Jose was a rising star in the baseball world. After defecting from Cuba in 2008 he was drafted by the Miami Marlins in the 2011 MLB draft. The hard throwing righty was named the National League Rookie of the Year and was selected for the 2013 and 2016 National League All Star team. After his 2014 season was derailed by Tommy John, he came back post-surgery to finish off the 2015 season strong. Fernandez continued his success into 2016, posting 253 strikeouts in 182.1 innings pitched.

Many baseball writers are suggesting that the NL Cy young award, the highest award in a season for a pitcher, be given to Jose Fernandez. The award, if given posthumously, would be well deserved for Fernandez who had another dominant season.

Craig Calcaterra of NBC Sports writes that all Marlins will all wear number 16 tonight as they take on the Mets at home the first game back after Hernandez’s death,the day after he was scheduled to start. The Marlins organization also announced that they will retire Hernandez’s number following the game.

The loss of such a young, rising talent is a crushing blow to the MLB; which thrives nowadays on energetic, youthful talent to attract the younger generations to a sport that is barely hanging on as relevant. The death of Jose Fernandez offers perspective as to how fragile life is and that it can end in an instant. We as sports fans should not dwell on his death, but rather celebrate his life the way he would’ve wanted.